[Guest]

Thanks for your interest and reply but this is not the answer. I had previously had the gang off and cleaned and checked all plates etc. This included removing the rear bearing, cleaning all the old gunge and relubricating it and the front bearing. All nicely set up for no end float on the rotor but the least resistance to turning. This is essential else the dial cord drive will slip.

Actually the problem is interesting. It got me looking at other tunning gangs in 'stores'. Old 20's ones have a pin on the rotor shaft that limits the rotation. Modern ones have the ends of the rotor joined by a punched paxolin panel. When this contacts the fixed non-earthed plates it obviously doesn't short them out. Not so with my 118 which has a metal plate, to secure the ends of the rotor. So there must have been something that limited rotation or prevented shorting. This is the most likely and possibly there was an insulating buffer secured (glued?) somehow. It explains why my loops of lacing string work.

So, bit of a pain, but I will have to look in my other Philco's and look at the gangs on those.

Gary