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Guides for small kitchen appliance repair and disassembly. Kitchen appliances have long helped people fix dinner. Return the favor, and the fix your appliances when they break.

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Kitchen scale power button works intermittently. Fix or replace?

Hi. I have a Salter kitchen scale (Model 1008USSSBKDR) and I have to press the "on/power" button numerous times before it powers up. Seems to work fine once it does finally turn on, but I can push it (literally) 200 times before it works. most times I just give up.

I really like the scale, and it wasn't cheap. I'm wondering if I can somehow fix it. Not very electronically savvy, but I am mechanically minded and I'm game for a challenge. Thank you in advance!

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I had two similar salter scales (model 1051) which were very difficult to turn on/off after some use. Changing batteries and licking fingers didn't work. The fix is easy, just clean the switch(es) with a solvent to remove the almost invisible coating (patina) that builds up from the grease on your fingers. Both my scales are now working like new. I used a tiny bit of 100% alcohol on a q-tip (cotton bud) and rubbed the touch-switches for less than a minute. I'm sure lots of other solvents will also work.

I discovered this when taking the scales apart to fix ithem and noticed that touching the inside surfaces of the touch-switch (where there was no grease layer) successfully turned the scales on.

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Also worth mentioning that these scales need batteries near 1.5v. So NiMH rechargeables must be fully charged to about 1.4v ( nominal value is 1.2v). These rechargeable batteries also loose charge over a few months.

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I found taking the back off and cleaning out the cobwebs (yes, amazing how they get there) made turning on much easier. I have read that cobwebs are conductive if relative humidity is about 40% (60-70% in out house).

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