[Hammarlund] 129X sticky band spread...

[Eugene Hertz]

Hello all, 

I was comparing two 129X's I had lying around trying to figure out which I would keep and which I would sell (sold one for $75 last weekend..or was it 2 weekends ago?).  The one I kept had all ceramic (And original square mica) caps and a crystal calibrator. Took me a while to figure out that the send/rec switch had a 3rd position to enable the xtal cal (I havent played with that yet).  

While comparing the two, I noticed that the bandspread on the one I kept did not feel as free as the one I sold, or as free as the main tuning dial on either for that matter. So I figured I'd look into it.  Man it was beating me! I dismantled a few parts to isolate where the drag was coming from. It wasnt much just enough to bother me.  

Well, I decided to take off the front panel so I could remove the shaft gear that turns the gear on the variable caps to see if the var cap itself was the problem (I had already tried to loosen the set screw that compresses against the shaft of the var cap).

Well if its not too late to make a long story short, many hours later, as I was taking off the s-meter to remove the front panel, I noticed that there was a spot where the black paint was rubbing off the meter shell. Well, lo and behold, the darn plastic dial had been rubbing against the darn s-meter! If I held the S-meter out of the way, sure 'nuf smooth as silk!

Can anyone tell me a) is this a common problem b) why should there be such little space between the s-meter and the bandspread dial to even allow this to occur? Could I have an aftermarket dial? Could the dial's outter diameter be too big? Why should the s meter be so close to that dial?

Anyone else have a similar experience? Any suggestion how I can shim the s-meter so that it stays away from the dial?

thanks and 73
Eugene