Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

I have a Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer pedal with a bad switch. When I click it on or off it sometimes works, but more often than not it stays on (if already on) or off (if already off). Does anyone know how to go about fixing or replacing that kind of switch?

- Keith

[Rich_S]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

Try it just by pushing on the little switch underneath the pedal. If it works reliably, then the problem is likely that the plastic shaft of the switch has worn down from use. If this is the case, try sticking a little patch of duct tape on the bottom of the pedal where it bears on the switch, to act as a shim.

It could also be that the switch is dirty, but I don't recall how easy it would be to spray some contact cleaner in there. All my pedals are packed away (moving in 10 days), or I'd go look.

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

Try it just by pushing on the little switch underneath the pedal. If it works reliably, then the problem is likely that the plastic shaft of the switch has worn down from use.

That was the first thing I checked. The switch acts funny even if I press it down manually (i.e., with the cover open).

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

New switch, should be no problem to get a new one.

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

Do I call up Boss to get a new one? They wanted to charge me ten bucks (shipping included) for just the little rubber grommet that goes around the thumbscrew hole. I can just imagine what they'd charge for a new switch.

- Keith

[Rich_S]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

No way! Small Bear has it for $1.75

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

No way! Small Bear has it for $1.75

Oooo. Nice call, Rich. Of course I have absolutely zero experience with DIY. Is this an easy thing to replace for a beginner-type-novice such as myself?

[Rich_S]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

That switch is a snap-in, so you won't even need a wrench. You'll need to pry the old one out gently with a small screwdriver, resolder the 2 wires onto the new switch, and snap it into the hole.

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

Aha! Now I need to buy a soldering iron.

See how non-handyman I am?

[Rich_S]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

It's worth doing. Any electric guitar player ought to be able to solder. 20 or 30 watts is plenty for guitar work.

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

Before replacing the switch...try cleaning it! A trip to Radio Shack, or even the electrical aisle at NAPA auto parts/Lowe's/Home Depot should turn up an aerosol can of "electronic contact cleaner/lube".

Buy it, and spray the switch so that as much of this stuff travels down into interior of the switch's body as possble, and work the switch with a finger a bunch of times. There is no need to drown it.

Soldering is no hassle for me (it is part of my job), but spraying a small amount of this cleaner/lube would be my first step.

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

Good advice. Thanks, Sludgenutz.

<Bevis voice>Heh. You said "Sludgenutz."</Bevis voice>

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Old Boss Switch Has a Boo-Boo

Yup, people clean pots for decades without replacing them. An educated guess says the interior contacts of the Boss switch are silver plated. It does not take much to freshen them up...and the Boss's sure as heck do not burn out from excess current across the contacts. Mechanical stress can tweak a switch over its lifetime, but since you mention that soldering is not particularly a option, cleaning is a good start.

Sprays are messy sometimes. I always wrap an absorbant cloth closely around the area to be sprayed, as it keeps the aerosol droplets cofined to smallest area possible.