[Boatanchors] Globe Scout 40A

[Richard Knoppow]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "L L bahr" <pulsarxp at embarqmail.com>
Cc: <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, June 16, 2013 10:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Globe Scout 40A


>
> Steve,
>
> I think the bottom line is your capacitor is not aligned 
> properly.  (The rotor plates are not spaced equally 
> between the stator plates).  I am almost certain this is 
> your problem. I bought a new 40A as a kid and never had a 
> problem, so I know the spacing is tight but it will not 
> arc if the capacitor is in good shape.  I recently in the 
> last 4 weeks had the sam issue as you while restoring a 
> 65.  In my case the capacitor was really bent beyond 
> repair.  I was lucky enough to find a replacement but it 
> too was misaligned. Very carefully using a VOM while 
> bending the plates, I was able to get the capacitor so 
> there were no longer any shorts as I rotated the rotor. 
> Since then I have used the Globe Scout 65 daily without a 
> single arc ever occurring.
>
> Now for a replacement.  First try and repair yours as I 
> did to my damaged replacement cap.  If that works, fine, 
> you are done.  Secondly if you can't do the repair, then 
> just maybe you might get super lucky and find a 
> replacement out of a junker.  I personally think this will 
> most likely not happen unless you get super lucky.  If I 
> was going to have to replace the cap with a non WRL cap 
> here is what I was going to do.  As you are aware the two 
> mounting taped screw holes for the WRL cap are not in line 
> with the tuning shaft but rather slightly down on either 
> side of the tuning shaft.  Until I found a usable exact 
> replacement,  I was going to take an easy to get 430 pf 
> air variable from Peebles Originals and then bolt a 1/8th 
> inch aluminum plate to the Peebles capacitor with flush 
> mounted bolts recessed into the aluminum adapter plate. 
> Then I was going to mount the adapter plate housing the 
> new air variable to the front panel with two tapped screw 
> holes mating up with the front
>  panel mounting holes.  There is plenty of space behind 
> the front panel for all this to happen.  I was going to 
> use a 430 pf cap rather then a 365 pf cap as it would give 
> me more range and there is little size difference or cost 
> between a 365 pf and 430 pf cap.  This adapter thing could 
> easily have worked out and from the front panel, you would 
> never know anything like this has been done to your rig. 
> You would have no extra holes in the rig and the new cap 
> would work just fine.
>
> But again,  I know the spacing is really tight on the 
> original cap, but if it is in alignment, it will not give 
> you any arching problems.  I realize this is hard to 
> believe, but I have had enough experience with many Globe 
> Scouts to know the original caps are perfectly suitable 
> for the rig.  Granted not much to spare but they won't arc 
> if spaced correctly.  Just go in there and try and fix the 
> old cap.  Put an ohmmeter on the cap, have it wide open, 
> slowly close it until the ohmmeter shows short, then take 
> a small blade screwdriver and slightly move each rotor 
> plate one at a time to see if the short goes away.  Then 
> this is the plate out of alignment.  Then slightly really 
> bend it.  Now move the rotor in again a little more and if 
> the thing shorts out again go through the same process.  I 
> was lucky enough to finally get the cap to never short out 
> anywhere.  Once this happened I never had an arcing 
> problem while using the rig.
>
> Good luck.  Hope this helps you out.
>
> Lee, w0vt

     I am not familiar with this particular cap but 
sometimes the bearing adjustment at the end of the rotor is 
out of adjustment. That will shift the whole rotor with 
respect to the stator.
     Its also possible its got a carbonized track from some 
particle that got in there and arced. If so it will arc in 
the same place each time. Clean out the blackened material 
and smooth any roughening of the metal caused by the arc. 
That may be enough to fix it.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com