Search found 9 matches for 2

These are some of the common faults I have found over the years.

1. No Sound:
Look for open coupling cap to volume control. Also check the earphone jack. The switching contacts get dirty or bent. plus dead battery or it has come out of the holder and contacts not making.

2. Battery dies quickly or gets VERY hot: There is a cap across the battery leads (decoupling) after the power switch. They short. (This is true even in remote controls, and I have seen it in car radios also).

3. Motorboating: See [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], same solution. Also can be main filter caps.

4. Volume control very scratchy: Clean or replace control.

5. Volume won't turn down: Look for bad ground off the volume pot.

6. Dead:    See [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. 
 Look for bad batteries or leaking batteries that have corroded the battery contacts. If alkaline batteries, clean contacts with white vinegar, clean water, & dry. 
  Note: Don't always  believe the customer when they say " I just put new batteries in the radio a couple of weeks ago". 95% of the time the batteries were put in there months/years ago, and are dead/leaking.

  Also some brands of batteries are just plain crap. I saw brand new batteries for flashlights that only worked for 1-2 minutes before failing, being sold to the State of Washington back in the 70's . Purchasing for the agency refused to get good quality ones. Test all  "New batteries" before installing. New does not in any way mean they are good batteries.

They were fairly good, but I sure went through the phillips [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] screw drivers a lot. My local dealer stopped exchanging them, which is why I found another source- Home Depot Husky brand drivers. Under 3 bux and fit the ISO screws! Lifetime warranty and lasted literally 5X longer than Xcelite.
 Xcelite would last me maybe 3 months before it wore out, even the hardened tip  (Black tip) ones.
Note: Unless they changed, Snap On [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] phillips drivers do not fit ISO screws.

 I sure wore out many pair of Craftsman side cutters and needle nose pliers. Finally bit the bullet & got Snap-On ones. Those last. The Sears Craftsman ones kept getting poorer & poorer quality, plus the needle nose tips kept getting thicker & thicker & the machining to match the tips got worse & worse.

 Then they discontinued so many tools I used, so I went to Harbor Freight for sockets, wrenches & such, IMHO, they were of better quality & no problems replacing them if they failed, unlike Sears

I have a Whirlpool dryer that failed to heat.

DISCONNECT POWER FIRST THING!!!

 After disassembly I found the heating element open.
 Now I am not certain the age of the dryer, but does Avocado Green paint tell you the age?  [You must be [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to see this image.]

I ordered the replacement assy. The replacement one has different size connection lugs than the original and requires a modification kit. (Used to be included with the element, but no more). Order separately.

Pull the lint filter retaining screws at the top and lift the lid up to get access to the fan blade blower assy. Clean out the rocks, nuts, bolts screws, etc out of it. Vacuum out the dryer really good!
 When i pulled the heater element casing out I found on the front side of it there was a grill that had one 1/4" hex head screw holding it in place. I removed that and pulled out a huge clump of blackened & charred lint!
  I also checked the thermal fuse (or fuses in some units),

So am waiting for the adaptor kit to come in to finish the job. 

Oh, also wear gloves as there is a lot of sharp metal edges. And before you ask, Yes, I did make a blood sacrifice to the Electron Gods. Several in fact. [You must be [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to see this image.]

You will find a extendable parts magnet a great help in fishing out odds and ends of metal in the bottom of the dryer too. I even recovered about .35 cents in change, and found where a part I had lost decades ago had ended up . A good mantra is always empty pockets before washing & drying. [You must be [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to see this image.] 

The tools I needed were a Multimeter, 3/8" and 1/4" nut drivers, pointed tip vice grips, a small adjustable wrench, a 1/4" socket set,  flat, & Phillips type screw drivers.  Also a small shop vacuum is really handy & a small 1" brush to clean out the dust bunnies. 

I expect the dryer to run better than it has in decades and dry a lot better because of the new element and the pile of dust & lint in heater casing I removed. Also while you are in it, clean out the lint trap ducting and the vent pipe.

 Note [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: I discovered that they make a "Quick disconnect" for the vent pipe. (Mine is 4" but they make an adaptor for 3").  Wish I had discovered this decades back. I found mine at Home Depot for about $7.00. Fits on the wall thru for the vent hose.  I will install mine when there is a break in the rain, as my thru the wall vent  pipe broke from the plastic outside " flapper"  door.

Oh, & be sure to check under the dryer for cat toys. I found a missing mouse toy from 15 years back, and the 2 plastic caps for my toilet to floor bolts that mysteriously were missing after my old cat discovered they were fun to bat around.

Friends,

Wanted to Buy:

Silver Marshall S-M 251 and S-M 256 audio "transformers"

S-M 256 audio coupler, terminals [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] must have continuity.

S-M 251 audio output coupler, terminals [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] must have
continuity.

They are not "standard" audio transformers that have a primary and secondary but contain a resistor, capacitor and a tapped inductor. The inductor must be viable for a functional repair.

[You must be [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to see this image.]

These are surface mount, tar potted black metal cans about 3" cubed, maybe taller, with a bold red "S-M" label on top with side numbered solder tab terminals.



Thanks!

Chas

Let's concentrate on what improvements I've made on this radio.  The oscillator is working.  I have it somewhat aligned, it should work like it is.  I can get a signal thru from antenna terminal to speaker.  I also realize my initial assessment of this radio was not my best work.

Speaking of work, although my tenure in this hobby may be lengthy, I consider my electronic troubleshooting and repair skills hobbyist grade, at best.  My theory is "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn occasionally".  I can't and don't speak electronic jargon and have little interest in the intimate details of electronics.  I fix things for the item, not to be an electronics guru. 

That said, I believe my next investigative path should be ahead of the tuning capacitor.  I can get a signal from the antenna thru to the speaker now, when I connect it to the tuning cap directly.  Not a station, per se, but I get noise.  And that is good enough for now.  Still nothing when I connect the antenna to the antenna terminal.  We can reasonably assume that the oscillator section of the tuning cap is not shorted, since the oscillator voltage varies with turning the tuning cap.  The "detector" section of the tuning cap does not show shorted.  It measures infinite ohms.  I don't remember working on a radio where the tuning cap was causing a problem.  So please bear with me here. 

I'm still not 100% convinced the antenna coil is above suspicion.  And I have not attempted to adjust C1, the antenna coil trimmer.  I'm also beginning to wonder about the wisdom of injecting a modulated RF signal at the antenna then concluding all is well when you can hear the note in the speaker.  I had an Arvin 444-A that did this one time, but had a bad antenna coil.  All the wires on the antenna coil on the Zenith are black.  They twist and turn.  I'm looking into a black hole.  What I have checked measures good.  The schematic shows an RF choke to ground off the antenna coil, #2.  It is alleged to be separate from the antenna coil.  I have not found that choke.  There do not appear to be any caps in that area that don't belong there.

So I found the problem, I thought I had been thorough in my testing but I missed the continuity on terminal 2-3 and 1-2 on L5  oscillator so I repaired the broken {#}2{/#} wire and it makes sense with no signal the AGC could not give as much audio as shortwave and also no tuning to be done.  I bought a rf signal generator all the same and will use it to align the radio now that it works.  I bought a refurbished BK precision 2050.  Thanks for all the helpful suggestions and it looks like this one is solved !!

The shafts usually come out OK, provided there is room and the connecting wires are long enuf. Having to re-attach wires can turn into a nightmare. Plus you can break contact lugs off pretty easy on some of the switches.

 I can't remember if a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] would work or not. IIRC a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is too big.
 I got an eyeglass repair kit off Amazon that has some really tiny bolts and nuts. I would not use a self tapping screw, as the bakelite is brittle.

If you need fingers, let me know & I'll try to find you a wafer.

Dial cord is becoming a  hard to find item these days. There must have been at least 6-8 different diameters I had to deal with, and several colors. The Sony micro-diameter cord as I called it was only available from them.
 Most of the radios you will run into use a med thick cord. Some places do have it, but it can be really costly- up to $2.00/ft!.  :evil:

I was rummaging thru my fishing stuff I inherited from my day and ran into 2 mostly full reels of what we called "Cuttyhunk" line. It was likely a cotton /nylon mix. Doubt it was very strong though, as we only used it for halibut fishing. [You must be [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to see this image.]
 It came in a nice green color, but I have also seen it in red, blue & yellow.
 Turns out it was the identical diameter to one very common size of dial cord. A test was made and it worked just fine, even though its over 50 years old. That old radio pointer moved just great.
 I went on the prowl at the local stores for new Cuttyhunk, and the sales drones had never even heard of it.
(What do salespeople in the fishing department do for education? They never heard of ferrel cement, replacement eyes, silk thread, ferrels,  Banana oil, etc- or anyone ever making fishing poles from scratch. Truely sad.... And I live in a saltwater fishing area to boot!).

So after 10-12 stores I found what they call today"cod line". Basically it appears the same as Cuttyhunk line. Orange in color and appears to work the same as Cuttyhunk for dial cords.

Ok 1 possible problem solved.

 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]:
Replacing springs & belts in tape recorders, radios and such can be a true test of patience, and the strength of that concrete pillar that you keep pounding your head on. Well...

 I looked for a spring hook for a long time. Finally finding them at a typewriter repair parts store in either Seattle or Portland in about the early 70's- When they actually fixed manual typewriters. They cost about $20-30.00 each. Well, that was a really tidy sum back then for 1 tool, and they made several different configurations and sizes of them.
 Being churchmouse poor at the time I looked carefully at them.

 Basically spring steel rod with different bends and points on the end.

 Hmmm, I though... springy steel- Eureka! The old black metal clothes hangers were free all over & they were a poor grade of spring steel, but cheap! (The newer mustard colored ones are typically thinner and a much poorer grade of metal).

 So a pair of cutters, a grinder and a forge later (What? Doesn't everyone have a forge? Sheesh... OK so use your propane torch); I created an entire set of variously different configured spring hooks and picks & prods. I tempered them in some old motor oil, and sanded the burned paint off. A shot of spray paint & they looked nice.

 I put them in my tool box and a few sessions of bleeding later (Yeah, they were REALLY sharply pointed! [You must be [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to see this image.] ). Adhesive bandages & alcohol swabs are a good item to have in it too.

   I found storing them in a paper towel cardboard center tube with a rag in each end really prevented me perforating myself. Eventually I used PVC pipe scraps and end caps. MUCH safer.

 Not only did they work great for "re-springing" stuff, but they also worked fantastic for replacing belts, and were of great help in removing "C" & "E" spring clips. 

 They sure made restringing dial cord and belt replacement- especially in VCR's much easier & faster. (Again, I mention some of the pointe were REALLY sharp).

Total cost of my home brew set was $0.00 Yup. I had everything. 
  NOTE:
If you make a set of these  don't drop one of the really pointy ones on the top of your foot  They go through the tennis shoe canvas nicely and skewer the top of your foot quite well. [You must be [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to see this image.] 
 I am not responsible for any injuries you incur. I am not your keeper or Mother.
 Keep out of the reach of children and idiots that think its fun to play "darts" with the really pointy ended ones. 
  Do not forget and leave a bent sharp ended one on your shop stool seat either. At that "point"  it can become a real Pain In The ... .
 (Yeah- I had to get a double entendre in there someplace....)

Oh, and putting a wooden dowel on the end of one of the really pointy ended ones makes a great tool to clean out PC board holes too. A miniature awl so to speak.

There are a couple (well actually three different types)  of Multimeter's.
The first used meters were designed with a specific task in mind.
It was found that the range of a meter could be increased by adding switches and resistors and shunts and batteries.
There were several descriptions used to identify the use intended.
Voltmeter to measure voltage in the range of a few micro-volts to several thousand volts
Ohmmeter to measure 100ths of an ohm to Millions of Ohms
ammeter measurements on the order of picoamps to hundreds of amps (amp-meter is incorrect usage of the term.)

Then when radio started to develop there was a need to have test equipment that was more versatile.
So functions were combined to create a VOM (Volt-Ohm-Milliammeter)
So came the development of the following types:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Analog portable VOM
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Analog VTVM
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Digital VOM
----------------
Then there are field units built for rugged use and then bench meters and Lab quality types.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The first type has a mechanical meter movement to display numbers (analog style). When first introduced they had an input impedance ( or resistance) of 500 to 1000 ohms, they now can go up to the same as a digital. 10 or 11 meg-ohms.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The second one came into existence because of the ever increasing need for a more accurate meter that wouldn't load down voltage readings.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The third One uses computer chips and a digital screen to display numbers. They can have several functions built in. The Impedance input is usually 10-11 meg-ohms This is used to prevent loading the circuit under test.


The readings of a digital are more precise than an analog meter. An analog meter has a problem that is called parallax and is caused by reading the meter at an angle and therefore not getting correct readings. If there is anything else to add about Multimeter's, please feel free to post your thoughts and questions here. [You must be [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to see this image.]