Quote:
Originally Posted by vortalexfan
Ok, will do. I did manage to get the vibrator out of the radio, but I'm unsure of how to open it to check the condition of the internals.
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Don't open it yet .....
The thing here is, the vibrator may be fine, the fact that your 6V battery became a one volt battery under load means that you weren't providing the radio with the power it needs. Despite what the ratings say I still don't believe a 6V lantern battery could ever provide the "inrush" power needed to start the vibrator. As you may know about incandescent bulb theory, for a couple of milliseconds upon being powered up the cold filament draws MAD amps, way more than you'd ever believe, to heat the filament to white hot where it's resistance goes way UP and the inrush current subsides. With your vibrator, upon initial application of power the stopped contacts that haven't yet started moving are presenting the transformer's primary winding as an almost dead short to your power source , a microsecond or two later once the vibrator starts that initial inrush of current it took to get the vibrator buzzing subsides to the normal running current of the device (which of course is MUCH lower than the starting current).
Old Coot has given you one Hell of a generous offer and I wouldn't be surprised if that battery starts that ol vibrator, if not, only then, provided all the tube heaters and pilot light are on, if it don't start, THEN contemplate taking it apart. As to your fear of hurting something by using the rechargeable battery, remember, the 4A fuse is there to save the day if there are any hard short circuits in the radio.