Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[Jordan Baker]

Very impressive and wonderful restoration. Thanks for such detailed posts every step of the way.

[James D Teel II]

I always admire a master artist at work. Your work is above reproach.

[David Dunlop]

Jordan and James. Thanks for your kind words. Much appreciated.

Well…I tried.

I got the Mini Home Reno started the other day, and so far so good, but I could not keep my hands or mind off the 52-St Project. So, late this afternoon, I made some decisions and played with it a bit to plan my future actions with it.

First step will be to go back to the Main Set Receiver to finish off a few details. The luminous markings on all of the Knobs, Phenolic on it are still there, but either very tired, or worn thin. They all need to be reapplied and this can be easily done with the receiver still in place in the Carriers No. 4.

While looking at all these knobs, I realized the luminous markings on the Flick Selector, HANDLES, No. 80 was also in poor condition and the original Gloss Navy Grey paint was badly chipped and covered in aging varnish. It too will be brought up to snuff and this can also be done with the receiver where it is.

The last little bit of cosmetic work will be redoing the two KNOBS, Metal No. C1, the two knobs for pulling the receiver out of the Carriers No. 4. Their Gloss Navy Grey paint is also badly chipped and covered in aged varnish. The upper one can be removed by simply taking off the upper front panel of the receiver, but the lower one requires the receiver be out of the Carriers No. 4. I will probably approach this as a two separate blocks of work. Batch out all the Knobs, Phenolic first, then pull the receiver out of the Carriers No. 4 and do the other three items that require the same paint treatment work.

David

[David Dunlop]

The other thing I did this afternoon was I hooked up the 52-Set Power Cable to my 12 Volt DC Supply System and fired up my CPP-2. After 15 minutes, the CPP-2 was on its lowest setting and producing a steady 12.30 Volts DC output at the unit. The output still measured 12.30 Volts at the Supply Distribution terminals the 52-Set Power Cable was connected to, so that was all OK.

At the 52-Set Supply Unit end of the Power Cable, the input to the Supply Unit was reading 12.28 volts steady. I attribute that small drop to the shear size of the power cable.

When I turn the 52-Set on at this point, only the Receiver Vibrator Supply portion of the Supply Unit is active, running the receiver only. It hums to life OK and I waited another 15 minutes for the receiver to warm up. Audio output arrives in about 30 seconds or so. What is interesting, however, is the Meter Readings I am getting for internal voltages. HT reads 130 Volts and LT 10 Volts. The manual states the readings should be HT 150 Volts and LT 12.5 Volts.

If you recall, when I was running the two receivers with the ZE-11 Remote Supply, the meter readings for both receivers were showing identical, higher than stated values which we traced to the slightly higher output the ZE-11 was producing as a result of getting 120 Volt AC input rather than the 115 Volt AC it was originally designed to receive.

So my thoughts at the moment are the Main Set Supply Unit, Receiver Vibrator Supply section has some issues and will need a closer look. Fortunately, it is easily removed from the Supply Unit so can be bench checked rather easily down the road. While at that point running the set this afternoon, I turned on the Crystal Calibrator in the receiver. LT on the Meter dropped to 9.5 Volts. Stayed there after 15 minutes.

Then I turned on the Sender Heaters on the Supply Unit. This simply preheats the valves in the Sender, so it is ready to respond quickly when needed. LT Reading on the Meter dropped to 9.0 Volts for this and stayed there. Interesting. This will give me a good starting point on the project when the Main Set Receiver final detailing is completed.

David

[David Dunlop]

Over the last few days, there turned out to be enough lulls in the Reno Project, I was able to pull the five Knobs, Phenolic Pointer off the Main Set Receiver and refurbish them.

The first photo is them with the remains of the worn out luminous paints still in the marker slots.

The second photo is after they have been cleaned and the marker slots refilled with a new flat white base coat and new neutral luminous green paint.

The front three knobs look as if the marker slot paint is too wide, but that is just the camera picking up the fact those three knobs were closest to the UV lamp and were glowing that much brighter. Camera focus was somewhere closer to the back row of knobs.

David

[David Dunlop]

My initial thought with these four Knobs was to pull them off the Main Set Receiver to restore their luminous paint indicator marks, as per what I had done for the five Knobs, Phenolic, Pointer, but then I realized each of these four Knobs are held in place with two grub screws mounted 90 degrees from each other and that was an awful lot of fiddling with Bristo Wrenches.

Closer inspection further convinced me to leave these four Knobs in place when it became clear the marker spots on the front of each knob were actually drilled into the knob, as per the similar indicator marks on the caste zinc Handles No. 72. With the receiver out of the Carriers No. 4 and on its back on the work desk to remove the two KNOBS, Metal No. C1 for restoration, along with the HANDLES, No. 80, these knobs were in the perfect position to be worked on as well.

Only one of the four Knobs still had luminous paint at the bottom of its hole. The other three held basically just dirt. A 1/16-inch drill bit was the perfect size for cleaning up three of the holes. Twirling it back and forth in the holes with ones fingers worked a treat! The fourth and last hole, not so much. That sized bit was ever so slightly too large.

When I go around to putting a mirror behind the last Knob and comparing it to the other three, I finally noticed some casting marks on it, which were different from the marks on the other three knobs. Probably two different makers involved in production. So out came a large darning needle and with a little careful poking, all the dirt was successfully removed from this knob,

The two attached photos show the holes in the face of two of the knobs prior to any work being done. The second photo is the same two knobs after cleaning up the marker holes and adding in a drop of flat white base paint with a toothpick. As the paint dries this afternoon, it draws down into the hole and by later this evening I can follow up with small drops of the neutral luminous green paint to finish these four Knobs.


David

[David Dunlop]

With the Main Set Receiver now on its back on the work desk again, I was able to remove the Handles No. 80, Flick Lever Control, and the two heavy KNOBS, Metal, No. C1 that are used to pull the receiver out of the Carriers No. 4, and stuff it back in.

The upper KNOBS assembly came out nicely along with its star washer and 10-32 Hex Nut. The lower Knob, under the loud speaker took a little more work than it should have done.

Behind the front panel of the receiver, the lower KNOBS, Metal, No. C1 is used as a ground stud for an electrical circuit. It holds one of those teardrop shaped ring terminals on a wire lead. The type of terminal that serves as a lock washer. The 10-32 Hex Nut and the terminal came off the stud on the base of the Knobs assembly OK, but it took some coaxing to get the Knobs itself free from the panel. I have to take a closer look this evening.

The two Knobs and the Handle have now been cleaned and base coat primers applied to them all. With luck, and no snow tomorrow, they should be able to get their topcoat of Gloss Navy Grey.


David