Restringing a Radio

[Gary Schafer]

Hi Ron

If it is good dial string it should not stretch as far as I know. To solve
the problem without redoing it, I would try hooking the spring in another
spot on the dial wheel to increase the tension if you can find a place to
hook it. I have even used a heavy piece of wire hooked to the other end of
the spring to make it reach to a spot that I could hook to. Even making a
turn around the capacitor drive shaft with the extension wire.
You could also try retying the knot to shorten the string. Or you may be
able to wrap a few turns of the string around a little piece of wire or
something that will enable you to shorten the string and anchor the wrap to
whatever you wrapped it on. Best to do all of this on the wheel so it does
not travel and get caught on anything.

Good luck
Gary  K4FMX


Ron Evans wrote:

> Here's hoping someone has dealt with this problem before and can offer
> some much-needed assistance.
>
> Recently, I restrung an old radio according to the drawing in the
> operating and maintenance manual, trying my best to get the tension on
> the string just right.  I used the right diameter dial cord obtained
> from Antique Electronic Supply.
>
> I was thrilled when I finally finished the job to find that everything
> worked perfectly from one end of the band to the other. No slipping and
> the red indicator moved up and down the band like a champ!  I set the
> radio away for a couple of weeks to "stomp out some other forest fires"
> around the house and then one night sat down to enjoy listening to the
> receiver I had restrung.
>
> Horror of horrors!
>
> Turning the frequency knob resulted in "slipping" of the string on the
> intricate system of pulleys and tension wheels, and the red indicator
> attached to the string just sat in one place as I frantically turned the
> knob. (Actually, the indicator moved about halfway down the sliderule
> type dial before it began slipping and then stopped completely in
> another inch or two.)
>
> I reached inside and plucked the string with my finger and found that it
> was VERY noticeably looser than when I had finished the restringing
> effort a few days before.
>
> I could only conclude that the dial cord had stretched. It was still
> strung exactly right around every little wheel with the right number of
> turns around each one.
>
> Apparently, the small spring on the main pulley where everything started
> and ended was unable to compensate for the stretching of the cord.
>
> I had never restrung a radio before and didn't know what I had done
> wrong. All I can think of so far is that maybe I was supposed to
> "pre-stretch" the cord for a week or so before doing the restringing.
> In what little I could find on the Internet and a few books I have, I
> never found any reference to this "pre-stretching."
>
> Can someone tell me if my theory is correct, and I should have
> pre-stretched the dial cord?  It very definitely has stretched, but I
> thought that dial cord was made in such a way to preclude that
> happening.
>
> Secondly, is there any way I can "fix" the problem OTHER THAN tearing
> the old receiver down to the ground again and starting all over from
> scratch?  It was a "bear" the first time, and I'm not really all that
> eager to tackle the job again.  But I may have to.
>
> Any help would be MOST appreciated!
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Ron - K5MVR  (since 1957 but feeling like a Novice! *grin*)