Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - Printable Version
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+--- Thread: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core (/showthread.php?tid=26762)
Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - captainclock1988 - 10-13-2026
Hello, does anyone know how to remove a broken diddle stick from an IF Can adjustment core? I was adjusting the IF alignment on my 1960 Zenith C845Y radio and the diddle stick I was using decided to break off inside the IF Can adjustment core, and I can't seem to get it out by turning the chassis upside down and shaking it.
Does anyone have any experience with this issue and if so what did you do to remove the diddle stick remains from the IF Can? Is it a matter of having to completely disassemble the IF Can or is it simpler than that?
Any help with this issue would be appreciated.
462ron - 462ron - 10-14-2026
Hi Captain, if that IF transformer is one that uses a hexagon shaped core, you might be able to insert another stick from underneath and work your way up to where the broken stick is and gently push and work it back out.
Ron
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - captainclock1988 - 10-14-2026
Hi Ron, indeed this is the type that uses the hexagon core, but unfortunately there isn't any access from the bottom, as its the type that has to be accessed from the top (both the top and bottom core) all there is on the bottom is a threaded rod with a 1/4" nut threaded onto it.
462ron - 462ron - 10-15-2026
Ouch! Then that is a bit of a problem. If there is a bit of a stub showing then maybe you could grab it with a very small tweezers. If it’s broke off flush, then probably will require surgery by removing the can and taking the guts out. With the innards taken out then possibly you can get at it from the bottom then. Also, if there is some of the coil form that sticks up beyond the upper coil, you could gingerly cut it back some to gain better access to the top core and the broken stick! Not an easy solution but nothing to lose at this point. GL.
Ron
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - radiorich - 10-15-2026
Hello captainclock1988 ,
you might take something thin and sharp and push that piece out of the center !
Richard
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - captainclock1988 - 10-15-2026
Unfortunately it looks like its going to require some surgery to take fix this issue, because there doesn't seem to be an easy way to get at that broken diddle stick, because it broke off flush with the top of the core and so there's no way to dig it out with tweezers, but thankfully there isn't many wires or components attached to the IF can underneath so it should be pretty simple to do.
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - RodB - 10-15-2026
If you have the piece that broke off can you put a tiny drop of super glue on the center and put it back together? Or maybe a substitute piece of wood or plastic.
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - morzh - 10-15-2026
I suggest epoxying the remaining piece to the piece inside (be judicious with the amount of epoxy, just enough) and then just pull it out.
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - RodB - 10-15-2026
Mike, that's easy for you to say. How many diddles have you fixed?
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - morzh - 10-15-2026
There ain't no fixing needed. Only extraction. It's smooth plastic, right? One of them red rods?
Like these?
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - radiorich - 10-15-2026
Hello mike,
Great thinking !
Sincerely Richard
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - captainclock1988 - 10-16-2026
I just ordered a new diddle stick the other day and it should be arriving today so I should be able to work on the radio with it.
like I said this is one of those Zenith IF Cans that has the Primary on the bottom and the secondary on top and the only way to adjust it is to go in all the way with the right diddle stick (the hexagon type) and adjust the primary and then pull it out and go in partially and adjust the secondary, also my hand isn't steady enough for me to try and use superglue to try and pull the broken diddle stick out with, I would just end up getting glue all over the core and end up gluing the core shut so it couldn't be adjusted ever again, and that's not my goal here.
And yes, the one I am trying to extract is like one of those red ones pictured in morzh'z post, but mine was clear rather than red.
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - morzh - 10-16-2026
My hands (especially the left) aren't that steady either. Not the worst (it is intentional tremor), and I am able to solder down to 0402 SMT sizes down, but requires some ... strategic hands positioning. I would be able to do this without much problem.
The trick is:
1. Take the broken piece, don't dip into the glue/epoxy, but just touch it. This will make sure most (or all) glue is at the tip and not around.
2. Remember: the actual well is made for thatr hexagon and is wider than the stick that broke, so you have space.
3. Insert the stick (possibly let it drop into the well), make sure it touched down, and leave it be for whatever time it takes for the glue to cure.
4. Simply pull. If there is little resistance (cannot be much) - overpower it gently.
You got nothing to lose.
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - captainclock1988 - 10-16-2026
Morzh, my hands are unstable due to the medications I take for my Autism and ADHD and Partial Complex Seizure Disorder I have, so both my right and left hand have tremors, and its bad enough that I have screwed up soldering jobs in the past, for example I was attempting to repair my mom's old Sanyo all-in-one stereo from 1985 and I accidentally broke the dial string because I got the soldering iron too close to the dial string because my hand was shaky enough that it slipped and hit the dial string which was made of nylon and it broke the string, I was trying to replace the dial pointer LED indicator light and when I was attempting to unsolder the old LED Bulb from the wire that it was soldered to, that was when the soldering iron slipped and hit the dial string and broke it, I've also accidentally melted capacitors that way too, because when I was trying to solder the leads of the capacitors into the radio I was working on the soldering iron slipped and hit the capacitor case and melted the capacitor shell. So that's why I try to limit myself to work that isn't horribly fine (I try to avoid SMD work for that reason.)
RE: Broken Diddle Stick removal from IF Can Core - morzh - 10-16-2026
Can you ask someone? Don't we have someone here close enough to you in IN?