Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Lacking any Instruction or Operating Manual information whatsoever for this tool at the moment, leaves me wondering if, and how well, it would have worked, if connected to a wireless battery? Would the current load of heating up the tip coil be detrimental to a wireless battery, or could that risk be negated if a chorehorse was charging the wireless battery system at the same time the soldering iron was being used?

Would the soldering iron have to have been connected to the battery directly, or could it simply be clipped to available +/- terminals somewhere on the wireless vehicle charging/power distribution system? Or could it even be clipped directly to terminals on a chorehorse, or larger, generator?

David

If it's a 100 or 125 watt iron, that's only 8 - 10 amps draw, which is not really going to bother a signals battery: for a 100/125 Amp hour pair that's only the 10-hour rate which is quite reasonable.

In terms of connections, it would be clipped to the nearest 12V supply terminals, if in a vehicle the set supply terminals would probably be the most convenient, otherwise a couple of batteries could be dragged into a suitable position to provide power for whatever repair was needed.

100 watts is a very serious iron by modern standards, so probably wouldn't be needed for long, and big enough to do fairly serious soldering jobs such as battery jumper cables, earth braids, etc. (Anything more than that would be a job for the Wireless Mechanics or R(C)EME.)

Chris.

[David Dunlop]

I started production of a 3.8 litre jar of Zinc Electroplating Solution this morning. It should be ready for the weekend in about 4 hours.

Surprisingly straightforward setup and the Cathode is bubbling merrily away as expected.

The final cleaning solution recommended for the parts to be plated after all dirt, oil and rust has been removed, is a mild solution of Hydrochloric Acid. Much easier these days to head down to the local building supply store and purchase a jug of Muriatic Acid. Same product, but a ‘commercial’ grade, as opposed to the much more expensive ‘laboratory’ grade stuff.

David

[David Dunlop]

I made up this plating fixture last evening to use with the brass tubular rivets I need to zinc plate. It is made from a 16-inch piece of 12 gauge, solid copper wire, as this size fits into the hollow core of the rivets just nicely.

This morning, I cleaned the two rivets with a commercial solvent, dropped them for a couple of minutes in a 3:1 dilution of Hydrochloric Acid for a final clean, and then rinsed them in a small container of plain water before setting them up in the jar of Zinc Electroplating Solution.

They are bubbling merrily away and I shall leave them to it for 45 minutes. It will be time to check them in about 15 minutes.

I shall keep you posted.

David

[David Dunlop]

Well the final results are in and I am extremely pleased with them!

You can see the results in the attached photo of a set of pre-plated and post-plated rivets.

They are damp when removed from the electroplating solution and rinsed off in fresh water, so the plating is initially darker than you might expect. They air dry in about 20 minutes however, and lighten up noticably. You can see the process has already started in the centre area of the rivet on the top left. When dry, I cannot tell the difference between these rivets I just plated and any of the surviving zinc plated hardware still on either of my 19-Sets, or any other related signals equipment plated 75 plus years ago.

David

[David Dunlop]

First time ever clinching tubular rivets this morning.

Something of a job for an octopus, there are so many things to control. I started by sliding the bottom edge of the Sender panel down between two sofa cushions to keep it vertical and stable. I then mounted the Access/Blower Door with the upper and lower hardware. This was necessary to ensure I had the proper clearance between the door hinge plate that mounts behind the Sender panel, and the left side of the TERMINALS, Aerial Mounting Plate. Next was to line up the plate itself with the panel holes and use a strip of masking tape to hold it in place. Then I had to slide the first tubular rivet in place and get the clinching tool properly lined up with it. This was where the exercise got interesting.

When the two ends of the clinching tool are in contact with the rivet and holding, the rivet is still free to slide back and forth in the pieces you are trying to fasten together. You have to ensure the truss head of the rivet is in contact with the material you are joining on that side, while at the same time ensuring the tool is square to the rivet on both the X and Y-axis. This concentration has to be maintained until the clinch you are forming with the tool rolls back far enough to engage the material being joined on its side. At that point the rivet head will pull in as you proceed and you just have to focus on keeping everything square.

The end result is in the attached photos. I do not know when the original mounting plate was broken, but it is really nice to see the first major damage on the Sender having been repaired. Two more bits to go.

The original condition of this TERMINALS, Aerial can be seen back in Posts 302 and 314. The TERMINALS, Aerial was merely test fitted now to see how it looked restored. I have removed it from its Mounting Plate once again until the Sender Panel is reinstalled.

David

[David Dunlop]

Sometimes the side projects are just as interesting as the main event. A good example of that is the research done to track these items down.

As with all of the parts for the Wireless Set No. 52, the above noted description for these parts is the military one, taken directly from the Illustrated Parts List for the 52-Set. If one searches the web using this description, or even parts thereof, one does not find much. Searching with the name ‘Airloc’ found on the larger Cowl Fastener Studs did turn up some illustrations of the studs and their corresponding receptacles and a general description of how they worked, and not much more.

Several styles of studs were shown and confirmation was given their prime use was in the aviation industry, where the most common studs were either slotted truss head, or slotted countersunk. The wing head styles used in the 52-Set are largely ignored.

When one actually has a complete 52-Set on hand to study and cross reference to the Illustrated Parts List, the light bulb eventually goes on that the Shakeproof Company also made similar, though smaller, wing head cowl stud fasteners, and these were used on the Supply Unit and Sender. An even closer look at the four of these on my set, after they had been cleaned, revealed a third company, Dot Fasteners, was also making these smaller wing head cowl fasteners as one time.

It took some digging, but I now know the fixed receptacles for the larger Airloc stud fasteners can be found on-line at vintage aircraft parts suppliers. The wing head studs of any size or company are still proving elusive. That just left the PINS to deal with.

The PINS are what make these fasteners work. When the stud is inserted into the spring receptacle and given the required one-quarter turn, it is the two ends of the PIN, sticking out either side of the stud that engage the slots in the receptacle and follow them down to the cups where they lock in place. These PINS are one time use only. If the stud needs to be removed for any reason, the PIN is pressed out and removed, and a brand new one put in its place when reassembled. Logic said the PINS had to be available somewhere as the studs in one form or another are still being used today. It was not until another recent search of the web that I spotted a photograph of one of these PINS, with a description of it being a ‘cross pin’ that the mystery was solved. Sticking the name ‘Airloc’ in front of the words ‘cross pin’, on the very first try, took me to a company called AIRCRAFT SPRUCE CANADA located in Brantford, Ontario and their very helpful Sales Rep, Carolyn Harris.

Carolyn pointed me to Stock Number 04-01071 in their inventory, which turned out to be:

AIRLOC Cross Pin, Steel 99785-2

See the attached photo. These are the cross pins needed for the smaller Shakeproof and Dot Cowl Stud Fasteners on the 52-Set Supply Unit and Sender.

Carolyn also took the time to mention that these two different sized Cowl fasteners have an industry standard identification across all manufacturers. It shows up in the last digit of the Airloc Part Number above, ‘-2’.

The larger cowl fasteners, as used on the 52-Set Receiver and Coil, Aerial Tuning are referred to as ‘#5’, or ‘-5’ sized fasteners. The smaller ones like the Shakeproof and Dot are referred to as ‘#2’, or ‘-2’ sized fasteners.

Overall, more needed parts for the project found and an interesting addition to the learning curve.

David

[Jordan Baker]

Great find. Aircraft Spruce Canada has some great items. I’ve always found the. To be very helpful