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Zenith 5G500
#16

OK, it makes more sense if I just order one after you report how yours work out.  Thanks....

John KK4ZLF
Lexington, KY
"illegitimis non carborundum"
#17

I just ordered two.

Expected to arrive about my birthday (end of the February) or beginning of March.
If I think it's a good fit I'll bring the second one to Ktown to you unless you get impatient and order before.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#18

Waiting on the electrolytic caps to arrive from Mouser.
Meantime finished restuffing the tubulars.
Speaking of the tubulars: half of them on the right side are the type with thin paper shell in place of thick cardboard shell.
The wax seems stamped (flat with a ridge) rather than just poured over.
Gutting these is a hassle: wax melts easily but doesn't just pull as a plug but rather creates a jam-like remnant which can't be just nocked off lest the thin paper be damaged.
Luckily most of them, 0.05uF, are of the diameter of my exacto knife handle, which coukd be pushed through when the wax is hot.
Still uncomfortable and the paper is easily charred.

This time around I used Exacto blade to cut the electrolytic open: came out much cleaner than with the bandsaw. Not that it matters much.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#19

So, Thursday the electrolytic caps came, and today I restuffed the last one, glued it together and soldered it in.
Had to replace a few wires that really started to crumble on me, plus rebuilt the battery cable.

Here it is again:

   
   
   
   


I plugged it then directly into isolation transformer, without the variac, and turned it on.
Nice radio noise started coming out after about 4 seconds (fast if you ask me, often takes 10+) snd I quickly tuned in my local station which happened to be exactly where it should be.
The volume pot is noisy, I think I'll try first to find a way to get some Deoxit inside without having to open it up.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#20

Mike I have had good luck using WD-40 on volume controls.
#21

David,

You mean, intraven...I mean, inside? Icon_smile
It might work, sure.
I just happened to have Deoxit Fader Lube specifically formulated for the job. If the pot were ooen, I mix just a smidge ot lithium grease with it.

I use Deoxit D series on switches.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#22

Nice Job Mike!

There was noise while handling the volume control on my Zenith in the other thread. I determined that this was intermittent contact  between the control shaft and the body (grounded to the chassis), not the control track or wiper itself. A tiny spot of lock lube (which contains graphite) was applied to the shaft where it enters the bushing of the pot. No more crackling  Icon_biggrin

I don't hold with furniture that talks.
#23

Ed,

Thanks. I wish it was that easy, but mine seems to be just a scratchy pot....the sound of a scratchy pot is very characteristic, plus I think if there is a problem with the shaft contact with the chassis I would hear hum when touching the shaft which I don't. I'd try your suggestion anyway if I had the graphite lube handy, else I have to go and buy it.

At any rate, I will have to find out how to get that Deoxit inside. I am really reluctant to take the pot off. Drilling holes in it also does not seem like such a hot idea to me.....
Icon_smile

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#24

Yes inside without taking it apart!!! Spray WD-40 around the shaft and around the connecters might have to do this once a day for several days keep working the control back and forth. Learned that trick from the guy who had the old army generator I talked about in the what you fixed today thread. Jack was old school EE and signal corp from WW2. Him and his friend J.M. could just about make anything work.
#25

Some disappointment tonight.
The battery, Z909 I bought, is obviously a wrong type. The connector pins are very asymmetrical and won't go in.

Probably because the intended Z659 hae 75V B+ and they didn't want 90V to get there.
Wrote to Ed, let's see if he could suggest something.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#26

All "Gozinta" talk has been split into a thread of its own, in the Test Equipment subforum:

http://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=19667

Mike, carry on with your 5G500.

--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
#27

Ed agreed to make a battery for the the radio.
He's just made the connector, though I think he reversed it, but he says he will make another one if this doesn't work. And then he will make a repro Z675 box.
The connector is different cause the radio uses 6V A voltage (B could be either 75 or 90V).

He's a great dude, Ed.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#28

So, in the meantime let me ask that question: how does one change the handle on these radios?

I could see two small triangular looking tabs bent into the wood on the internal side of the top.
I might unbend them, but: 1) will I possibly break them off, and 2) is this it? Are these two small tabs on each side what is holding the total radio weight? (Granted, the radio is not as heavy as the actual TO).
And the center round pin that goes through the slot in the handle: does it get secured somehow also?

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#29

Mike;
  Those sound a little different from the ones that I have encountered but I think that they secure the brackets down sort of like rivets, I don't know if they are reusable or not, or where you could get new ones. One possibility would be to replace them with those screws that don't have a screwdriver slot, not quite the same but they wouldn't look out of place. The pin inside each bracket just sort of fits into the slots in each end of the handle, I don't think that they could be removed from the brackets, so I think you won't have any option but to remove each bracket to replace the handle. I hope that I am wrong, and that someone has a better answer.
Regards
Arran
#30

Yesterday received the connector from Ed; I was wrong (I made the drawings and thought he mirrored the pins) and the connector fits like a glove. One pin does not make contact which means that my connector has to be disassembled again and the sockets pressed a bit.
Ed will make the rest of the battery so I will have pretty much one and only Z-675 made by him. Actually it was my idea; I said that as there are quite a few 5G500 and likes that use the same battery there might be people who would order those same as there are those who order 985 and 909 ones. So he might add it to the offering on his website.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.




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