Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

It has been a very good weekend for getting things done on the Main Set Receiver. One huge three part bit of work and a couple of detail items accomplished.

The first small item was getting the blue paint daub reapplied to the top of the Crystal Calibrator Chassis to denote all valves therein had be properly aged in prior to installation of the calibrator. One small piece of the original paint had survived. It is nothing fancy, just a random daub (more correctly a grouping of daubs of blue paint) just smaller than a 5-Cent Piece.

I could not find a 1944 Nickel in my coin bin for the photo, so a 1945 had to step in.

Before I forget, again, the paint I found that was a close match to the original is ‘TREMCLAD GLOSS MEDIUM BLUE’. I sprayed some in an empty cat food tin and daubed it on with a cotton q-tip. It is an enamel and with take several hours to dry to the touch and about 24 hours to cure under normal household temperatures.

David

[David Dunlop]

The biggest chunk of work on the 52-Set Main Receiver this weekend involved, three separate, but interconnected tasks, with a small extra one tossed in for good measure.

The collective objective was to finish off replacing all rusted or damaged components and hardware on the lower front panel, and the items being attended to were the Voltmeter, Holders ,Lamp, Loudspeaker and lower right Mounting Bracket.

The Voltmeter needed to be replaced with the one from the spare receiver as it has a cracked Lucite face and I need to send it off to be repaired. The original three mounting screws are also badly rusted. Rusted screws and a needed cleaning were needed with the Holders, Lamp and rusted hardware again with the Loudspeaker. Both the lower mounting bracket and its two screws were rusted and to be replaced.

Accessing the hardware for the Holders, Lamp and Loudspeaker is very bad, unless the Voltmeter is removed from the panel, and that is the primary reason all three bits of work were combined. The Voltmeter on the 52-Set, however, has its own challenges. Unlike the 19-Set, the hardware for the 52-Set Voltmeter does not screw directly into the front panel assembly. It has its own independent hex nuts behind the panel to contend with. Before you start that, however, it is a good idea to remove the two meter leads from their terminals at the back of the meter, while the meter is still secure.

I found the best way of getting the meter hardware off was to jamb a fingertip against the back of the hex nut to hold it in place while you unscrew and remove the mounting screw. 6BA screws and hex nuts were very likely the original hardware. I found one of these top dead centre. The other two were 4-40 items. Once the screw was out of its hex nut, I moved the nut along the back of the panel to a point where I could capture it with a small shop magnet.

Once you have removed the three hardware sets, you can give the meter a little nudge from the rear so you can grasp the front rim and slide it out of the panel. He aware, the fit is snug and I found the years of dirt accumulation on the top of the back of the meter was sufficient to bind the meter. But you can wiggle it free.

The thought of reinstalling the meter was a daunting one until I bounced the topic off Jacques Fortin. He suggested gluing the hex nuts in place first. Brilliant ,and I modified that by using clear nail polish instead. I reinstalled the good hardware, but slightly loose initially. It is extremely important to ensure the flats of the hex nuts are lined up perpendicular to the circumference of the meter opening in the panel. Looking directly into the meter opening, the hex nuts must be completely invisible, otherwise the body of the meter will hang up on them. And if you have glued them in place…

Once I had the hardware set up correctly, I applied the nail polish to the outer edges of the hex nuts, making very sure to keep the polish away from the screw threads at all costs. Then give it a full 24 hours to cure before carefully removing the screws. Insert the meter back into the panel and replace the screws. Again, at this point do not try forcing the screws into the hex nuts, You may push the nuts off the back of the panel. Let the threads on each find each other. If you want, cafefully jamb a fingertip back onto the backs of each nut until the screw is all the way through, for a little extra insurance. Once all three screws are installed, reattached the meter leads to the rear terminals and you are good to go.

While the meter in out, I used the extra space to replace the top two Loudspeaker screws. Kept a finger on the hex nuts at all times. While removing the old screw and installing the new ones. The lower two can easily be reached from the bottom of the chassis and for this, just lay the receiver on it’s left side. Same goes for the lower right side mounting bracket hardware.

The two photos are of the new meter hardware curing in place and of the Main Set Receiver with all its new and improved bits. It has come a very long way in the past year.

David

[David Dunlop]

When I cleaned up the meter needing repairs to its Lucite face, I was surprised at how much more readable the various stamps on the back of it were, compared to the same type of DeJur Company Voltmeter I commented on back in Post #140. I was, however, expecting the same 5-digit number to show up on the bottom half of the back of the meter, but this one had ‘150 14’ on it, not ‘150 24’. No clue at all at this point of the significance of these numbers.

There is also a small error to be accounted for in that earlier Post. The yellow stencil on the top edge of the meter body is a much larger font on this meter and clearly reads ‘MI4’ The smaller font I earlier posted about looked like ‘ASA’ to me back then, but on closer examination after cleaning up this meter, I can see it also reads ‘MI4’. Again, yet another mystery.

David

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Nice work Dave. 52 sets have to be one of the prettiest out there.

[David Dunlop]

The Main Set Receiver and Remote Receiver are finally now running pretty much parallel to each other in their restoration process. It took a little longer to get the Main Set Receiver up to match the Remote Receiver than I had initially anticipated, but we are there now.

The next thing I plan to do is clean all the switch contacts on all the rotary switches of each receiver. I know the meter switches on both receivers are not as responsive as I would expect them to be, and a few positions on both require a bit of fiddling to find their sweet spots in regards to getting a good connection for the electrons to travel through. Some oxidation of contacts is to be expected, but it has to go.

Once that is done, my British Valve Adapter will finally get its workout and all valves will be tested in both receivers. While testing the valves, I thought I might as well take advantage of that opportunity to clean all the contact surfaces in the valve sockets and the pins on the valves themselves. If oxidation can build up on the inactive switch contacts over time, there is no reason it could not have built up in the socket connections as well, so best get rid of any that is present. I should be able to complete all of that work in the next couple of weeks or so.


David

[David Dunlop]

Thanks, Bruce.

You are right. When I first saw a colour photo of one years ago, I fell in love with it. Always thought a restored one sitting on a bench with some 19-Sets beside it, would be like it had had 'puppies'!

Rhett is not amused by my having just said that, but our cat is smiling!

David

[Wayne Hingley]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Thanks, Bruce.

You are right. When I first saw a colour photo of one years ago, I fell in love with it. Always thought a restored one sitting on a bench with some 19-Sets beside it, would be like it had had 'puppies'!

Rhett is not amused by my having just said that, but our cat is smiling!

David

It does look nice David, but I really think you should have it mounted in an M42 command truck. Then you can take your show on the road, with the dog, cat and puppies too.

[David Dunlop]

Funny you should say that, Wayne. I almost bought one at Shilo in the early 1980’s, when they auctioned off dozens of long term storage vehicles. Later bought an ex 2PPCLI M37 that turned out to have been converted for Wireless. It had a Canadian designed wireless shelf mounted across the upper front of the box, two ceiling lights mounted on the wood top bows, all sorts of steel fittings welded to the box floor, and that delightfully classis Driver’s Door Spare Wheel Mount. It was a great truck!

David