Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

Once the cable was in the pin terminal assembly, I pulled it all snug with my fingers and then bend the copper core 90 degrees over the tip of the pin to secure the cable at the inner end of the pin terminal assembly. The pin is a nicely rolled tube and I made certain the core was bend 180 degrees away from this rolled seam. I wanted to take advantage of that seam for solder to wick down the full length of the pin to ensure a solid bond between the copper core wire and the inner wall of the pin. You can see that slot facing the camera in the first photo.

I then placed a small ring of solder round the base of the pin at the front end of the sleeve with the cable held vertically in a small bench vice. My plan was to use a propane torch for the soldering rather than an iron, to avoid any lateral load on the pin from holding an iron to it to heat the pin. I did not want the pin ending up on an angle. I also had to ensure the base of the pin was firmly soldered to the metal sleeve assembly for maximum pin stability. This would also make the pin terminal ‘hot’ electrically, just like the originals were.

When I heated the tip of the pin with the propane torch, I could watch the small solder ring at the base, as soon as it melted, I could remove the flame from the pin and add solder to the tip of the pin to secure the copper wire core inside it. I could also then go back and add more solder to the base joint, if necessary. It worked out pretty slick.

Once the pin had cooled, I snipped off the excess copper wire core from the tip of the pin and filed down any excess solder from the pin and base of the terminal assembly.

The final part of this work was sorting out the insulating sheath to be applied over the Pin Terminal Assembly, as per the original. Once the insulating sheath is applied to this end, by default, it becomes the Receiver end of this LEADS Assembly, as it will no longer fit through the eye screws along the top front of the three 52-Set Components in the Carriers No. 4. The manual makes note that the Operator must always insert this cable, exposed Pin Terminal first, from the Receiver side of the setup. The illustrations and photos in the 52-Set manuals are not that detailed for this information, but I had a similar Aerial Lead for my 19-Set I used for reference. I also had a section of the right, thick walled heat shrink tubing that just slipped over the Pin Terminal Sleeve. Once cut to a suitable length, slipped into place and given a shot from a heat gun, I was done.

This Sub Project will continue.

David