Sencore fe160 half dead?

[wd5jfr]

Just got one that that lacks meter indication. I've seen all the previous posts elsewhere  on the FE160, but no help.  The manual (https://bama.edebris.com/download/sencore/fe160/fe160.pdf) description of its operation doesn't make sense in many places and what I found is that is a careless and poorly edited rewrite of the FE20 operation. Some parts are not listed. The power supply voltages are correct after I figured out that chassis is not ground. Having said that I inspected and poked the solder joints wiggled and tugged wires  and again no indications.  I was going to spray the switches but decided against that since they are pretty well sealed and Sencore says they test for a million operations. By the looks of the unit it hasn't has much use as there's very little evidence of wear and tear and is very clean.. It may have been a shelf queen from early failure. I exercised all the pushbuttons many, many times and found that it responds only to AC voltage but about 15% to 20% low.  Tell me if I'm wrong but I think this is an indication that the balance bridge is functional to some degree. When I touch the TR1 input green wire  the meter responds while I have my finger tip on a 9 volt battery which I assume is another indication that the bridge is working. This leads me to believe that there might be  a single point of failure in the switch arrays or a common joint or wire lead that affects ohms, DC volts & current. The ZERO adjust knob is functional but OHMS ADJ is not.  Any suggestions on what the failure or failures might be  (other than me & my 82yrs age)  appreciated.
Hank

[Whitefoot]

I just noticed this. Last time I used my FE160, cleaning the switches was necessary to get it working. I like a cleaner with silicone added to lubricate after cleaning, like MG Chemicals contact cleaner with silicones.

The meter movement on mine is over-damped - whenever I use it, I tap the side of the case and the needle slowly reaches the full reading. I think this may be common due to the large meter size.

Contact cleaner will probably be useful on the OHMS pot.