There are "tricks" to cleaning ordinary relay contacts, but I am assuming that you mean the stepper relays here? Stepper relays are usually exceedingly reliable right to the point where the contacting metal is worn away. There is a caveat though - the voltage needs to be high (eg 48V) and the current preferrably in the multi-mA plus region. Steppers don't have that awful problem of having enough contact pressure at the de-energised position [which pressure then affects the field required for the enrgised state]. Wiping too of course. Unless you mean you had problems with the actuator?
[I can tell horror stories from the 60s and 70s]. John K Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: gregebert To: neonixie-l Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 11:05 PM Subject: [neonixie-l] Re: LIXIE DISPLAYS Years ago I had a digital voltmeter that used these displays, and used stepper relays for the "logic". I turned it into a clock. The displays were OK, I prefer nixies. Having LEDs, with the ability to control the brightness of individual digits would be a big improvement. There rearmost digits will be dimmer because they have to transmit thru more obstacles; making them progressively brighter should solve that issue. Also, the displays shown on the website were manufactured with much better materials and precision than what I had from ~1960. I eventually abandoned this clock because the relays were intermittent and would not respond to cleaning attempts. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/65a5fec1-38b5-45b4-8675-58a8e0533ec0%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/A929DB9EEB654981A80044711F42CCC5%40compunet4f9da9. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.