[Collins] Collins 32v3

[C E]

Difficult but not impossible! Doc, don't you remember
my efforts on a similar project back in 1997? It
required a methodical approach but it has been done. I
ended up redoing a "basketcase" 32V2 (sn #1776) and
eventually putting her back on the air. Stripped the
cabinet and powdercoated/repainted it, repaired the
KCS and MCS dial readouts, replaced the glass, l.v.
xfmr, all the tubes, redid the front panel and after 3
months of straight working on the unit, got her up and
running on 3870 kcs on the West Coast. Needless to
say, it was one of the most gratifying moments for
myself in ham radio (and since it was a senior project
for my English class at Cal Poly State University, I
got a good grade out of the class as a bonus). #1776
still resides in California (Cayucos, that is). 

Cal, N6KYR/8
--- "Dr. Gerald N. Johnson" <g369n792j at ispwest.com>
wrote:

> On Sun, 2007-03-18 at 10:34 -0500,
> zilassoc at sbcglobal.net wrote:
> > Bill,
> > 
> > This is possibly one of the most difficult pieces
> of Collins gear to restore 
> > and work on!
> > 
> > It weighs 110 pounds and is not easily manageable
> on a workbench.
> > 
> > It is loaded with those old mica postage stamp
> capacitors that have lived 
> > their useful life by now.
> 
> Some of those flat molded capacitors are actually
> oiled paper the
> forerunners of the infamous black beauties. Micas
> can go bad too, just
> they aren't so guaranteed to do so as the oiled
> kraft paper capacitors.
> > 
> > These caps are in 'almost' inaccessible places
> under the bandswitch or 
> > hidden inside coil covers.
> > 
> > The Erie ceramic trimmers are a high failure rate
> item and a nightmare to 
> > rebuild or find replacements.
> 
> Those are getting to be a real pain in S-line too,
> though the ones in
> the 32V are probably even larger. Maybe a small
> chunk of printed circuit
> board with a more modern trimmer can be made to
> work, but the relatively
> large RF voltages (and hence tuned circuit currents)
> in the tube
> transmitter may mean the tiny modern ceramic
> trimmers will never be a
> satisfactory replacement unless they can be
> paralleled with a fixed
> dipped silver mica to divert most of the RF current
> away from the
> trimmer. But that requires a different fixed
> capacitor for each
> application that has to be determined some way, that
> would be easy if
> the original trimmer worked... But if the original
> trimmer worked it
> probably doesn't need to be replaced.
> > 
> > The B+ wiring was done with some kind of wire that
> disintegrates totally 
> > with time and shorts the B+ to chassis.
> 
> Varnished cotton probably. If it hasn't fallen off,
> perhaps some motor
> winding varnish applied to the cable harness would
> hold the insulation
> for a while longer.
> > 
> > Did I mention that it weighs 110 pounds?
> 
> may it needs to be mounted in a frame with pivots on
> the ends like some
> builders of scale steam locomotives do for their
> building process. I saw
> one recently with a couple posts with pivots, that
> used a car jack for
> raising and lowering each end.
> > 
> > Anyway enough of the negative stuff. When you get
> it working, it punches out 
> > one heck of a strong good sounding AM signal. I
> used mine all the time of 
> > the CCA 10 AM net several years ago when the band
> was open.
> > 
> > Good Luck
> > 
> > Vy 73
> > 
> > Pete Zilliox
> > 
> > K5PZ/6
> > 
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Bill Campbell" <wd4hen at bellsouth.net>
> > To: <collins at mailman.qth.net>
> > Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 9:36 PM
> > Subject: [Collins] Collins 32v3
> > 
> > 
> > Hello All,
> > 
> > I have complete 32v3 that i would like to get
> working.  I know next to 
> > nothing about it's history.  The fellow I got it
> from thought it was a 
> > receiver hi hi.  He did say it had been sitting in
> a barn for years.  This I 
> > believe since it was filled with acorns when I
> pulled it out of the cabinet. 
> > The cabinet is in rough condition but I can
> refinish it with little (a 
> > lot!!) work.  The front cleaned up very nicely and
> I got the trash from 
> > inside.  Here is my problem, my technical skills
> are not where near 
> > sophisticated enough to restore this unit to
> working condition.  So I am 
> > looking for someone within driving distance with
> the knowledge and 
> > sophistication to do the job right.  This unit is
> way too nice to be parted 
> > out or junked.  If you know someone or you would
> be willing to work with me 
> > on the restoration I would like to hear from you.
> All ideas and/or 
> > suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
> > 
> > Bill - WD4HEN
> > Florence, Alabama
> > 256-760-4253
> > 
> Another serious point of failure can be the
> transformers. It would be
> good to dry them gently before applying full line
> voltage. One way would
> be to short the secondaries, and then apply a low
> voltage to the
> primaries to get rated current through the windings
> to warm them up and
> dry them out without applying enough voltage to
> breakdown through the
> damp insulation. It certainly would not hurt then to
> remove the covers
> from the transformers when possible and to brush on
> some more
> transformer or motor varnish to the exposed windings
> while they were
> warm, hoping it would soak in and hold moisture out
> and get into places
> where the insulation had crumbled. It would be
> optimum to remove the
> transformers, and have them vacuum impregnated in a
> motor shop, but the
> damage to the wire leads taking them out probably is
> more than the value
> of the impregnation.
> -- 
> 73, Jerry, K0CQ, Technical Advisor to the CRA
> All content copyright Dr. Gerald N. Johnson,
> electrical engineer
> 
>
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