#781
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It's pretty sweet that this corporations are willing to help. So many this days would just ignore you or tell you that you're out of luck.
__________________
V/R James D. Teel II Edmond, Oklahoma Retired Police Sergeant/Bomb Tech 1943 Willys MB/ITM jeep 1942 SS Cars No1Mk1 LtWt trailer |
#782
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Shakeproof Washers Data
I finally got the available data on the Shakeproof Washers sorted out and into a spreadsheet, copy attached.
I am sure there are a lot more Shakeproof washers out there, but this list was assembled simply from the washers identified in the Hardware List for the Wireless Set No. 19 Mk III Cdn and the Hardware List for the Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian. The Shakeproof washers found in the 52-Set have been highlighted for quick reference but please bear in mind, many or all of these highlighted items can also be found in the 19-Set Mk III Cdn. Hope this helps a bit. David |
#783
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
I removed the two Shakeproof No. 18 Cowl Fasteners from the front panel this evening, so this panel is now free standing and ready for restoration.
The tricky part of removing these fasteners is getting the old Cross Pin out of the stud. I have found a two-step process that works pretty well when the Cross Pins are intact and straight. I manoeuvre the panel and fastener over one end of my bench vise such that the stud rests along the opening of the jaws, which are open only enough for the pin to fir into the gap. While holding that all in place, I then tap one end of the Cross Pin gently down until it is reasonably flush with the stud. I can then put a small set of vise grip pliers on the exposed end of the Cross Pin and tug it straight out. The current maker of the Cross Pins does not recommend twisting the pin as you pull, as you run a really good risk of snapping the pin and will end up trying to drift it out with a small pin punch. Doing that runs the risk of oversizing the hole in the stud and the replacement Cross Pin will no longer stay put. David |
#784
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Hi James.
Yes, when original suppliers are still around, and are still proud of their corporate history, it makes a huge difference when working on projects like this, so far after production. David |
#785
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
This is a photo of the front panel plate from this assembly showing the bend in it I will have to remove. The bottom end of the plate is to the left of the photo.
I think it should straighten out just fine with a little hammer work one morning down the road. David |
#786
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
I started removing the paint from the front panel of this assembly today, The paint had cracked along the bottom section of the panel where the bend in it took place, and it seemed like a good test area to see how easy the task would be to remove the lower section of paint.
Considering this panel was repainted in 1966, it was pretty much guaranteed a lead based paint had been used, so I was not interested at all in sanding it down. I also was not in the mood to bundle up and drive over to the nearest hardware store for a can of stripper, so decided scraping it off would work just fine. By setting the panel at the front of a large brown paper bag, I can scrape towards the bag and all the little bits fly happily into it, and not my pail of fresh tea at the side of the bench. The red oxide primer that turned up on the back of the grey paint chips confirmed this was indeed a 1966 rebuild. A grey primer was used by Canadian Marconi for all their paint priming of the other front panels on the 52-Set. Whoever repainted this panel at 202 Workshop did an excellent job. Once all the paint is removed, I will do the straightening of the panel and give it a light sanding before repainting it. David |
#787
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One other thing of note today.
It has been six weeks now since I finished work on the Connectors, Twin No. 17, and I noticed today they no longer smell like popourri. Just a nice old cloth cable kind of smell. David |
#788
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
A little more work on the front panel for the Vibratory Supply last evening and this morning.
The last of the paint was removed yesterday and I was able to use a hammer and dolly on the bend at the bottom of the panel this morning to straighten it out. Then a light sanding to get the last of the paint off the metal and it is now ready for priming. We are supposed to get a break in the cold weather tomorrow, so I am hoping this break will not come with more snow and perhaps the priming will get done tomorrow afternoon. David |
#789
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
The front panel has now been primed and should be ready for final painting Thursday onward.
David |
#790
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
The Knobs, Metal from the front panel of the Vibratory Supply has now been cleaned of all its old paint and is now ready for a coast of its galvanized metal primer.
Notice the ring cast into the zinc around the rim of the Knob. With all the 52-Set components I now have on hand, there are a total of 11 Knobs, Metal to look at and this is the only one to have this ring. All the others have a smooth front face. It is possible Canadian Marconi was contracting with two suppliers for these Knobs, but if that were the case, one would expect to see more of these ringed examples, particularly given the random locations throughout the 52-Set production run that all the serial numbers on the components fall. Then I recalled the Philco stamp on top of the Power Transformer in the Vibratory Supply. At the time I found it, the simple assumption was Philco was contracted to make these transformers for Canadian Marconi, but is it possible Philco was actually a sub-contractor for the entire Vibratory Supply assembly, and they in turn had a different company casting the zinc Knobs, Metal they needed to fulfill their contact? David |
#791
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
The Knobs, Metal for the front panel of this assembly has now been primed.
With luck, I may get some Gloss Navy Grey painting done this coming weekend. David |
#792
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
While reviewing some earlier photos I took of the inside of the Vibratory Supply assembly (Reference Post #770), I realized all the hardware in this assembly was sealed with a flat yellow lacquer, For some reason I did not pay much attention to this at the time, but now took the time to confirm all the other components of this 52-Set had a clear lacquer applied to the hardware.
I then rechecked each component chassis, and on each found either a small round CMC Inspection Stamp, either struck directly into the metal somewhere, and/or small black or blue ink stamps showing the metalwork had been inspected and approved for continued processing on the line. No such marks can be found on the front panel plate for the Vibratory Supply. The most likely place for such marks would be the upper rear section of the panel where it would have been easily seen. As per the last photo in Post #778, nothing shows. It makes no sense to me that Canadian Marconi would have wasted money on a section of the production area making Vibratory Supplies to have a different coloured sealing lacquer from the rest of production, but if Philco was making these Vibratory Supply assemblies for Canadian Marconi, the visible evidence fits that theory. I wonder how well the executives of each company knew each other during the war? David |
#793
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
The finish coat of Gloss Navy Grey has now been applied to the Vibratory Supply front panel and its Knobs, Metal. This will take about three days to reach a state of ‘soft cure’ and another two to three weeks thereafter to attain its final ‘hard cure’.
That’s a good thing because there are lots of other tasks to accomplish in the meantime. David |
#794
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CLIPS, Metal, U-Shape, 2-inch long ZA/CAN 4576
A start has now been made on cleaning this pair of Clips for the front panel of the Vibratory Supply. They have a nice heavy plating of Nickel on them, which is a good thing. So far, a solvent cleaning, a vigorous scrub with a small brass brush and a rub with Autosol have started to bring one of then nicely back to life.
By the time I get both cleaned up along with their SEMS hardware, the front panel of the Vibratory Supply should be fully cured and ready for reassembly. David |
#795
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A few questions......
Hi David
What kind of paint glossy grey are you using???? do you bother with a primer coat...or a self hetch primer or do any kind of acid wash before painting???? Always fascinated by the care and attention you take........ I am limited to regular 19 sets all in various state/conditions that need some attention. Cold days gets me back to the old radio stuff. Winter brings about something to be done inside. I took apart an old US army surplus telephone/telegrapgh converter to salvage some quick disconnect fixtures for other projects. As usual saved all the small nuts, bolts, washers, and the needed parts which had soldered pigtails....... While warming up the soldering iron, it reminded me of about 70 years ago when my Dad kept me busy unsoldering pigtails from parts he would salvage from truck loads of radio parts. A single axle dump truck load was $25.00 (1952) mix bag of all kind of army radios.....included aircraft radio and 19 sets..... some huge carburators and boxes of wiring/cables. The old iron was a wooden handle monster that really heated up and I used a soda straw to blow the metal solder out of the connection holes. Used a piece of woven asbestos cloth to wipe the gun tip and carbon Tet to de- grease switches........ wonder I am still alive!!!!!! also had a home made Germanium crystal radio with earphones...... no batteries required just a wire out the window and a clip on the water pipe. Cheers It sure kept me busy for hours.........
__________________
Bob Carriere....B.T.B C15a Cab 11 Hammond, Ontario Canada |
#796
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Good Evening, Bob.
We are just hunkering down here for a potential storm supposed to arrive sometime in the next few hours and last until Wednesday morning with up to 20 cms of snow and winds on the plus side of 70 kms. Still lots of holiday wine left, so we are good. The paint I have found to be the closest match to the wartime ‘Gloss Navy Grey’ is an Armor Coat product from their rust paint series. It is called ‘Misty Grey’ with a nice high gloss finish. Their stock number is #47002RP522 and I can find it locally at either Canadian Tire or RONA. It goes on with an almost orange peel look, which is a bit alarming the first time you see it and it stays a bit tacky to the touch for the first 24 hours at room temperature, but as it skins over, the oils off gas through it, the skin tightens and the orange peel look flattens out. After 48 hours, you end up with a slick, smooth finish and I always let the parts hard cure for two weeks before working with them. It is a very close match on its own to the original, but with a grey primer under it is pretty much spot on. It appears that the majority of all the Canadian and American wartime wireless equipment, if not all of it, used a grey primer. I have only ever found red oxide under postwar overhauled equipment so far. The go to primer for me is Rustoleum’s Tremclad ‘Grey’ #274103522, which I use on all the steel bits. Just prior to priming, I wipe the parts down with alcohol on a cloth. For the cast zinc parts, there are two on the 19-Sets and three on the 52-Set, I use Tremclads ‘Galvanized Metal White’ #274101522. It actually dries a cream colour when applied. I used to worry about the possible plating on a lot of the sheet steel components on the wireless equipment because the two common ones were zinc and cadmium. What I have discovered over time, however, is that the main reason the old wartime paints come off so easily is that the plating oxidizes and the original bond between the metal and primer fails, so once the paint is off, there is little, if any plating left to worry about. I think humidity plays a big part in that paint bond failure. I have only ever used a quick acid etch as a final step before rinsing off parts before electroplating them, and for that I use Muriatic Acid cut 50/50 with water and dip the parts for only 20 to 30 seconds. So far so good with that approach. Your comments about soldering brought back memories, Bob. In High School Metal Shop we used big heavy wood handled irons. They had solid copper heads about 1.25 inches square and when new, the heads were probably 6 inches long, cut to a pyramid point. They had twisted wrought iron shafts between the head and handle, about a foot long and at the front of each workbench was a cast iron, gas fired oven that would hold two such irons, a large can of flux and a horse hide towel. You started with two clean irons in the oven, when they came up to heat, you pulled one to work with, dipped the tip in the flux, which produced a big green flame and then proceeded to do your soldering work, usually with bar solder. When the iron started to cool, you wiped it on the towel and returned it to the oven and picked up the second iron ready to repeat the process and keep the workflow going. Our Electrical Shop had electric soldering irons almost as big and heavy as the manual ones in the metal shop! It still impressed me today, the quality of work craftsmen, and women, 70 plus years ago accomplished with that equipment. Hope this helps, Bob. Stay warm! David |
#797
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CLIPS, Metal, U-Shape, 2-inch long ZA/CAN 4576
The two Clips and their SEMS Screws have now been cleaned and polished, and are ready to reinstall on the Vibratory Supply front panel when it is ready.
In the photo they look like there is a lot of surface rust still on them but that is just a reflection of the bench top colour being picked up by the camera. If you are wondering about the different colours of tape holding the SEMS screws in place, the tan is for the top of the clip and the green for the bottom. I know it does not matter a fig with parts like this, it’s just the way I like to do this kind of stuff. It helps keep my brain cells firing correctly. David |
#798
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Having had to get some of the pan head screws on the Vibratory Supply to work, as they should to tighten up the gaps in the chassis assembly, I needed to find some flat yellow enamel that was a good match to what had originally been factory applied to this hardware. Turns out Testors has a close match in their Flat Yellow (Stock # TES1169) Enamel.
On a whim the other day, I thought I would check out the Model Section of the local Michaels Store and as luck would have it, they had one ¼-ounce bottle in stock for $3.00. Feeling pretty chuffed about that, I headed to the cashier and was informed it was ‘Seniors Day’ and I got 20% off. Not bad for a whim trip. I will touch the hardware up on the chassis that needs it this weekend and then do the hardware needed for reassembly of the front panel and related parts next weekend when the Gloss Navy Grey paint is fully cured. Last week the off gassing of oils from the paint was noticeable within 2 metres of the pieces. Today its less than a metre and should be completely gone by next weekend. David |
#799
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
Flat Yellow touchups to the Vibratory Supply Hardware have now been completed.
Compared to the original condition, as shown in the photo in Post #770, I am quite pleased with how well the factory original paint and the modern Testors product blend together. David |
#800
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It's a very good match.
__________________
V/R James D. Teel II Edmond, Oklahoma Retired Police Sergeant/Bomb Tech 1943 Willys MB/ITM jeep 1942 SS Cars No1Mk1 LtWt trailer |
#801
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Funny you should mention Testor's yellow paint. I actually just today went to one of the few remaining hobby shops around here to buy exactly that. What with winter cold and covid I've resumed my life-long goal to reproduce the entire BCATP in 1/72 scale. The helpful clerk at the store told me Testor's is almost impossible to get, surmising because it's petroleum based. Well damn. No Testor's yellow and no matt khaki for the CMPs. Friggin' hell??!!!????
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#802
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Nice lineup on the ramp, Bruce.
I heard rumours a few years ago Testors was being, or had been, sold and the new owners wanted to go acrylic to be good corporate citizens but the plan back fired for some reason. There was a time their paints were hard to find but that seems to have passed. However, I do see a mix of stock on local shelves when I look closely at the way the labels are printed. The big problem here is the old established model/hobby shops are rapidly disappearing. My ‘go to’ store for any large quantities of Testors these days is PM Hobbycraft in Calgary. They always seem to have stock, or restock very quickly, and they carry the Testors in several sizes. The 1/4 ounce jar is currently $3.99 Cdn as I recall. Once you get your training fleet completed, Bruce, you will have to scale a replica BCATP airfield in your basement to display them. David |
#803
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Hi James. You are right. The more I look at it, the more I like it.
The yellow capacitor at the lower left is a replacement at some point in the history of the 52-Set. All the original yellow lacquer had popped off the hardware on its cleat, save for on the very tip of the screw. I left that hardware as is. David |
#804
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
The two SEMS screws that fasten the front panel to the Vibratory Supply chassis have now been cleaned up. A couple of photos showing just the left one cleaned, and then both on them.
Everything is now ready to go for the reassembly of the Vibratory Supply next weekend. The week will come in handy, as there are a number of options I have to consider regarding how best to proceed with work on the main Supply Unit assembly. David |
#805
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
A startling -47 degrees Wind Chill here this morning. It wasn’t just a couple of Sun Dogs surrounding the Sun today, it was a whole freaking wolf pack! A good morning to stay in and think, however.
There are a few things with the Supply Unit of this 52-Set that need to be looked at and fixed. The big one, eventually will be the removal of the front panel so it can be repaired, repainted and a new set of water slide transfer decals applied. This latter task will be huge, taking a while and requiring we get a new computer and the necessary software to do the job easily and well, as far as making the decals is concerned. So that huge task has to wait a bit yet. My thought process is to first check the two Rotary Transformers to see if they are still working correctly. Having had a look at one set of end bearings on each of these items now I am comfortable the bearings are in good shape and will be OK for the duration of running time they will go through to get reliable output readings from them. This exercise will provide very useful information, both now and down the road when they are removed from the Supply Unit for repacking the bearings. The second thing that came to mind was the hardware issue that is causing the Vibratory Supply Case to bind when being inserted or removed. This hardware is located on the left front corner of the AF Choke (L28A) in the MG1A Secondary Circuit where it is serving as the Smoothing Filter. In the attached photo, you can see this Choke directly under the Blower Motor. The left side of the choke passed roughly half way between the right end on the Blower Motor capacitor and its cotton lacing and the errant hardware set is sitting pretty much under the front rim of the metal grommet on top of the Blower Motor where its two leads exit. On the bright side, there is only one lead that needs to be unsoldered leading to the blower assembly. The rest is just hardware: four hex nuts to release the COVERS, Metal, from the front panel and then three large screw to release the Blower assembly, which should then just swing out the right side of the Supply Unit chassis. That should expose the AF Choke hardware that needs fixing and also allow me to clean the Blower Motor and more importantly its fan, which is filthy. And with that all done, I can reinstall the blower for the time being and more importantly, I can reinstall the restored Vibratory Supply assembly and keep it out of harms way. David |
#806
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
I had popped downstairs to check on how the paintwork was curing and found I needed to be within one foot of the two pieces now before detecting any further off gassing, so they will be ready for reassembly on the weekend. While checking, I also decided to make sure all the other parts were good to go and it was a good thing I did. I had not done anything yet with the two Shakeproof No. 18 Wing Head Cowl Fasteners.
I remembered the one survivor on the Sender was in very good condition and confirmed that with a quick look, which also reminded me these parts had a bright finish originally, along with their larger ‘Airloc’ cousins. The two I had to work with now only had a thin band of bright finish left along the ‘SHAKEPROOF INC’ stamp along one side of the wing. Everything else had worn away. Since all my electroplating to date (going way back to around Post #400) had been flat finish work, I went and reviewed Jordan Baker’s thread on his Otter restoration where he had done some plating and bright finish work on some electrical parts. A very helpful thread. So for two days now I have replated and polished the two No. 18 Fasteners. The first photo is the top fastener after plating and the polishing of the wing head started. With that much done, I then compared it to the survivor on the Sender, as per Photo 2. So far so good. The third photo is the top fastener with polishing completed, and in the 4th photo I have compared its finished state with the original, ‘as acquired’ look of the bottom fastener. Finally, in the last photo, both fasteners have been replated and polished. Its interesting that the more you use your electroplating solution, the more loaded it becomes with the metal electrolytes you are working with and the faster the plating times become. When I first started this electroplating work, a good plating layer took one to two hours before metal whiskers’ would start to grow on the object being plated. Your metal anode plate also etched away at a pretty quick rate. This plating work only took 15 minutes per item before the whiskers arrived and the anode plate only had a slight discolouration along its edges that were in the plating solution. David |
#807
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
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 |
#808
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
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 |
#809
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
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 |
#810
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SUPPLY UNITS, Vibratory, No. 52 ZA/CAN 4354
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 |
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