[Collins] 32S-3 advice needed

[frankshughes at aim.com]

Hi,
I recently bought a 32S-3 and am trying to get it working.

This is the first Collins transmitter I have seen and so I'm taking it 
slow,
following the manual, trying to learn all I can.
Might be nothing at all wrong with it, just simple novice errors on my 
part as I learn (no Elmer
available here)

Or possibly the problems found so far may be resolved by some repairs 
that I can do, but I know my limits and will
stop if my work yields no results.

I have bought a NOS all JAN tube set, so I have a way to try new tubes.
I also have bought a capacitor replacement kit (C6, C8, C177, C143, 
C176, C184, C185) which I will put in
soon.

I'm using this manual:
32S-3-_7th-ed-06-69_.pdf

I have the unit grounded, a watt meter/SWR connected to the transmit 
out, and that goes into a 50 ohm dummy load.

No other connections on the back panel.
Collins SM-2 mic. connected to front panel.

SECTION 1
Installation
1.3 Initial Checks

Result= BIAS adjusts fine

SECTION 2
Operation
2.1 CW Tuning
2.1.1
e.
Turn the MIC GAIN control (12) clockwise until the meter needle just 
moves....

Problem - no meter movement at any MIC GAIN control setting

f. Set METER switch to P.A. PLATE position, and adjust P.A. TUNING for 
minimum plate current.

Result=There is a slight dip in the meter when I do this adjustment, OK.

g. Place the METER switch to P.A. GRID position and EMISSION switch to 
LOCK KEY position.
Advance the MIC GAIN control slowly until approximately 1/2 scale grid 
current is indicated on the meter.

Problem - no meter movement at any MIC GAIN control setting

At this point, I stopped and went to the "Service Instructions" 
section.

It points out that most problems are w/ tubes, and clean the 
sockets/pins as first steps, before more advanced troubleshooting.

Tested all the tubes that could be tested in my TV-10.
Could not find any TV-10 configuration info for the OA2, 6U8A, so these 
were not tested.
The 6CL6 shows shorts in TV-10 "short" test positions except 4.
The TV-10 book does not say this is normal, but a new 6CL6 behaves the 
same, so probably nothing wrong but I don't want to blow up my TV-10 so 
I did not test this one.
The 6146's overload the TV-10 current capacity so I did not test them 
either.

Found one (V10, VOX/ANTI-VOX RECTIFIER) that barely moved the needle 
for the diode test. (replaced it w/ 5726)

Cleaned all the pins/sockets on all the tubes w/ Hosa Caig DeoxIT 
F100L.

The unit seems to have all the original capacitors, so I'm thinking the 
next logical step is to replace the caps listed above and check 
function again.

If that has no effect, I suppose I could just put in all new tubes and 
see what happens.

If the electrolytic cap and tube replacement has no effect, I will stop 
and sent the unit off for further troubleshooting and repairs.

What do you think of this approach?

Thanks,

Frank Hughes
KJ4OLL
Collins Radio Association member 1654