[Hallicrafters] S40 restoration

[Brent Seres]

Thanks to all of you who advised me of the perils of the "black beauty"  
capacitors. Just ordered a complete replacement of orange drops.

Things I have learned (which many of you probably all ready know)

1)  If the clear plastic window on the main tuning dial is warped or 
otherwise bent out of shape, it can be put right by gently heating it 
with a paint stripper heat gun on the "low" setting

2)  If the red cursor line on the tuning dial window is scratched or won 
off, it can be filled in or re-drawn using a FINE red permanent  marker 
that you use for overhead transparencies. The width and colour are 
right, and as long as you carefully use a ruler, you can't see the touch 
up job.

3)  The radio was originally working. I removed the front panel for 
cleaning and touch up. When I put it back together and fired things up, 
volume was extremely low and the volume control didnt work. Logicaly, it 
seemed the fault must have something to do with the movement of the 
panel. After an hour or so of troubleshooting, I discovered there was a 
grounding tab which  connects to the shield on the audio cable running 
from the volume control. This tab goes over the the threads on the 
control, and is supposed to be held tightly against the chassis when the 
control is tightened in place. It seems my removal of the panel had 
shifted the tab just enough so as to ground the wiper lead on the pot.  
Live and learn. Hope this helps someone else.

Regards,

Brent
VE3CUS