[Ed Locker]

I ordered and received a dial for a Philco 46-1201 from him a couple weeks ago.

It's a perfect replacement and cheaper than RD. 

Ed

[Ron Ramirez]

Remember, Clinton Blais was the original repro dial scale guy back in the 1990s (1980s?). When he passed, Mark Oppat took over his business.

But...apparently there were some uncut scales left behind that Mark didn't get. This eBay seller somehow ended up with them and now we can benefit from the limited stock.

[Ron Ramirez]

After a triple whammy of a back injury from push mowing a very steep bank/ditch, a chemo session, and a fall in my living room resulting in a knee injury...I haven't done much with my T8-14 until this week.

My repro dial scale arrived on October 4. I've set it aside where I know where to find it, as I will not install it until I am finished with electronic restoration, and just before an alignment.

I hate rubber-covered wiring...

   

I had been replacing components and wiring along the back side of the chassis. I restuffed as many of the original caps as I could. Unfortunately a couple had been replaced and these could not be restuffed, so you see the yellow film caps in place of the originals.

The next job is to start replacing rubber-covered wiring in the vicinity of the three coil sections.

   

The oscillator section was easy. But to be able to adequately reach everything in the detector coil and antenna coil sections, I found it worked better to remove the vertical shields which were bolted between sections.

   

In the photo above, I've replaced all of the rubber-covered wiring except those in the vicinity of the antenna coil (top of photo). Since I took that photo, I have replaced those wires as well. There were two .05 uF caps tucked in between coil sections; these, too, were restuffed and reinstalled.

Now it's time to tackle the power supply. Oh, and there are a few wires on top of the chassis needing replacement, as well as a .01 uF cap encased in a metal cylinder mounted to the front of the chassis which will require restuffing and reinstallation.

I've run out of Solen Fast caps, so I ordered a few more from AES. Unfortunately they are being sent via USPS, and the box sat in Tempe/Phoenix for three days before starting to move. So I won't have them before the next chemo session, which is this coming Wednesday.

I will get this radio finished eventually.

[mikethedruid]

You're making great progress, Ron ! I am enjoying seeing how our techniques vary, yours being more like a museum restoration which attempts to preserve the original look of components as well as completely refurbishing the electronics. I always worry that 50 years from now re-stuffed condensers may fool some later day repair person, so I just replace them and don't disguise my work. Keep up your strength and spirits, both are important in the fight you are in. I'm pulling for you and pray you will make a full recovery. I really look forward to the next posting about your progress refurbishing this radio. I know what great performers they are, certainly right up there with a Philco 37-630.

Mike

[Ron Ramirez]

Thanks Mike. I appreciate your very kind words. But I don't consider my restorations to be museum quality. You want true museum quality...take a look at some of Russ' (Phlogiston) work.

All I managed to get done on the T8-14 this weekend was to replace all of the grid wires on top of the chassis, along with one mica cap and one resistor. I also cleaned and polished all of the IF and RF shield cans.

Waiting for some Solen Fast caps from Arizona. It will be a couple weekends before I can get back to this one.

[Ron Ramirez]

So here is where I'm at on the T8-14:

   

As you can see, the individual shields are back in place after a cleaning and polish. They had some powder on them, which is why they were cleaned and polished (I was wearing a mask at the time). Not taking any chances in case the powder was cadmium, which is likely even though the powder was not yellow. They did polish up fairly well, and for now at least, they are coated with Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish which is a great all around cleaner and polish for metals.

Still to do: Replace the two-section Candohm (R18 & R19) near the electrolytics, and to restuff and reinstall the electrolytics. Also, it needs a new power cord. Oh yes, C32 (.01 uF, in metal cylinder) and C33 (33 pF) also need to be replaced. I've already removed the R18-R19 Candohm.

The three-section B-C Candohm (R15-R16-R17) was still good, so I left it in place. We shall see if it holds up well once the radio is done and power applied for the first time in...who knows when.

   

You can see the new grid leads on top of the chassis in the photo above. Those IF and RF coil shields were also given the Mother's treatment, but I have found that Mother's won't polish up those RCA coil shields although it will clean them.

More to come in 1-1/2 to 2 weeks...

[morzh]

Ron,

the chassis looks very clean and nice. Did you simply wipe it with some paper towel and a cleaner? It did not look like it would require much more than that, the top was simply dusty and the bottom clean, as it is most of the times.

[Ron Ramirez]

Mike

Thanks. Other than cleaning/polishing the coil shields, I only went over the top of the chassis with some compressed air to get rid of some dust. I did not clean the chassis. It looks better in the photo than it does in "real life"; it could probably benefit from some cleaning but I don't think I'll bother.

[Phlogiston]

Thanks for the compliment Ron.

One use for the brush-plating kits that MIGHT actually work is repairing SMALL rusted spots on the chassis following a complete rust removal using navel jelly or the appropriate abrasion. I have had satisfactory results on copper plated chassis and using nickel on others - need to make/get a zinc kit. Saying this because I see what looks like one rust spot on an otherwise clean chassis.

OR, you could just finger paint on some cheap silver paint. ( cheap paint seems to be closer to old-time silver paint, whereas most new "silver" paint tries to mimic chrome and is very bright/missing the greenish cast of old plating and paint). Just use your finger to wipe a small amount on like stain. This will avoid the freshly painted spot look.

[Ron Ramirez]

Russ

Now that you mention it, I can see three small rust spots in the picture. I have some EvapoRust Gel, and this might be a good test for the stuff once I've recovered from this current round of chemo (I don't feel like going to be basement workbench now, and I won't for several more days). I know the regular EvapoRust works great, but you have to dip what you want to clean in the stuff. Nathan says the gel version works as well as the liquid. I might follow the EvapoRust Gel treatment with some cheap silver paint as you suggested.

[Ron Ramirez]

Back to work on this radio. Finally.

I installed replacements for the R18-R19 candohm resistor a few evenings ago.

Much of today was spent rebuilding the electrolytic cans. One of the two, C39 (10 uF) had been replaced with a Solar cap with positive and negative terminals under the chassis molded into what appears to be Bakelite. It is a very hard substance. More on that shortly.

Here's the Solar can, cut open:

   

Now that Bakelite (?) base. I found that the inside end of the terminals were aluminum, not steel or copper. Naturally. So the only way this could be rebuilt (without aluminum solder, that is) would be to drill two holes through the Bakelite.

A regular drill bit barely put a dent in the stuff. I have a few concrete bits, so I selected the smallest one I have, chucked it in my battery operated Ryobi drill, set it for hammer drill operation, and easily drilled the two holes I needed.

   

   

I then added a new 10 uF Solen Fast capacitor.

   

Finally, the parts of the can were put back together.

   

[Ron Ramirez]

I glued the halves of C39 back together and set it aside for awhile. I also restuffed C40 with two Solen Fast 8.2 uF caps (connected in parallel to end up with 16.4 uF, close enough to the original 18 uF).

C41, 4 uF, was sealed in tar inside a cardboard tube. Looking through the junkbox, I found an old United Chemicon electrolytic can from an old piece of stereo gear. I opened and gutted the can, using the empty can only as a cover for the new Nichicon 4.7 uF electrolytic that has been installed to replace C41.

After the glue dried, I installed C39 and C40, and connected the pertaining wires. I also connected the wires of C41.

Here's a look under the chassis as things stand now:

   

and a close-up of the restuffed electrolytics and the replacements for the Candohm (R18-R19):

   

It was easy to find a replacement for R18, 7500 ohms. For R19, 9200 ohms, I had to use a 9000 ohm resistor and a 200 ohm resistor.

Above the chassis now:

   

   

Still to do:

* Attach new cloth-covered power cord.
* Test all tubes.
* If all tubes are good...power it up and see how things are.

We're getting close to the finish line with this one...

[mikethedruid]

Nice work, Ron. I look forward to hearing how it comes out. Once you align it again, and peak everything, I'm sure you will be very pleased. I know my RCA is a great performer.

[Phlogiston]

On those filter caps, I usually drill a small hole in the metal stud its self. It is easier than drilling the Bakelite.

[Eliot Ness]

Looking good Ron  

I usually drill a small hole in the metal stud its self. It is easier than drilling the Bakelite.

That's a good idea also.