01-11-2008, 10:07 AM
It a simple matter of practice to rebuild those blocks; even with terribly arthritic hands I can completely empty, clean out, and have ready to install caps in less than 3 minutes. It's important that the blocks remain since they serve as terminals and tie points for the wiring; without them the underside will look like a disaster of flying joints.
A heat gun, a small screwdriver, a soldering iron, a small drill bit, a glue brush, and some acetone are the only materials needed- along with the schematic diagram.
First, draw yourself a simple picture of the wiring to the block before removing it. Once removed........
With the tar side up, simply heat the block until the edges of the tar melt slightly; pry off the top 1/8 inch of tar, exposing the caps. Gouge out the caps carefully so as to not break the shell. All of this should take about 90 seconds. Heat the solder joints with your soldering iron and quickly rap the block on a table to remove all excess solder on each terminal. If you now look carefully at the terminal lugs you can see the remaining cap leads mark or remember which one had two leads.
By hand, push your drill bit through the terminal holes to cut the leads and clean out the hole; and finally, clean the block with acetone and a cut-down glue brush. Total time: under 3 minutes for a new looking empty block. Also, take some serious time to understand the schematic diagram- it was drawn for service people like you and me.
A heat gun, a small screwdriver, a soldering iron, a small drill bit, a glue brush, and some acetone are the only materials needed- along with the schematic diagram.
First, draw yourself a simple picture of the wiring to the block before removing it. Once removed........
With the tar side up, simply heat the block until the edges of the tar melt slightly; pry off the top 1/8 inch of tar, exposing the caps. Gouge out the caps carefully so as to not break the shell. All of this should take about 90 seconds. Heat the solder joints with your soldering iron and quickly rap the block on a table to remove all excess solder on each terminal. If you now look carefully at the terminal lugs you can see the remaining cap leads mark or remember which one had two leads.
By hand, push your drill bit through the terminal holes to cut the leads and clean out the hole; and finally, clean the block with acetone and a cut-down glue brush. Total time: under 3 minutes for a new looking empty block. Also, take some serious time to understand the schematic diagram- it was drawn for service people like you and me.
Pete AI2V
