Alignment tool for Philco 70A trimmer capacitors
Gents,
I need an alignment non-metallic tool (hex nut driver type) in order to fine-tune the trimmer capacitors on my Philco 70A.
Where would I find such specific alignment tool ?
Your help in this matter is greatly appreciated..
Regards
Récepteur
Posts: 1,703
Threads: 55
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Evanston, IL
Use a plastic 3/8" diam. piece of tubing (hobby or craft shops) and heat up a 1/4" hex nut to "melt-in" an impression of the nut in one or both of the open ends.
Mr Schwark,
Thanks for the valuable trick.
Regards
Récepteur
Posts: 1,703
Threads: 55
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Evanston, IL
Mr. Schwark was my Dad.
I'm just Chuck, mon ami.
Chuck,
Merci !
Récepteur
Posts: 114
Threads: 31
Joined: Oct 2005
Chuck Schwark Wrote:Use a plastic 3/8" diam. piece of tubing (hobby or craft shops) and heat up a 1/4" hex nut to "melt-in" an impression of the nut in one or both of the open ends.
This may be an incredibly stupid question, but I don't ask I will never
know. Does the nut stay in the piece of tubing this grabbing onto the shall we call it male nut sticking out of the radio? It sounds to me like it does. What I'm picturing is something that has to grab onto the screw like device sticking out of the radio and turn this. Is this correct or ??
73 de,
Gary/N9VU
Posts: 1,703
Threads: 55
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Evanston, IL
The adjustments are 1/4" hex nuts in the older Philco IF cans and the compensator padders and trimmers - not screws.
Take a run-of-the-mill 6-32, 1/4" hex nut thread a long-ish screw into the nut before heating to allow pushing into the tubing end and removing after cooling off.
You are essentially making a plastic nut-driver. The original was harder phenolic, but the plastic will do fine.
Here's what an original "Philco Alignment Tool" (left) looks like:
[Image: http://www.philcorepairbench.com/images/...ools02.jpg]
[Image: http://www.philcorepairbench.com/images/...ools01.jpg]
Posts: 289
Threads: 40
Joined: Oct 2011
City: Las Vegas, NV
reviving a very old thread.
I'm messing with using 1/4" PEX (used for plumbing out here, about $1.60 for 4' here in vegas at lowes.)
My addition to the whole thing is instead of using a nut to put the hex into the tubing, I'm using a 1/4" allen wrench. using the long arm of the allen wrench gives you a 3" long 1/4" shank to drive into the tool, and the short arm makes for a good handle while working making the tool.
I'm trying to find a good way to heat the PEX instead of the tool to make it easier to form the tool.
John
Las Vegas, NV USA
Posts: 7,248
Threads: 266
Joined: Dec 2009
City: Roslyn Pa
Hi Guys
I just use a cheap BIC pen with the innards out of it. That and a little heat from a heat gun over the adjusting nut. I do like allen wrench idea too. Also a tiny speck of oil on the screw to help it turn easier isn't a bad thing.
GL
Terry
When my pals were reading comic books
I was down in the basement in my dad's
workshop. Perusing his Sam's Photofoacts
Vol 1-50 admiring the old set and trying to
figure out what all those squiggly meant.
Circa 1966
Now I think I've got!
Terry
Posts: 5,060
Threads: 269
Joined: Nov 2012
City: Bandon
State, Province, Country: OR
Alignment Tool:
Here's another way to make an alignment tool for those pesky 1/4" nut compensator/trimmer caps.
Take a 1/2" wooden dowel and place a NYLON 5/16 - 18x1 Socket Head Cap Screw (Grainger item# 4FVF8 ) into one end of the dowel. I just used epoxy to hold the screw into a hole drilled in the end of the dowel. You also need to drill a few millimeters into the socket head with a 3/16" bit to allow room for driver to fit onto the nut. Instead of a wooden dowel you can also use some PVC tubing for the handle. They are not pretty but it works. Here are a few pics:
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/075uq35qxdnoh2....jpg?raw=1]
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bqbv7mu4r401u8....jpg?raw=1]
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kwtmlgx08bk0d5....jpg?raw=1]
Posts: 797
Threads: 42
Joined: Dec 2008
City: Chicago, IL
Nicely done. I just wrapped some electrical tape around a steel nut driver on a recent Philco 60 alignment. While it prevented shorts to the chassis (some of those trimmers are hot!), the metal did affect the capacitance a bit. I compensated by tweaking the trimmer past the peak and checked the result one the tool was removed. It would certainly be easier with a non-conductive tool like you made
Posts: 28
Threads: 0
Joined: Nov 2013
City: Tucson, AZ
The business end if that tool appears to be a nylon capscrew. Add that to a piece of dowel, and PRESTO: Alignment tool! Careful drilling the center of the cap screw. The threaded part the alignment cap rides on come out of the center of the nut.
Posts: 5,060
Threads: 269
Joined: Nov 2012
City: Bandon
State, Province, Country: OR
Yep, as mentioned in the post its a NYLON 5/16 - 18x1 Socket Head Cap Screw (Grainger item# 4FVF8 ), you only need to drill out a millimeter or so in the center of the cap screw head.
Posts: 11
Threads: 6
Joined: Feb 2013
City: Camino, CA
Sets like the Philco model 45 'butterfly' require a 1/4" nut driver to adjust the compression style trimmers in the IF cans, but the clearance into the top of the cans is very, very narrow. I got away with a recent alingment on my model 45 by doing this melt-forming trick with a very thin piece of plastic tubing, but I had to cut off and remake the nut-end after each can, as the plastic didn't hold up well in use. Basically, it was a single-use tool. Sombody needs to make a really high quality, thin-walled example of this tool from a material that's got some durability.
Posts: 7,248
Threads: 266
Joined: Dec 2009
City: Roslyn Pa
There is a member making a tool but I'm not sure how thick the outside edge is. He uses a nylon 1/4 cap head bolt and a plastic tube. I could use a thin walled one too as my old HRO has a similar arrangement. The trimmers a very tight so the bp pen doesn't cut it. I generally find the Philco trimmers once loosened w/nut driver not difficult to manipulate w/ bp pen.
GL
When my pals were reading comic books
I was down in the basement in my dad's
workshop. Perusing his Sam's Photofoacts
Vol 1-50 admiring the old set and trying to
figure out what all those squiggly meant.
Circa 1966
Now I think I've got!
Terry
(This post was last modified: 06-19-2018, 08:07 PM by Radioroslyn.)
Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)
|
Recent Posts
|
Cannot Adjust an IF Transformer’s cores
|
Joseph, now you are an engineer!!RodB — 06:37 PM |
PT-6 antenna connections
|
Hi, reading your explanation I can see the confusion. If you take it one connection at a time it should result in a desi...RodB — 06:34 PM |
Cannot Adjust an IF Transformer’s cores
|
It works! I received the PCBs this morning in the mail, and put everything together. I reused the base from the original...jrblasde — 04:32 PM |
PT-6 antenna connections
|
I seem to have lost my way on this PT-6.
I see the antenna aerial transformer schematic - I’m reading pins 1 through ...bridkarl — 12:30 PM |
40-150 General questions
|
Good thing you're a good electrician ... the pictures show a lot of rewiring in your future! Take care and BE HEALTHY!...GarySP — 11:52 AM |
40-150 General questions
|
I think RobB has it right. It is a part number and looks like its stamped on the chassis and that wasn't something you ...klondike98 — 11:41 AM |
40-150 General questions
|
It's most likely a part number. Most of Philco part numbers are in that format. I looked at the parts list for this mode...RodB — 08:10 AM |
40-150 General questions
|
Hi Kevin,
No, I don't but I like your Quote about being a good electrician. The way I look at it is "The fact ...MrFixr55 — 08:06 AM |
Philco 38-7 Speaker
|
7K should be fine. While not a perfect match (This transformer is meant for 6V6 tubes), Antique Electronic Supply (AES)...MrFixr55 — 08:03 AM |
40-150 General questions
|
I discovered a stamp on the underside of the breadboard on my Philco 40-150. It is"56-1417' in black ink with numbe...Kevin_D — 07:14 AM |
Who's Online
|
There are currently 2649 online users. [Complete List] » 1 Member(s) | 2648 Guest(s)
|
|
|
![>](https://philcoradio.com/phorum/images/bootbb/asb/right_arrow.png)
|