A cleaning agent that works like magic is Persil washing machine liquid diluted in water. Because it is designed to work at high dilution levels to remove grime from clothing it is amazing at lower dilution levels on components. It is less likely to damage paint, decals, labels etc and can be rinsed with water. I do computer motherboards this way and they end up looking like new. Give it a try. I do admire the level of disassembly you go to.
You truly put in amazing amounts of work in your restorations and with good results! just remember that it is very important to use balancing resistors across all capacitors when connected in series to even out the voltage otherwise they go pop like this. This repair actually reminds me of the supply I got in my lab here that I restored myself. it is a Very expensive Tube based supply that was used for high precision work ( A2,5K-10HR ) I bought on auction for a pretty decent price but it was very broken. it had a sticker that it was not calibrated and the output was disabled as well and there was problems with it that made it impossible to calibrate during the last made attempt and it was taken out of service from what I could see. And it really was out of whack in every aspect and the current meter would only show 1ma when 15 was drawn, the voltage was also not in spec, the current limit axle was broken off etc. I had to re-cap the boards to begin and try to figure out what all things do as there was no schematic to find. And in the end the problem with the faulty current indication would not be solved without modifying the circuits myself to get it into spec again. Not sure if the meter somehow changed or the signal to it have changed for some reason but it was a very hard nut to crack in the end but I eventually did! And after all work it works and very well too! it can provide up to 3200volts with 15Ma current and with a resolution within 1 volt over the whole range that you dial in. I even managed to find NOS Spares of the rare tubes inside it in case these gives up too. it is actually very useful, I often use this to test capacitors as the current meter is very sensitive and you can easily see a 0,1ma leakage current on it. but it also does isolation tests, LED array tests, diodes and components tests, calibration of wide voltage equipment and probes. and much more that require precise voltages, really awesome stuff. I also built my own lab power supply with 1-20V and 20-80 volt high current outputs and one 40-380V High voltage up to 200ma you never get better than your tools!
Don't exceed the recommended daily dosage 😜 - Your comment proves again that the music is a bit of a mixed blessing; some people are totally fine with it, others start to hate it...
"The (Real Deal) Big Iron" PSU - holy bloody hell, ain't that a thing of beauty and a joy for ever... And a very labor-intensive restoration. Taking it all apart is no easy task. Got a bunch of EL156 tubes myself! Can't really do anything with them at the moment for the lack of proper tube bases (steel 5+5 not 5+3) but I'll make a huge-ass stereo amplifier with them... Someday. The problem with gutting good devices for tubes is probably the vintage gear enthusiasts' nightmare... I'm seeing it all over the Polish auction sites with Meratronik V541 nixie DMMs with tubes taken out because they're oh so attractive for making nixie clocks. Of course, I'd love to have one of these meters in a good working condition here in my lab, that would look so elegant while doing the job. I absolutely loved the moment when the front panel and chassis were separated. Oh my, that's some splendid design! All it takes is to undo four bolts and you have access to all the internals. Made with serviceability in mind - definitely a thing to learn from. Always loving and appreciating the needle meter surgery. Nice job on restuffing those electrolytics, and a cool tip to use a lathe if you have access to one. I'll keep that in mind. I was also thinking about restuffing old selenium rectifiers with UF4007s though this would change the internal resistance and V/I characteristic curve of the rectifier, which may be beneficial most cases, but detrimental in some... especially if the B+ voltage shouldn't go too high. "Atkelar Electronics CAPPAC" :) When stacking electrolytics, ALWAYS use them with parallel resistors to fix the voltage ratio. I often see them missing, and then you can never be sure that the voltage is evenly split. Another vintage restoration tip: if the part is utterly dirty, try cleaning it in an ultrasonic cleaner. This thing does wonders to old tube sockets, switches and connectors. I even got great results cleaning radio receiver sub-assemblies, just dry the parts thoroughly afterwards. Definitely looking forward to seeing this loveliness in action!
Thanks! The "caps in the lathe" needs a good bit of caution though: my lathe is too small to fit them properly so they have quite much "stick out"; I mangled one of the caps when it got snagged and totally got smashed in the chuck. That's why I opted to center drill them and use the live center as seen in the video. That worked out fine.
I've read that dish soap and white vinegar get rid of nicotine stains. I haven't tried it but it might be an alternative to using IPA. I had to clean a Uniden handheld scanner in the past and used IPA to clean yellow nicotine from the case when I bought it from the previous owner who was a heavy smoker.
Hmmm.... I tried dish soap, but not vinegar... Thanks for the tip! I'll give that a try the next time! - not sure if it would have left the rubber stamped socket numbers intact though 😉
Good decision always get rid the selenium rectifiers. I never smelled it but my father always complained about them in his work, besides it highly toxic.
A cleaning agent that works like magic is Persil washing machine liquid diluted in water. Because it is designed to work at high dilution levels to remove grime from clothing it is amazing at lower dilution levels on components. It is less likely to damage paint, decals, labels etc and can be rinsed with water. I do computer motherboards this way and they end up looking like new. Give it a try. I do admire the level of disassembly you go to.
You truly put in amazing amounts of work in your restorations and with good results! just remember that it is very important to use balancing resistors across all capacitors when connected in series to even out the voltage otherwise they go pop like this.
This repair actually reminds me of the supply I got in my lab here that I restored myself. it is a Very expensive Tube based supply that was used for high precision work ( A2,5K-10HR ) I bought on auction for a pretty decent price but it was very broken. it had a sticker that it was not calibrated and the output was disabled as well and there was problems with it that made it impossible to calibrate during the last made attempt and it was taken out of service from what I could see.
And it really was out of whack in every aspect and the current meter would only show 1ma when 15 was drawn, the voltage was also not in spec, the current limit axle was broken off etc. I had to re-cap the boards to begin and try to figure out what all things do as there was no schematic to find. And in the end the problem with the faulty current indication would not be solved without modifying the circuits myself to get it into spec again. Not sure if the meter somehow changed or the signal to it have changed for some reason but it was a very hard nut to crack in the end but I eventually did!
And after all work it works and very well too! it can provide up to 3200volts with 15Ma current and with a resolution within 1 volt over the whole range that you dial in. I even managed to find NOS Spares of the rare tubes inside it in case these gives up too.
it is actually very useful, I often use this to test capacitors as the current meter is very sensitive and you can easily see a 0,1ma leakage current on it. but it also does isolation tests, LED array tests, diodes and components tests, calibration of wide voltage equipment and probes. and much more that require precise voltages, really awesome stuff.
I also built my own lab power supply with 1-20V and 20-80 volt high current outputs and one 40-380V High voltage up to 200ma
you never get better than your tools!
OMG - I’m addicted to this channel (and how come the music never gets boring???)
Don't exceed the recommended daily dosage 😜 - Your comment proves again that the music is a bit of a mixed blessing; some people are totally fine with it, others start to hate it...
I like your work.
What a beautiful acquisition.
Well done. Here's to another 60 plus years from that power supply.
That was a score! Nice piece of kit now 😀
I've had cigar smoke deposits etch off plated surfaces, it is acidic and also holds moisture.
Interesting; I wonder if that's the reason for the mirrors.The meters would have been pretty much closed from the air, so it must be relly intense.
"The (Real Deal) Big Iron" PSU - holy bloody hell, ain't that a thing of beauty and a joy for ever... And a very labor-intensive restoration. Taking it all apart is no easy task.
Got a bunch of EL156 tubes myself! Can't really do anything with them at the moment for the lack of proper tube bases (steel 5+5 not 5+3) but I'll make a huge-ass stereo amplifier with them... Someday.
The problem with gutting good devices for tubes is probably the vintage gear enthusiasts' nightmare... I'm seeing it all over the Polish auction sites with Meratronik V541 nixie DMMs with tubes taken out because they're oh so attractive for making nixie clocks. Of course, I'd love to have one of these meters in a good working condition here in my lab, that would look so elegant while doing the job.
I absolutely loved the moment when the front panel and chassis were separated. Oh my, that's some splendid design! All it takes is to undo four bolts and you have access to all the internals. Made with serviceability in mind - definitely a thing to learn from.
Always loving and appreciating the needle meter surgery.
Nice job on restuffing those electrolytics, and a cool tip to use a lathe if you have access to one. I'll keep that in mind. I was also thinking about restuffing old selenium rectifiers with UF4007s though this would change the internal resistance and V/I characteristic curve of the rectifier, which may be beneficial most cases, but detrimental in some... especially if the B+ voltage shouldn't go too high.
"Atkelar Electronics CAPPAC" :)
When stacking electrolytics, ALWAYS use them with parallel resistors to fix the voltage ratio. I often see them missing, and then you can never be sure that the voltage is evenly split.
Another vintage restoration tip: if the part is utterly dirty, try cleaning it in an ultrasonic cleaner. This thing does wonders to old tube sockets, switches and connectors. I even got great results cleaning radio receiver sub-assemblies, just dry the parts thoroughly afterwards.
Definitely looking forward to seeing this loveliness in action!
Thanks!
The "caps in the lathe" needs a good bit of caution though: my lathe is too small to fit them properly so they have quite much "stick out"; I mangled one of the caps when it got snagged and totally got smashed in the chuck. That's why I opted to center drill them and use the live center as seen in the video. That worked out fine.
I've read that dish soap and white vinegar get rid of nicotine stains. I haven't tried it but it might be an alternative to using IPA. I had to clean a Uniden handheld scanner in the past and used IPA to clean yellow nicotine from the case when I bought it from the previous owner who was a heavy smoker.
Hmmm.... I tried dish soap, but not vinegar... Thanks for the tip! I'll give that a try the next time! - not sure if it would have left the rubber stamped socket numbers intact though 😉
@@atkelar OK thanks. I am enjoying the restoration videos very much. Have a happy new year.
Good decision always get rid the selenium rectifiers. I never smelled it but my father always complained about them in his work, besides it highly toxic.
I get good quality Panasonic capacitors from RS Components in Europe.
Thanks!