Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

Well, the plan for reinstalling the PLATES, Phenolic, Calibration on the Sender front panel was a spectacular success this afternoon. It took an hour to complete, but that was only because I chose to wait a full 30 minutes for the nail polish to dry properly, gluing each hardware set to my middle finger. I have not watched so much daytime television in years!

David

[David Dunlop]

I got back to working on the DOORS assembly on the Sender today as well. Turned out my procedure for the PLATES, Phenolic, Calibration hardware came in handy with reinstalling the DOORS also.

My plan for all the hardware was to stuff enough paper towel into my ¼-inch Quarter Drive socket to get the hex nuts sitting just flush with the end of the drive socket, rest the lock washer on top and with a slotted screw driver already securing the screw from the top, move the socket with the hardware in by my fingers to engage the end of the screw. Then run the screw home. It worked perfectly for the inner three sets of hardware. I had forgotten, however, that the two outermost sets of hardware are in much closer confines and this approach would not work for them. So I went back to the finger-gluing plan with my left index finger this time.

Problem solved with the reinstallation.

An interesting discovery surfaced, however.

The lower Cowl fastener on the door had a broken Cross Pin in it and did not fully engage the receptacle mounted on the side chassis. It now locks home in a quarter turn just nicely. This fastener is the replacement Dot made cowl fastener that was installed on the Door at some point in the Sender’s history.

The Cross Pin on the upper cowl fastener was the correct length, but offset to one end and this longer end bent down a bit, away from the door. With the new Cross Pin in place, I discovered why the upper Cross Pin was the way it was.

The upper Cowl Fastener, appears to be too short a length: about the thickness of the cross pin from what I can tell. Instead of engaging the groove between the two receptacle spring plates, it is riding along the upper, outer, spring plate. Whenever this Cowl Fastener was installed, it must have been an ‘available’ replacement and the new cross pin was bent deliberately to make it work. I am going to leave it as is, for the time being. I have not found enough information to date to fully understand how the sizing codes for the Shakeproof Wing Head Cowl Fasteners work to know what exactly is needed.

David

[David Dunlop]

The TERMINALS, Aerial, No. C1 was remounted to its new phenolic board this morning and the terminal feed wire reconnected to it.

As with the Remote receiver some time back, I took the time to mark the terminal feed hole with a toothpick and aligned it corrected with the location of the Eye Bolt the Receiver Feeder Cable passes through, just before connecting with this TERMINALS. The Feeder Cable is an exact length and in accordance with the factory photos in the 52-Set Manuals, comes off this Eye Bolt and runs straight into the Sender Terminals.

I found my ¼-Drive Ratchet with a medium slotted screw driver head wound just fit carefully behind the front panel to run the TERMINALS screw home with one hand, while keeping the TERMINALS correctly aligned with the other hand.

Not only is this part now solidly remounted to the Sender for the first time in however long, but also one of three electrical feeds I had to undo to remove the front panel, is now restored.

David

[David Dunlop]

Another good afternoon’s work today.

The two Screw-Eyes above the Access Door Assembly were cleaned and reinstalled. The room to access the hex nuts inside the upper chassis frame is limited, so best to put these items back while the Blower Motor is off the Door. One can simply slide the hex nut up the inside of the upper chassis frame with a finger until it is centred in the hole and then screw insert the Screw-Eye.

I did not run the hex nuts all the way home on these two Screw-Eyes. They were both able to move freely in their holes in the front panel initially and it made sense to allow them to do that as they can shift with any bending of the Connector Cable they support between the Receiver and Sender. The inside diameters of both of these Screw-Eyes were perfect and I want to keep them that way. By comparison, somebody over tightened the Screw-Eye on the Supply Unit to the point the open end of the eye closed up on the loop enough you can no longer thread the Connector cable through it. One of the things to address when I get to the Supply Unit.

Once the Screw-Eyes were out of the way, I reinstalled the Blower Assembly and lacquered down the hardware. The power feed has not yet been resoldered in place. That will be the next bit of work.

Lastly, I reinstalled the restored COVERS, Metal, Blowers, Electric with the cable clip holding the Power Feed Cable to the door once again, and then lacquered that hardware.

It is nice when things can start to go back on a project.

David

[David Dunlop]

I decided to finish off the reinstallation of the BLOWERS Assembly this evening by resoldering it back into the Sender wiring harness.

Once that was done, top left rear corner of the rear panel board behind the motor housing, I applied a dab of red marker to the solder point, to bring it back to spec.

David

[David Dunlop]

For a few days now, I have been concerned about reinstalling the remaining two sets of hardware on the SOCKETS, Aerial in the upper right corner of the Sender front panel. These were the two sets of hardware that pass through the chassis frame rails, as well as the front panel, and both were missing their respective external tooth #32 lock washers. My suspicion is they were not reinstalled at the time of the 1960’s overhaul work because of the difficulty accessing behind the panel and chassis with any tools. One is working blind back there. Quite a testament, therefore, to the skills and efforts of the young women at Canadian Marconi, who met that challenge on a daily basis on the assembly line!

The recent re-lock down of the entire province and City of Winnipeg did not help matters as hardware supply shops are now shuttered.

It was not until yesterday that my brain was drawn back to the fact I have a spare 52-Set Receiver I have been slowly stripping down, most recently for available front panel hardware. Surely, it would have somewhere within it, some #32 machine screws and related hardware. A careful look indeed revealed a pair of countersunk screws holding the required washers, which were quickly retrieved and the screws reinstalled.

What better than to use not only 75+-year-old hardware of the correct type, but 52-Set hardware no less. I felt quite chuffed with myself when I put the remaining two sets of hardware back into the SOCKETS, Aerial install and reconnected its central terminal at the rear of the panel. Now all three electrical circuits disconnected during the Sender teardown, have been re-established.

Next project will be the cleaning and reinstallation of the upper left and right BRACKETS used to secure the Sender into the Carriers No. 4.


David

[David Dunlop]

An interesting day yesterday. I was zinc plating the two upper BRACKETS, Metal, Angle that help secure the Sender in the Carriers No. 4 and was having a heck of a time getting the two brackets spotlessly clean.

The inner angles of both brackets, along with the inner face of the single hole sides refused to plate until the fourth attempt, which followed grinding the offending surfaces with a small, fine grit, Dremel stone drum. Fourth time lucky and they plated merrily away and are now reinstalled on the Sender.

David