Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

It was Reassembly Day today for the Vibratory Supply, which is always a nice point to reach in any project.

There was wee bit of a challenge in the very first step of fitting new cross pins to the two Shakeproof No. 18 Cowl Fasteners. I was able to seat them with the Cross Pin Setting Tool, but the resistance was too high when I tried getting then centered so I ended up having to tap them home with a small hammer. An interesting exercise I am glad is over.

Once the two cowl fasteners were reattached to the front panel, the next step was putting the panel back on the front of the Vibratory Supply. Since there is a significant overhang of the bottom of the panel, I set the Vibratory Supply up on a pair of small wooden blocks to clear the bottom of the panel from the surface of the bench. Then, after the Knobs, Metal was loosely fitted, I installed the two SEMS Screws, also to a loose fit. The three holes in the front panel for these pieces of hardware are slightly oversized. This allows one to ensure the bottom edge of the front panel is square to the surface the Vibratory Supply is resting on. In that way it will also be square to the front panel of the Supply Unit when reinstalled in it. This hardware was then given its yellow lacquer on the inside and the two Clips, Metal U-Shape for the drop cords were put back on. Again, there is just enough wiggle room with this hardware to allow one to ensure the outer edges of the clips are parallel to the outer edges of the front panel before carefully tightening them down. With this hardware given its yellow lacquer, another small bit of the project done.


David

[David Dunlop]

Just a refresher as to what this part of the 52-Set looked like initially.

Next step will be cleaning up the case the Vibratory Supply fits into. Not a huge project, but still needed.


David

[David Dunlop]

A couple of relatively straight forward little jobs today which pretty much finish the work needed to be done on the Vibratory Supply assembly.

The first was to clean up the surface rust that had accumulated on part of the bottom of the case for the Vibratory Supply in the back half of it.

A pair of scrubbings with the brass ‘toothbrush’ and my favourite cleaner was followed by a water rinse. I then used a small cotton BBQ sauce mop, soaked in a 50/50 solution of CLR and cold water, to scrub the rusty surface for about 2 minutes and then rinsed the case in cold running water for another two minutes. This was followed with hand drying the case and then placing it in the oven at 150 degrees F for half an hour to make certain all water had dried off completely.

Once that was done, it was on to the last repair for the case.


David

[David Dunlop]

Back in Posts #765 and #766, when I first decided to tackle some of the work on the Supply Unit, I had discovered a small patch that had fallen off the upper rear corner of the left side of the case for the Vibratory Supply. It had been lacquered in place to serve as insulation to shield some wiring on the main supply unit from accidentally contacting the side of the case.

At the time, this small piece looked either made of a thin’ plastic, or thick manila sheet. On closer inspection now, I am pretty certain it is a thin plastic. Over time, it had developed a few ripples in it and was proving difficult to get to lay flat again on the side of the case.

I decided to use some old clear nail polish my lovely Wife had donated to the cause, due to the polish having turned a light amber, to reattach the patch. As soon as that was done, I set one of my hydraulic jacks on top of the patch to weight it down and fired up my heat gun on low heat (350 degrees F) and directed the airflow into the back corner of the case, under the jack. I did that for almost two minutes. At that point, the rear sheet metal of the case was uncomfortable to the touch and the base of the jack was warmer than room temperature. The heat gun was then turned off and the entire assembly allowed to cool down for 6 hours. Quite pleased with the result.

Now there are a couple of items to address on the Supply Unit itself, related to the Vibratory Supply.


David

[David Dunlop]

The last small project directly related to the Vibratory Supply was finished this morning, which involved reinstalling the hardware set that had fallen out of the right side of Panels, Phenolic No. C1 (ZA/CAN 4229). This discovery was also covered back in Posts #756 and #766.

This Panels assembly is fitted to the back end of the tray in the Supply Unit the Vibratory Supply and its Case slide in and out on. The Panels supports the three Sockets, Metal, ¼-in OD 40 tpi thread, No. C1 (ZA/CAN 4583), which are basically a form of Banana Socket the Vibratory Supply plugs into when in place.

The front collars of these Sockets have ridges in them parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sockets and the sockets are fully threaded on the outside. On the backside of the Panels, Phenolic there is a 1/16-in free space between the Panels and a pair of hex nuts run up against each other and lacquered in place. This gap allows the Sockets to ‘float’ on the Panels, which allows the plugs on the back of the Vibratory Supply a better chance to capture the sockets. Probably a gauge was used on the assembly line t make it easy and consistent to attain this gap. The Sockets and Panels assemblies were likely assembled to the tray for the Vibratory Supply, before the tray was riveted in place at the bottom of the Supply Unit chassis. This latter point makes it trick to replace the right side screw assembly that had fallen out of the Panels.

When the wiring was disconnected from the Sockets, the lowermost lock washer was covered in rust that needed to be tidied up. Removing the wiring, with its large tags provided more access to where the hardware went, in behind the chassis side frame. The other thing that was necessary was to slide a wooden wedge between the chassis side frame and the back of the Panels to hold the Panels firmly up against the back end of the tray assembly. This allowed the screw to be reinstalled to fully pass through the Panels far enough to easily engage its lock washer and hex nut when the time came to fit them.


David

[David Dunlop]

Given the tight space behind the Supply Unit chassis and the back of the Panels assembly at the rear of the Vibratory Supply tray, I needed to be sure the hex nut and lock washer stayed put long enough for the screw to capture them.

To do this, I glued the hex nut to my 5/16” Box End Wrench with clear nail polish, and then glued the lock washer to the hex nut, being sure to keep the polish out of the hex nut threads and the washer centred over the hole in the hex nut. Once dried, it was easy to hold the two parts in place and manoeuvre the screw to engage the thread in its hex nut. As the hex nut tightened down, it popped free in the wrench and shed all the nail polish. I could then switch to the open end of the wrench on the backside and a screwdriver on the screw to carefully tighten the hardware. A final wipe of polish across the back of the hex nut and it was all done, and the wiring could be reinstalled on the Sockets.

Now that is out of the way, I need to look at how best to access the hex nut binding the Case for the Vibratory Supply and fix that problem. All that work is in the Supply Unit itself but has a major influence on the Vibratory Supply.


David

[David Dunlop]

Well this part of the project is going to be full of challenges.

I need to get the Blower Motor assembly for the Supply Unit out of the way to gain access to the hardware set causing the case for the Vibratory Supply to jamb in its tray. I studied the blower for the better part of half an hour looking for an easy way to remove it. There are none. The blower assembly and its related Covers were definitely installed on the front panel of the Supply Unit before the panel was installed on the Supply Unit chassis. Then its power feed wire was soldered in place. In situ, there is not enough room to easily get even the smallest tool onto any of the Covers hardware to remove it. You can loosen it all but end up resorting to fingers to ease the hex nuts out. A small shop magnet on a telescopic stick helps, as does a small pair of needle nose pliers. But even with all that, I still dropped one hex nut and one lock washer into the innards of the Supply Unit. Fortunately, they both dropped to the bench when the supply was carefully turned upside down and I knew what two sets of hardware the bits came from. Still interesting for what is intended to be a temporary disassembly.

Once off, the Covers was actually in better shape than the one on the Sender. The screen was popped inward (as was the one on the Sender), but no screen wires were broken and the screen pressed back flat with a little gentle thumb work. The rust accumulation on the inside of the Covers and the Blower Fan Blade is about the same as on the Sender Blower. I think dust settles inside the Covers, and static clings to the fan blades. Over time, this dirt accumulation attracts moisture and then rust settles in on the surfaces. Also, the inside surface of the Covers is primed only. There is no Gloss Navy Grey topcoat inside there at all.

The large pieces of front panel paint missing inside where the Covers sat had actually peeled off and curled up into tubes inside the Covers and the red oxide primer on them confirmed the paint was from the 1966 rebuild.

That was enough excitement for this evening. I shall study and plan for the next step tomorrow.


David