[jhgrahamjr]

Hey,

Thanks for the tips! this one has been ultrasonically cleaned, but the blades were corrosion free to start with. The blades are just too close together, pushed towards the front, and almost (and probably) touching the stator plates.

I can't speak for your model 43, but I've had trouble with rotor & stator plates touching on tuning capacitors in the past, causing the same symptoms you're describing. I tried to get an even gap on each side once they are in the closed condition, using a set of narrow width feeler gauges to check the spacing. In one case, I used a set of tiny jewelers files or some fine grit, stiff backed sandpaper to open the stubborn gap when there was corrosion causing the crackling.