Bob, With respect to cleaning old tube chassis, there are several schools of thought: there are some who say never, others who do a careful washing with most of the chassis intact and others who do a removal of all power transformers followed by a run through the dishwasher.
I adhere to the belief that these sets will have 35 - 50 years of accumulated dust, nicotine, and other assorted crud that are better removed both for appearance and performance reasons. I tend to do the "careful wash", with the transformers still on the chassis, as most sets in decent shape only need this much cleaning. The key to these types of cleanings is to avoid submerging, keep the water away from the transformer as much as possible and remove the relay and all tubes, as well as the knobs and front panel. Use a good but not harsh cleaner, small soft paintbrushes and toothbrushes. Rinse with tap water, then do a second rinse with distilled water. put in the oven at the lowest setting for at least half a day, followed by a few days in a sunny window. If you go the dishwasher route (there are some sets that are SO cruddy that they may need this), it's best to remove the power and audio transformers first (as well as the relays). Avoid use of wetting agents (used for dishes after the wash and may have to be bypassed if yo uhave a dispenser). The info that I've seen on the website doesn't mention the transformers (because on the T-4 and TR-4 they're not on those chassis, so I'm thinking mainly about the receivers here as this pertains to Drake 4-line gear). Use common sense. I'm working on a set of A-Line twins right now where I've already washed the R-4A and it came out great! It was amazing now grey the rinse water was from cleaning the "clean-looking" underside of the chassis! No smoke, sparks, etc on power up - it does work better than it did before the wash but there's still work to be done. Work carefully and make sure you get the detergent into the tube sockets. Use that really soft paintbrush for the bandswitches (very carefully!). Good luck! Steve Wedge, W1ES Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:27:33 -0600 From: "AD5VJ Bob" <[email protected]> Subject: [Drakelist] Refurbishing a 'new to me' TR-3 To: <[email protected]> Message-ID: <a8ae577aa7334c858e549204f7c03...@rad9fbhb71> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I searched Google and found the WB4HF website. Thanks for have me as a part of what I feel is the prime part of Ham Radio. What a blessing this website is to me now. I am presently reading about the refurbishing portion of the planning stages. I dont see any recommended soaps, chemicals or cleansers. It does say to 'wash' the transceiver. Man does that make me nervous. Is that what it really means. 'Put it in the dishwasher' or is that a collector's term for something else? I have posted on my website pictures of my 'new to me' TR-3. A good friend of mine just gave it to me after it had sat dormant for years. All the cords are there and it is more than likely in working condition. It needs a little TLC as far as knocking the dust off of the top on the inside of the TR-3. I am not sure whether to just use some soap and water and let it dry real good or how to clean it up. Wont that hurt the tuning slugs? The underside of the transceiver looks brand spanking new, just the top is a bit messy. The power supply I plan on bringing up slowly over a weeks time using a Variac and each day increasing the voltage a little to warm the caps up a bit before full usage. Anyone with experience or ideas on refurbishing, please give it a look and make suggestions offline on the best way for me to proceed with the cleaning phase. http://www.myamericanaerial.com/station/drakerefurbish/ 73 fer nw, Bob AD5VJ _______________________________________________ Drakelist mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
