I managed to gut the old electrolytics. I think I can salvage the old tubes and some of the wax. The tar filled one was really nasty :yuck:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2749/...29f47e73_b.jpg

Also, the new parts have arrived. I chose carbon comp. resistors to retain the original look. I couldn't find 0.03uF 6000v caps so went with 0.022uF. I think they'll be close enough.

I finally got a high wattage gun too. I hope it works well on chassis connections.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/...be54fba6_b.jpg

Eeeeuwww, what a nasty Meckin' Fess...(grin)

I admire your attention to authenticity. Really impressive. I've thought about re-stuffing capacitors but when I do I have this premonition that when I die and my estate is auctioned off to the highest bidder, in box lots and bags full of course, that my radios are bought by other collectors who will be conscientious and pull the chassis and note "hmm, never been recapped" and begin recapping the sucker without even powering up the set :-)

Put a note inside your cabinet telling what you did.

Carl

Restuffing electrolytics
 

It wasn't much fun, but it's done :)

I was able to reuse 3 of the old tubes, but the tar filled one was just too nasty. So I fabricated one from scratch.
Luckily, I had an old gift wrapping paper tube that was exactly the same diameter.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/...632f97f1_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/...da087ecb_b.jpg

I reused the old wax to seal them.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/...fcac8e7c_b.jpg

I applied some yellow ochre acrylic paint and created a water slide decal.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/...3bd72b5d_b.jpg

Here's the final product.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/...3aa9beb2_b.jpg

Restuffing an old tube. I made a point of using the same colored wire so the tube legend is correct.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/...88e8ddaa_b.jpg

All four are finally done! I think the rest of the set will go fast now.
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Well, you are a saint to lavish such attention on a lowly Halli. To make the disguise really convincing, now you can roll the new cap in that cookie sheet of old melted wax & tar :)

Phil Nelson

Excellent beautiful job on the caps, but I guess there's no pizza tonight.

Thanks. I picked up a new cookie sheet - pizza is good to go :)

I actually was planning on coating it with some old wax but couldn't think of any easy way to do it :scratch2: Other than putting that cookie sheet in the oven, melting it all and rolling it as you suggested that is. That would be nasty though - all the wax and tar would mix together.

Progress update
 

I've got a little system down for restuffing these old paper caps. It's kinda fun to read the old labels. These were all made in my hometown of Chicago by companies long gone such as:

Ajax Condenser Co., Inc.
American Condenser Co.
Chicago Condenser Corp.
Gudeman Co.

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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2769/...f0281c36_b.jpg

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Now for the HV cage. Phil's site has proven invaluable.

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I'm not restuffing these caps. If anyone ever digs down into this box, so be it.
I didn't have a 120K 1W on hand so used a 100K and 20K in series.
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I found one odd thing. The schematic shows two parallel 500pF filter caps as does Phil's restoration. While mine has a single 0.001uF on the opposite side of the filament :scratch2:
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Last batch of caps
 

I've finished the last batch of caps!
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First up, I made a replica tube for the missing 0.3 MFD 6 kv cap.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/...b4169ec46d.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/...db0222f728.jpg

The old replacement 0.005 cap is in the foreground. I wonder how well that actually worked ?
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I switched over to hot glue for plugging up the ends. Much easier than reusing the old wax. Only downside is that it hardens to milky white.
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A little paint took care of that.
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I'm not sure how good an insulator hot glue is so I made a dam to keep it out of the body of the tubes. A hole punch is the exact inner diameter.
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Time to put them all back in :sigh:
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The aftermath :yuck:
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On occasions when I restuff caps, I like to use hot glue to seal the capacitor tube ends; it's less bothersome than remelting the cruddy old wax, and is easier to remove (for future restorations).

I used to use a brown Sharpie to color the ends, but I finally found these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...#ht_2283wt_982

The color is fairly authentic--it's far better than a brown Sharpie, anyway!

Other colors are offered, but dark brown is good enough for the likes of me.

A word of warning--there's another type of brown glue stick available for attaching hair extensions, but they are made of an unsuitable material...make sure, if you buy tinted ones, that you're getting regular old vinyl gluesticks.

If you really want to go all out, dip the whole assembly in new, freshly melted bees' wax--the resulting rebuilt cap is pretty much indistinguishable from an "original" one, but has the advantage of looking new (which is to say period, but new) and being clean.

Thanks - I had no idea colored glue sticks existed! What a timesaver :yes:

Any tips for dipping ? Do you melt a big pot of beeswax ? I do have a block, but it smells pretty strongly of honey.

I think it's possible to get bees' wax in various stages of refinement, but I've used the stuff that smells like honey, and it looks authentic.

You should never directly melt the wax in a pan, since it can flash on you. What I do is use a sort of double-boiler arrangement: I put a small glass jar of wax in a shallow pan of boiling water.

Dipping requires practice, but the wax is pretty forgiving; it will come off fairly easily for another pass, or you can put it back in the heated wax for a bit, and the coating will melt off.

Expect drips, runs, areas that are a little more opaque than others, etc.--you know, like the "real" thing!:D

The bees' wax has the added advantage of obscuring the hot glue plug, which goes a long way in disguising the fact that it actually is hot glue.

Nice job on the replica tube for the cap! :yes: Is that a water slide decal?

I've used the vinyl hot-glue without any problems. But I think the dams you made are a good idea. I worry about the heat of the glue damaging the capacitors. I think polyester film caps are o.k., but polystyrene or polypropylene might melt. I think the hot-glue melts at a higher temperature than the wax.

John

Thanks. Yes, it's a water slide decal using the 'Century Gothic' font.

Hmm, I never considered the heat issue. I was more concerned about the leakage and voltage breakdown of the glue. Perhaps it merits a little experimenting :scratch2:

I've been following this thread from the first post, you must have the 'patience of a saint' in doing all this and your eye for detail is pretty impressive, those new old caps would fool me if I didn't know they were replicas! :yes:

G.

Thanks. I grew up building model airplane, cars trains, etc. and I really enjoy this stage of a restoration.
Part of my motivation to restuff was to hone my skills for upcoming projects. The other part was just to try something new :)

I have to give a lot of credit to this article by Paul Shinn.

I've made some good progress today and I plan on firing it up tomorrow night :D
Keep your fingers crossed.

Almost there
 

I'm done recapping except for the HV area.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/...04aaf6cb_b.jpg

Time to remount the HV oscillator using Phil's tips of using long wire extensions.
The 1B3 was weak so I dug out a replacement. It just happens to be the right brand :)
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I'm adding a CL-90 as suggested.
I did a little test polishing too. It's not exactly bright cadmium, but is has the similar white powdery corrosion.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/...a24667e1_b.jpg

Cleaning the knobs in some warm soapy water. That loosened up the crud, but it still requires scrubbing to get it off.
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I discovered this set still has a channel one selector. They just cut the shaft off short.
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First power up
 

I found this tag just before powering the set up. I wonder what RePhased means :scratch2:
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I'm using a dummy load in place of the 7JP4 filament and left the speaker disconnected. I have an isolation transformer and variac on the AC line. I added an extender test socket to the 25Z6 so I can monitor the B+ http://www.jawaspot.com/smilies/hyper-excited.gif
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No explosions, no smoke and B+ seemed OK so I installed a 7VP1 CRT.
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It shows signs of life :banana:
No picture or sound, but it's alive :)
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http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/...57825d09_b.jpg


I fired up my B&K 1077B and was able to get a picture of sorts and a bit of sound. That's all for tonight. All in all, not too bad.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/...9e56d696_b.jpg

Fast work. You should stop over here and clean up some of my neglected projects. I have two of these in the waiting line: a metal T-54 that I got last year, and one in the leatherette "luggable" cabinet that a guy gave me because he had too much stuff that doesn't work. Now, I have too much stuff that doesn't work.

I didn't really plan to get all three cabinet styles, but now that I do, it would be fun to (some day) take a photo of the three sets playing together.

Phil

It seems that the voltage doubler and tripler aren't doing their jobs. I have 100 VDC across the board while I should have 125, 260 and 390. I replaced the selenium with a 1N4007 and the 6X5 and 25Z6 test OK. :scratch2:

Could the 25Z6 and 6X5 be swapped? one picture caption sez 25Z6 is on an extender, but the tube near the selenium is extended... on my Hallicrafters the 6X5 is next to the selenium.:scratch2:

jr

You're right I did have them swapped at first - the 6X5 really lit up!

I did find another problem though. I screwed up and connected the black lead on one of lytics to ground. It should be connected to the AC line.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/...1a339b79_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/...6945666f_b.jpg

That brought the voltages back up to the proper levels and the picture improved quite a bit :D
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4022/...91b289cf_b.jpg

My victory was short lived though. I had the set running for a while and it was working well when I saw a bright flash from the 6X5 :tears: I tested it and the filament is blown. Could be the brief time I had it in the wrong socket damaged it. I popped in a good one, but it's not working. The filament doesn't glow. Which is bizarre because all the other tubes are lit and it's a series wired set :scratch2:
Maybe the socket has developed a short ? Time to do some more investigating.

No thanks - I have more than enough projects already :D
I know what you mean. I have 5 electrostatic Motorola sets and have restored 3 so far. Someday, I hope to do a group photo too.

I got it working :banana::banana::banana: http://www.jawaspot.com/smilies/greenwtfbanana.GIF It turned out the replacement 6X5 wasn't making good contact. A little cleaning of the socket and tube pins took care of that.

Curling anyone ?
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I've cleaned all the crud off the knobs. First, hot soapy water. Then, a toothbrush and Brasso. Next, I used a toothpick on stubborn areas. Finally, a little Novus #1. I wonder how long until the crud returns ?
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/...e0f64cf3_b.jpg

6x5's have a bad reputation in the radio world for being prone to shorting out. Especially in those attractive Zenith consoles of the late 30's that used two of them, they would commonly take out the power transformer when they failed. Perhaps you just had a bad one.

I'd like to know what the rephased tag is in reference to as well. Perhaps it was made in '47 and sat on a shelf until the whole channel one mess was worked out, and then in '49 had the push button for ch. 1 hacked out and put up for sale.

Not to sidetrack from your post, I make a point of using the 6X5's that have the "X-Plate" style of design, like a 6X4 does.

But I'm sure that 25Vac filament voltage didn't help... I'm glad no damage occured as a result!!

I'd love to have one myself, but lack of room kinda stops me :(

Could be. Notice it says T-54 too. That's the older model I believe.

SO am I, I hate to think what might have happended if it had a power xfrmr.

I wonder if I should put the dead one back in for appearance sake and install some diodes below. I'd need to stick a resistor in place of the filament too :scratch2:


They're fairly small - as vintage TVs go anyway. I bet you could squeeze one in :D

Very nice job.

I have to say that I like the "bubble-headed booby" shot the best.

Thanks!

I uploaded a 10 part video series of this restoration project to YouTube.

Here's part 1

and here's part 10 if you'd just like to see it playing :)

Cleaning and refinshing
 

Now for the fun part - cleaning and refinishing :drool:

I'm using acid follow by Simichrome on the chassis and the speaker frame.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/...99706d2e_b.jpg

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http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/...03ff4aac0d.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/...97ac204bff.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/...76abbd9bdf.jpg

Now the the cabinet. It has a only one bad area where the veneer has separated and chipped.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/...ff2216f9_b.jpg

A little soaking softened up the veneer.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/...ac1fc25a_b.jpg

A little glue, wax paper and weight.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/...5c102892_b.jpg

It turned out well.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/...003e03f2_b.jpg

I used a scrapper to get off most of the old finish without damaging the front panel. Sandpaper got rid of the rest.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/...192f06b3_b.jpg
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Now some shellac to fill the grain.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/...c16f525d_b.jpg

Next up a little stain and lacquer.

Using shellac as gain filler work out very well - smooth as glass :D

Time for some stain. I used Minwax oil based red mahogany.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3458/...2765a093_b.jpg

I'm really happy with the results.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/...dfbc932d_b.jpg

I'll let that dry for a few days then I'm going to use some Deft gloss lacquer.

Good job on that veneer repair. 20,000 volts of ignition transformer weight!

Once again, kudos for your resto play-by-plays...gives plenty of inspiration!!!

Banderson, you mentioned the 6SH7 tube in the first part of your video. If you ever need some, I have them. I also have a case of NOS 12SH7 tubes. I think the 12SH7s were originally for some military contract as the box appears to be labeled that way.

LOL - Yeah, I just didn't have any clamps that would work.


Thanks. I was wrong about that. I believe the early version of this sets used them but this one has 6AU6s.
I will be getting back to my GE810 one of these days and I think it does use one or two so I may take you up on that offer.

I've had great success soaking moldy knobs in a cup of 409 cleaner overnight, then popping them a few times with a pot scrubber brush. Dry them off then hose them down with Son of a Gun or Amorall and I have yet to see the mold return.

I don't think that white stuff is mold, it seems to be a product of the plastic outgassing as it ages.

Here's another update.

I'm painting the base feet with some deep red mahogany toner lacquer.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3309/...24e1b294_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/...f3089d3a_b.jpg

I had thought that the faceplate was nailed on, but it was actually small screws bent at crazy angles. With a little effort and some needle nose pliers, I got it off. Much easier to work on the cabinet now :yes:
The faceplate is one big hunk of aluminum with a decorative painted grill on top and photo finish on the bottom.
That black strip was probably overspray from the factory. I'm not going to mess with it. It's barely visible when it's all together.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3321/...47c67f5f_b.jpg

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That photofinish was starting to flake off. So, I carefully clean it with mineral spirits and gave it a few coast of clear semi-gloss lacquer to stabilize it. It turned out well.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/...900ae284_b.jpg

Finally, I'm using Deft semi-gloss on the main cabinet. Once that's done, I just need to touch up the black trim around the faceplate.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4022/...3b39e7d8_b.jpg

Time to clean the screen bezel. The clean plastic insert sits in a groove in the rubber (?) gasket. Some gentle pressure while slowly working around the edge got it out.

I wonder what would work to clean up that gasket ? Something like NuVinyl maybe :scratch2:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1209/...15d8672e_b.jpg

The plastic insert was covered with fine scratches and a couple deeper ones. Some Novus products took care of that.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1245/...83ff0a3e_b.jpg

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