[Hallicrafters] S-94

[n8uvq at juno.com]

	Earlier this year I purchased a Hallicrafters S-94
Civic Patrol radio.  Today, I decided to test the tubes 
since it was raining outside.  Removing the bottom 
panel caused me some concern. 

	The top of the bottom panel is a gary-white color.
It's sort of stringy around the edges.  All of the air holes
are perfectly drilled from top to bottom.  Factory rivets
also go through gary-white top to the black bottom.
That gray-white layer looks like it was added at the
factory.

	Before I continue I should say that twenty years
ago I was an Industrial Hygienist for a major company 
that removed asbestos.  I took an early retirement due 
to an injury.

	To me, this gary-white top surface APPEARS to be
asbestos, but an educated guess is nothing more than a 
guess.  The only way to be 100% certain if this material
is or is not asbestos is via laboratory analysis.  

	In the 1950s and 1960s, when the S-94 was produced, 
asbestos was perfectly legal to use as break pads, house 
siding known as transite, water pipes made from transite, 
fire proofing material, plus pipe and boiler insulation, to name
a few asbestos products.  Some of you former sailors may
recall the use of asbestos in the engine rooms of oil and 
coal fired ships for insulation. 

	For the moment, the bottom panel from my S-94 is
sealed in two large zip lock plastic bags.  Eventually, I will 
send a sample of the material for laboratory analysis. 

	In the event that this gray-white material is verified
to be asbestos PLEASE DO NOT rip it off of your radio.
Asbestos is kind of safe if left undisturbed.  However,
the more it is disturbed the more the material releases
asbestos fibers.  The released asbestos fibers are the
real health danger.

	Does anyone else have this gray-white layer on the
upper surface of their S-94's bottom panel?  Does anyone
positively know if Hallicrafters actually used asbestos for 
some sort of heat shield?

	
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e-mail:  N8UVQ at juno.com
73 de Mark,  N8UVQ
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