De-greasers and more

[Bob Jackson]

Paul -

Thanks for the tips! Here's what I've done and accomplished ...

1. On CLOSE inspection, the aluminum rail that the dial pointer rides on was slightly warped. That's now straight.

2. When trying to apply #2 pencil graphite to the rail, I determined that it was more than a bit more dirty than casual visual inspection would detect. Several carb-cleaner soaked Q-tips and a healthy (but careful) application of 0000 steel wool brought it back to like new.

3. (Are you ready for this?) Turns out that National mounted the main tuning cap on to the chassis with three small screws in over-sized holes - I guess to allow for some final adjustment. I've seen this in kits but factory-assembled radios that I've inspected, the main tuning cap was always spot-welded to the chassis. Perhaps National's copper chassis wouldn't allow a permanent mounting. Said screws were loose enough to allow the cap to torque a bit when the dial was moved. Realignment of the cap and torquing down the screws tightly was accomplished with some bother.

4. The final nail in the coffin of my problem was upping the dial cord tension by hooking the tension spring one notch further back than it was.

Problem solved.

Thanks again for your assistance.

Bob
AG5X


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Paul Kraemer 
  To: Bob Jackson 
  Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 5:25 PM
  Subject: Re: De-greasers and more


  Bob
  I would examine carefully the pointer travel if it is slide-rule dial
  They can hang mercilessly in one direction and not the other
  I have lubed the edge of dial where pointer travels by rubbing a soft lead 
  pencil along the edge
  Paul K0UYA
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: "Bob Jackson" <>
  To: <BOATANCHORS at LISTS.TEMPE.GOV>
  Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 5:04 PM
  Subject: De-greasers and more


  Fellow BA-ers ...

  I've now tried the recommended 50/50 mix of ammonia and Formula 409 and have 
  had some good results.  Being ever curious about such things, I wonder if 
  anyone on the BA reflector has tried other de-greasers such as the 
  automotive engine cleaners, e.g. Gunk. Also, in the past, I've used carb 
  cleaner on things other than carbs (when cars HAD carbs). It's usually a mix 
  of common petroleum solvents such as MEK, Acetone, and others. Has anyone 
  had luck with any of these cleaning a dirty chassis, etc. ?

  For the "more" part ...

  I'm in the process of restoring a National NC-121. All is going quite well 
  except for the main tuning mechanism. It works smoothly in right-to-left 
  tuning (high to low freq) but quite hard in the other direction to the point 
  of dial cord slippage. I've tried lubing the main tuning cap shaft and knob 
  axle to no avail. Adding tension on the dial cord doesn't help. Has anyone 
  else experienced this syndrome and how did you fix it?

  73 to all,

  Bob
  AG5X

  -----------------------------------------------------------
  This list is a public service of the City of Tempe, Arizona
  -----------------------------------------------------------

  Subscription control - 
  http://www.tempe.gov/lists/control.aspx?list=BOATANCHORS
  To post - BOATANCHORS at LISTS.TEMPE.GOV
  Archives - http://lists.tempe.gov/archives/BOATANCHORS.html 


-----------------------------------------------------------
This list is a public service of the City of Tempe, Arizona
-----------------------------------------------------------

Subscription control - http://www.tempe.gov/lists/control.aspx?list=BOATANCHORS
To post - BOATANCHORS at LISTS.TEMPE.GOV
Archives - http://lists.tempe.gov/archives/BOATANCHORS.html