Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Afternoon, Mike.

From the ends, up close, it is just a form of 1940’s ‘plastic’ sleeve. The jumpers are solid tinned copper leads and I think these black sleeves were just an added insurance against the leads shorting against the chassis behind the panel, as a possible result of any misadventure the receiver might be involved in.

They are slightly loose on the leads but for the most part do not move easily due to these leads having been drawn in rather close to the back of the panel when soldered in place.

So basically just the solid lead and the sleeve, Mike.

Best regards,

David

It's also a lot more efficient for the assembly line workers: no tedious stripping of insulation (with the risk of nicking the conductor and creating a weak spot). Just a spool of tinned copper wire, a pair of sidecutters, and a tray of pre-cut sleeving (or a reel and pair of scissors, but pre-cut is faster).

Feed the wire through the first tag, slip the sleeving on, feed the end through the second tag, wind the end round the second tag, (snip end if necessary), pull wire taut and wind around first tag, then cut it and move on to the next pair of tags, Soldering would be the last step, possibly by a different operator.

Because it's all rigidly fixed (and I'm sure we've all cursed the construction method employed when trying to remove components fitted like this), it can be inspected before soldering and any mis-wiring rectified, then tested after soldering.

Wiring looms would be built on a board with nails/pegs or clips to hold the end of each lead, marked for wiring colour, and laced on the board ready for installation.

(I don't know if you've ever considered the WS19 control boxes, but they must have been built in the open, probably in a jig to hold the switches and connectors in the correct position, before being folded into the right shape and fitted to the outer shell of the box.)

Best regards,
Chris.