First of all, what is the name of this kind of switches?
https://eshop.avr.gr/en/rsh1a90zThey usually come in a clear plastic housing, not shown in this pic. They are used to detect tape presence/recordability etc. Sometimes they are used in CDs to detect when the tray is closed/ fully opened.
Do you know any source for them?
They often oxidize. Using contact cleaner/sand paper usually helps for few months, but finding nos would be ideal.
Contacts might have thin layers of various metals, so don't use sandpaper or other abrasives.
I used to use pencil eraser, that will only erase the oxides and don't file out the metal. Cut a thin sheet out of a pencil eraser, insert it between the contacts and gently erase the oxides. Then brush away any pencil-eraser debris.
That's called a Spring Lever Contact.
One warning about cleaning them: They may be made of copper-beryllium. Beryllium is highly toxic, do not use sandpaper on them. Inhaling the dust is bad news.
Better use good old acidic contact cleaner.
Sourcing them is a PITA. Most are long out of production and there were hundreds of them. Old TV repair shops may have them in stock if you can still find one.
Thank you. I will try with the pencil eraser, nice idea!
Unluckily I have no old TV repair shops around
