02-20-2021, 02:45 PM
Steve, thanks for the additional pictures. That Zenith is a great radio, and is going to be a wonderful player when you are done. Take your time with the restoration, and do it right. The folks here will be happy to help you out. Renovated Radios has all the rubber parts you will need, as well as the knobs. Here is the link to their page with the Zenith rubber parts http://renovatedradios.com/productlist.p...ondary=120 , and here is the link to their page with the Zenith knobs. http://renovatedradios.com/productlist.p...ondary=120 Believe me, these reproduction knobs look great, and are much cheaper than original wooden ones would be, plus they are available all at once. Take your time with the restoration. Yes, some of the parts to do it right are going to seem a little pricey, but that is what you have to pay for items that sell in small quantities to a niche audience. It is something that all of us in the hobby have to deal with. The trick is to take your time, and buy things along and along, fixing the radio as you get them. It does require patience, but this just adds to the feeling of satisfaction when you finally see the radio finished and performing as it did when it was new. I look forward to seeing your posts as you go along with your work.
Speaking of future posts, take LOTS of pictures as you work. Take several of the underside of the chassis from as close as you can focus the camera BEFORE you begin any work. Then take a picture at each stage as you go along with replacing the paper condensers, the electrolytic condensers, and any out of tolerance resistors. Don't let the term candohm throw you. It is just a long, tapped resistor mounted to the side of the chassis to dissipate heat. You can replace it with a terminal strip with suitable resistors soldered to it, or, if just one section of the candohm is bad, solder a replacement for that section between the terminals of the bad section, same resistance, and sufficient wattage to take the current which it will have to pass. All these pictures you take before and during the process will allow you to refer back in case you mess something up and need to see how things were earlier. They will also be fun for us all to see to follow your progress.
You might want to browse through some of the restoration threads on here from Ron, rfeenstra, and the rest, even me. You can see how we did things, and how to avoid mistakes we made, especially ME, LOL. Look at the cabinet restoration threads too. You can learn a LOT; things like what products to use, and what NOT to use, as well as how to use them. I know this is long, but I want to help you if I can so you will have a great radio when you are done; and, more importantly, the fun along the way, and the satisfaction of a job well done.
Speaking of future posts, take LOTS of pictures as you work. Take several of the underside of the chassis from as close as you can focus the camera BEFORE you begin any work. Then take a picture at each stage as you go along with replacing the paper condensers, the electrolytic condensers, and any out of tolerance resistors. Don't let the term candohm throw you. It is just a long, tapped resistor mounted to the side of the chassis to dissipate heat. You can replace it with a terminal strip with suitable resistors soldered to it, or, if just one section of the candohm is bad, solder a replacement for that section between the terminals of the bad section, same resistance, and sufficient wattage to take the current which it will have to pass. All these pictures you take before and during the process will allow you to refer back in case you mess something up and need to see how things were earlier. They will also be fun for us all to see to follow your progress.
You might want to browse through some of the restoration threads on here from Ron, rfeenstra, and the rest, even me. You can see how we did things, and how to avoid mistakes we made, especially ME, LOL. Look at the cabinet restoration threads too. You can learn a LOT; things like what products to use, and what NOT to use, as well as how to use them. I know this is long, but I want to help you if I can so you will have a great radio when you are done; and, more importantly, the fun along the way, and the satisfaction of a job well done.
