[Heath] AR-3 issues

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

THanks, Chris. Makes sense. I'll see if it is worth the effort. Maybe I'll just leave it 1:1

Ken

On 19 Oct 2018 at 14:43, ChrisIwata via Heath wrote:

> 
> If you are hell-bent on getting your AR-3 working, you can buy a 
> reduction drive from Dan's Small Parts.  These are good quality Jackson 
> Bros NOS and can stand quite a bit of torque.  I've used them on many 
> rigs I've built.  They're  in the $15 category plus shipping.   I used 
> one on my SB-104 VFO.
> 
> This requires surgery.  You'll accept that your AR-3 variable cap is 
> 1:1.  You'll cut the shaft, add the reduction drive, then connect the 
> dial-cord wheel and knob on the other end.  You'll have to also figure 
> out how to mount the reduction drive so it is stable.
> 
>   Lotsa work, but you'll be back in  business
> 
> Chris, KL7DM
> 
> On 10/19/2018 11:42 AM, Fred wrote:
> > I had this problem with an AR-2. At first I thought it was supposed to be 1:1. I removed the tuning cap and soaked the shaft with Liquid Wrench. It took a lot of working it free by hand but it works smoothly now. It´s a planetary drive with three small ball bearings. There´s no way I  see  to  disassemble it without destroying it.
> > Unfortunately, I need the vernier dial for my AR-3 also. I have the brass shaft bushing but the plastic disc is cracked in half. I hope to try and fashion one.
> >
> > Fred
> > WA3KIO
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >> On Oct 19, 2018, at 1:05 PM, Kenneth G. Gordon <kgordon2006 at frontier.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> I want to restore at least one of the two AR-3s I have here since my very first Novice
> >> receiver in 1956 was an AR-3. I couldn't afford a cabinet for it.
> >>
> >> Previous to that, I had worked all summer for my step-father's construction company to buy
> >> a DX-35, which I used subsequently for many years.
> >>
> >> The BFO in my first AR-3 never worked and due, at least partially, to that problem, I made
> >> exactly two contacts my entire Novice year, one of which was a local about 2 miles away.
> >>
> >> I subsequently studied hard and passed my Conditional Class license test the next year,
> >> 1957, at which time a sub-contractor for my step-father's general construction company
> >> gave me a Hallicrafters S-41G which he had found abandoned in the basement of the home
> >> he had recently bought. At least the BFO in that thing worked.
> >>
> >> I made many contacts with that almost-useless piece of junk receiver. Subsequent to that,
> >> my Mother took pity on me and bought a BC-348 for me. Then I was in heaven.
> >>
> >> Now, I want to restore an AR-3 mainly to see just how bad it really was/is when it is working
> >> at "peak efficiency".
> >>
> >> The main problem I am having with BOTH of these two AR-3s is that although the
> >> main-tuning capacitor in the AR-3 normally has a built-in 5:1 vernier, BOTH of mine are
> >> frozen solid and are now a simple 1:1 dial.
> >>
> >> I propose to remove the capacitors and soak them in a jar filled to the brim with PB-Blaster
> >> in hopes that the stuff will soak down into the mechanism and loosen at least one of them
> >> up.
> >>
> >> But, does anyone here have anything which might work better to do this?
> >>
> >> Ken W7EKB
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