Hey Brad,
I have encountered a similar problem a couple times with widely different
devices in the past twenty years, and it turned out to be a power supply
problem in both cases. In the first, someone had replaced the correct fuse
with an incorrect type, and the replacement "blew" but continued to operate
due to arcing across the resultant gap. When the fusing element heated up
it curled, opening up the gap left by being "blown." When the gap widened,
it stopped arcing and consequently began to cool. As it cooled, it
uncurled, closing the gap again... Up and down, at regular intervals. From
a blown fuse of the improper type. Too crazy to be believed, but I saw it
and fixed it. Saved the fuse just to remind me of how crazy some problems
and fixes can be. This was with a 1/4 million $, high-speed printer in a
mainframe computer environment. Too much.
The second time was with a "boombox" type radio, but only when it was on the
power cord and not the batteries. Turned out the cord was not the original,
and didn't fit well. Loose connection heated up, the round "contacts" in
the cord expanded, and the radio shut down. Five minutes later they had
cooled and contracted enough for it to come back on. New cord fixed it.
Shaking my head just thinking about these two. If your problem comes back,
try not to make assumptions about what is/is not causing it. Granted, it
sounds like you found the problem, I just thought I would share my own
experience, as your leaky switch sounds like another electrothermal anomaly.
Best regards,
Dave
