Removing stuck coil slugs

[Ed Richards]

Hi, all;

I want to pass along something I learned by chance. I recently had a
radio with three stuck coil slugs. One was cracked, the other two
appeared not to be. The coil forms were plastic and I figured the plastic
shrunk over the years and had a death grip on the slugs. I tried
everything I could think of to free them, to no avail. The last thing I
did was put a few drops of penetrating oil in each coil form and let it
sit over night. The next morning they were no better. so I started to
drill them out. I started with the smallest bit that wouldn't go through
the slug, and increased one size at a time.  I noticed they drilled real
easy compared to some I had done before, dry. On the third bit the slug
crumpled and came out in chunks and like dust. All I had to do was pass a
Q-tip through each one to clean out the debris, and retap the coil forms
with a 10-32 tap. New slugs went right in and turned easily.

I figure the penetrating oil softened the binder for the powdered iron
and made it like putty. Give it a try .

Regards,
Ed Richards

Listserver Subscription:listserv at listserv.tempe.gov - "subscribe heath 'name' 'call'"
Listserver Submissions: heath at listserv.tempe.gov
Listserver Unsubscribe: listserv at listserv.tempe.gov - -"signoff heath"