Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

Bob.

You likely would not run across these products outside of the commercial auto detailing sector. The Orange Crush (and another product called HD Clean) are sold in 45 gallon plastic barrels. The Remove All and an equivalent called Safe Solve are sold in chubby ten-gallon white plastic jerry cans equipped with a bung that you pop out and screw a plastic spigot into.

The Orange Crush and HD Clean can be sprayed onto a flat surface and a toothbrush used to loosen up grime quite easily. A quick wipe off is recommended, however, only because one is dealing with 75-year-old paints and varnishes. The Remove All and Safe Solve are a bit more aggressive if you are not careful. For those I spray onto a cloth and then gently rub the more resistant marks to remove them. Great for tars, grease and reasonably fresh paint overspray, but again, I would not trust them to sit on old varnish and enamel paint. They both will lift the surface of the paint if you are not careful.

For polishing, I found a product years ago at Princess Auto called ‘Dursol’ It was a pale pinkish cream in a tube and I applied it with my finger tip as you can really tell when it dries and needs wiping off that way. This product is still made but now called ‘Autosol’ and Canadian Tire carries it. Photo attached. I found it polishes down yellowed varnish nicely. You have to be patient, however. I usually work in two-inch square areas at a time, slowly lightening the varnish until I get the shade I am looking for. Then I start an adjacent area and match the result to the first part done. It is a slow process, but worth it in the end I think. One word of advise. Good lighting is mandatory for this work. Shadow free if possible and always the same lighting each time you are working on the project.

I played with the upper left hand corner of the Sender panel last night, photo attached. Basically the area down to the bottom of the fan door and to the right, just covering the ‘Canada Decal’. Not really an attempt at obtaining a desired end product. More to just get rid of the ugly, hand painted, red ‘R22’ visible in the first Photo of Post 201. It was bugging my gizzard! This was done with the two previously mentioned liquid cleaners, with just a bit of Autosol brought into play at the very bottom of the fan door where a couple of runs of red paint had accumulated. You will see the grime along the top left corer of the frame cleaned up rather well. Note the untouched upper right corner to compare. Also, I was surprised how well the angle bracket on the left edge of the panel by the door cleaned up. See its grime covered partner on the right side for comparison.

One interesting discovery. Take a look at the Power Selector Switch directly above the High Power Lock at the lower right. It is the same switch as was used on the Canadian Wireless Set No. 19 Supply Unit Mk II.

David

[David Dunlop]

I decided to continue through with the basic cleaning of the front panel this afternoon and also did the various knobs and bakelite fittings. A full clean of the panel will happen when I am finally able to schedule the Sender into the project later on.

To give you a better idea of how the various cleaners work that I was discussing earlier, I did some sample work on the top chassis area shown in the second photo.

I cleaned the top chassis frame all sides with just the Orange Crush and a medium toothbrush, wiping down with a cloth afterwards, Roughly front centre, there is a square steel plate with its plating in good condition. I cleaned that with the Orange Crush and toothbrush, followed by sone Remove All and the toothbrush and then wiped it down with a cloth. I then took a small amount of the Autosol on my fingertip and rubbed it on the the left half of the square plate and wiped it off with a cloth. Kind of makes the factory plating pop again after 70 or so years.

To the left of that plate, at the front chassis, you can just see an orange electrical sheath arcing over a bar. I initially thought that was a black wire until the grime started to wash off with the Orange Crush. I then discovered the bar this wire was looping over was actually a very robust brown, phenolic terminal strip running the full depth of the Sender, about 3/4-inch wide and 1/4-inch thick. I thought it was supporting four long, heavy duty caps at first, but as the second one in from the front started to clean up, realized it was four big resisters. Looks a lot different with the grime gone.

Finally, to the right side top sits the Band Selector Switch, its long shaft running full to the rear of the chassis. The shaft supports two massive ceramic terminal discs. A little Orange Crush and the toothbrush again, produced the comparison to the untouched ceramic terminal disc at the rear end of the shaft.

David

[Bob Carriere]

....lots of work before it appears inits original shade of gray/grey.

Not sure I would venture myself at tooth brushing the internal parts.

I would most likely do like Bruce and start with mild detergents/soap to see how that works then proceed, in safe areas, with some of the solvent based cleaners. Not an easy task .........

Cheers

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

....lots of work before it appears inits original shade of gray/grey.

Not sure I would venture myself at tooth brushing the internal parts.

I would most likely do like Bruce and start with mild detergents/soap to see how that works then proceed, in safe areas, with some of the solvent based cleaners. Not an easy task .........

Cheers

Any polish is going to have abrasives in it which will work at the original surface to some degree. Better dissolve and clean off the gunk without touching the surface you want to preserve if you can. Or polish off the original surface just enough to get a consistent colour and varnish the snot out of it.

[David Dunlop]

True enough, Bruce.

I was a little concerned at the extent of the discolouration on the Sender panel when I first saw photos of it, and once it arrived. After its initial clean and a closer examination, my impression is the front panel can be saved. There may end up being a couple of dime sized paint chips along the perimeter, but I can live with that.

I do not want an original Navy Grey Gloss finish at all. I much prefer some degree of varnish patina that naturally developed with this equipment and I am leaning towards the look of the upper panel on the main set receiver.I think that will be attainable, or very close to it with polish and elbow grease and a lot of patience, when the time comes to do the work on the Sender.

I have been toying with the idea of finally committing to a polishing kit for my Dremel. My hands are not as durable as they used to be, but I have the Winter to think on it.

David

[David Dunlop]

Thought I would post another update photo of the collective project now that 80% of the main set components are now assembled.

Just the Carrier No. 4 delivery to sort out now.

David

[David Dunlop]

This is almost a simple topic as only one modification shows up in the listing I have for the Sender. Naturally, it is Modification No, 1, for the installation of the modification card holder.

This is where the 'almost' above comes in.

The instructions state a metal plate is to be removed from the left rear corner of the chassis, holes to be drilled into the plate, the holder attached and the plate returned to its position on the chassis. Problem is, there is no metal plate on the chassis in that location, either on the rear or left side of the chassis. I checked the Sender chassis I have and all the photos of the Sender in the manual. No such plate.

There is no room at all on the top of the chassis to mount a card holder and I could see nothing anywhere when looking through the chassis. Curiosity got the better of me finally and as a last resort, I carefully turned the chassis over to have a look at the bottom. There it was, as per the attached photo. And there was a modification card inside stating the modification was done in 1947, but no mention of the Shop where the work was done.

David