[Boatanchors] Drake TR-3 cleanup

[Paul Kraemer]

Bob
>From my experience
The chassis is NOT solid copper as so many think. It is in fact copper clad 
steel---a magnet will prove that.
The metal was coated with a thin coat of varnish to keep it from oxidizing, 
which it did more or less, depending on circumstances.
If you attack that with copper cleaner or any aggressive cleaner like krud 
kutter, simple green, or 409 you can and will remove the varnish and 
lettering (tube types, control functions etc). Sure, you can polish that 
bare copper finish to your hearts content but I doubt you will ever achieve 
a finish you will be satisfied with and then you will have to figure out how 
to protect it and re-stencil the lettering.
So, what to do? Many hours of experimenting with older Drake chassis have 
led me to the following:
(1)Sponge bath with warm dish soapy water and sponge rinse. Use Q tips, 
cotton balls, scraps of sponge worked around with a small tooth brush and 
eventually it will start looking pretty good.
(2)After it is dry, apply Meguires cleaner / wax with a small soft tooth 
brush, cotton ball, Q tip, whatever works.
(3)Let the Meguires sit a while and start polishing it off with a cotton 
ball or Q tip. Do this to the chassis and if cans.
(4)Repeat the last two steps until you are satisfied with the results.
(5)Do a small  amount each night that gets to the point of I'm sick of this. 
In a week you will have it about as good as it is going to get.
The Meguires has a cleaning agent that can lift oxide through the varnish 
where it can be polished away and it leaves the chassis protected from 
future oxidation or rust in areas that the plating has failed.
This is what has worked for me. If you want the fine results like K0YVA 
shows on his page I'm conviced you have to disassemble the entire radio and 
have the chassis re-plated. Or start with one that was never out of the 
factory carton.
That's my experience for what it is worth.
I'm hoping that there is an easier better way waitng for me to learn but so 
far it is the best I have done.
Paul K0UYA
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "AD5VJ Bob" <rtnmi at sbcglobal.net>
To: <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 11:13 PM
Subject: [Boatanchors] Drake TR-3 cleanup


> Finally I have a BoatAnchor :0)
>
> Anyone with experience at refurbishing, please give it a look and make 
> suggestions on the best way for me to proceed with the
> cleaning phase.
>
> A good friend of mine just gave me a Drake TR-3 with matching power 
> supply/speaker for some tower work I helped him with.
>
> All the cords are there and it is more than likely in working condition.
>
> It needs a little TLC as far as knocking the dust off of the top on the 
> inside of the TR-3. I am not sure whether to just use some
> soap and water
> and let it dry real good or how to clean it up.
>
> The underside of the transceiver looks brand spanking new, just the top is 
> a bit messy.
>
> The power supply I plan on bringing up slowly over a weeks time using a 
> Variac and each day increasing the voltage a little to warm
> the caps up a bit before full usage.
>
> http://www.myamericanaerial.com/station/drakerefurbish/
>
> Bob AD5VJ
>
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