[Boatanchors] If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[Dave Sublette]

Good advice Jim and Dale.  I am going to clean it up just a little and try
it before doing anything.

73,

Dave


On Sat, Mar 5, 2022 at 9:08 PM Dale Parfitt <parinc1 at frontier.com> wrote:

> I am with Jim,
> I would not touch the NPO variables or any other cap (except paper and
> electrolytic) until you have an opportunity to verify operation and specs.
> Dale W4OP
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of JAMES HANLON
> Sent: Saturday, March 5, 2022 7:19 PM
> To: boatanchors at mailman.qth.net; k4to.dave at gmail.com
> Subject: [Boatanchors] If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
>
> Dave,
>
> Regarding your plans to replace fixed and variable capacitors in that VF-1,
> I would strongly suggest that you power it up and try it out before you go
> about replacing any parts.  My two VF-1s are still running happily on their
> original components.
>
> I know there are folks who routinely replace all of the resistors and
> capacitors in an older transmitter or receiver before even turning anything
> on.  But it has been my experience with more than 40 receiver and
> transmitter restorations that blanket replacement of Rs and Cs is usually
> unnecessary overkill.  I've had only four receivers where I found it
> necessary to do anything but occasional part replacement.  My SP-600
> Hammarlund Super Pro was originally built with those notorious "black
> beauty" tubular capacitors which all failed (shorted) shortly after I
> acquired it in the 70s.  My BC-348M had a batch of molded paper bypass caps
> all of which failed early in life, they would swell and burst.  I have a
> BC-453 Command Set receiver in which most of the canned bypass caps have
> failed shorted - Western Electric must have gotten a weak batch of caps
> when
> they built that receiver, because my Western Electric BC-454 and Colonial
> Radio BC-455 from the same era are still working well
>   on their original Rs and Cs.  And all of the paper bypass caps in my
> Hallicrafters SX-43 reached end of life.  That receiver had considerable
> interior rust, suggesting that it must have been stored in a high humidity
> environment for a long while before it came to me, probably the reason for
> the demise of those caps.  I have other sets that date back well into the
> 30s that are still running on their original set of Rs and Cs, National
> SW-3, FB-7 and FBX receivers from 1933 and NTX30 and NSM modulator from
> 1938
> for example, Hallicrafters SX-28 from 1941, RME-69 and RME-70 from 1941,
> just to name a few.  My original novice receiver, and HRO-50, which has
> been
> in the family since the summer of 1950, is still running on its original
> components.
>
> So, except for some parts which have a reputation for fairly short life
> like
> electrolytic filter capacitors and black beauties, a good general rule is,
> "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
>
> Jim, W8KGI
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