[CW] Vibroplex Presentation

[Chris R. NW6V]

Hi Jeff.

As others have implied, I'd say there is no reason for a Vibroplex to EVER
wear out - the loading on the trunion pins is very small, and the
contacts are more likely to wear in, than out.

If you look at the video on my site (MorseBusters - YouTube
<https://www.youtube.com/@morsebusters5361>), you can watch the dit
contacts rub on each other - "self wiping." In other words, use keeps them
working well. That wiping action does impart some wear - but again,
microscopically and very slowly. The small contacts on my 1920's era bugs
still work fine. They have decades if not centuries of wear left in them
:-)

I don't have any 1905 bugs, but I'm confident the same would hold true.
They could have other material failures, of course. But bugs are damaged
more by neglect and abuse than use.

The knobs - in particular the older bakelite ones - become friable with
age, and break quite easily. I don't know - but that old bakelite
might eventually become so friable it would disintegrate when touched. But
we're talking many decades - centuries...

Worst perhaps, and what we often see with treasures that pop out of a
garage or attic, a key bug oiled "for protection" and put away proceeds to
ruin itself in a couple of decades of storage. Oils and greases turn to
lacquer over time, because of outgassing, and become quite acidic, and pick
up other contaminants from the air and hold them to the metal... It's a
slow death, but death.

Even oil used on the bearings - in a misguided effort to remove the
negligible friction - outgasses, and over time those deposits can wreck a
bug while it sits on a shelf.

The best bet for storage is probably a zip-lock freezer bag. Or maybe one
of those vacuum sealers... Yeah, that's it. A vacuum-sealed bag filled with
a bug. Fun to open that time capsule someday :-)

73 Chris NW6V

On Mon, Jun 19, 2023 at 4:48 PM Radio KH6O <radio.kh6o at gmail.com> wrote:

> If a Vibroplex is used daily and well-maintained, what is its
> lifespan? Does wear-and-tear eventually render it useless?
>
> Does anyone have an original from 1905 that is still operational?
>
> 73,
> Jeff KH6O
>
> --
> KH6O / B     28.2338 MHz
> IARU coordinated worldwide 10 meter radio beacon
> Grid Square: DM04rr
> 5/8 wavelength vertical antenna
> 20 Watts ERP
> ______________________________________________________________
> CW mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/cw
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:CW at mailman.qth.net
> CW List ARCHIVES: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/cw/
> Unsubcribe send email to
> cw-unsubscribe at mailman.qth.net
> Subscribe send email to cw-subscribe at mailman.qth.net
> Support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
> =30=
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/cw/attachments/20230620/d7b6d041/attachment-0001.html>