1946 Coronado 43-8352 - Videokarma.org TV - Video

AUdubon5425 · #1 08-17-2010, 07:14 AM

Here's a set I picked up at a radio meet in Alpharetta, Ga. last year. I recapped it (excepting one paper cap I was short) and was getting no volume. Tracing the signal I was losing it somewhere between the 2nd IF can and the output tube. There are some Micamold .0001 caps living in that neighborhood, and the ohmmeter showed one measuring 68k ohms. She was the troublemaker - the set is singing again!

The tuning cap was very scratchy - one fin on the end was bent out and I carefully worked it back straight, along with running a folded piece of paper through all the fins. Now she tunes around nicely. She's a little less selective above 1350mc - I'll tweak the alignment on her soon.

The speaker cone is a bit distorted around the edges, probably a result of being stored in a humid environment. I have to patch a tear and a small hole but it ought to be salvageable.

I also have to buy a strong soldering gun - I mounted the filter caps together on a lug since the leads on the new caps wouldn't stretch to the original's termini. Now I need to solder the lug to the chassis. After that all I have to do is feather down the paint chips and give her a respray. No labels to worry about - I picked an easy cabinet for my first repaint. I plan on using a white or off-white appliance paint.

The finishing touch will be setting the memory buttons and creating some station labels. Has anyone successfully recreated those? I don't think paper will hold up in the long run - I may try printing on some heavy cardstock.

Reece · #2 08-17-2010, 07:39 AM

Great! Some of those larger Micamolds are actually paper caps, not mica, and leaky, as you found out. I printed out station tags on glossy photopaper which is pretty thick stuff, and they look great and are better quality than the originals that came on an RCA set I'm doing. I made them look like the original with brown background and white letters. After you clean up your buttons and knobs (I like to use a fingernail brush) you can try soaking them in bleach and water overnight if they are still kind of dingy.