[Kenwood] Capacitor reliability

[Rob Atkinson]

randy et al., thanks for the information.  I just got my 950 at Dayton and
have not had a chance to try it out.   I need to open it up and check the
power supply caps.  Hope the tube is okay.  got it for $20 and the exterior
at least, looks brand new.

73

Rob
K5UJ

On Sun, May 30, 2010 at 6:54 PM, <ab9go at earthlink.net> wrote:

> I 2nd the EICO 950.  It also can test for leakage, reform old caps and test
> them under voltage from 0 up to 450-500 volts.  These are sleepers @ most
> hamfests.  There are also Knight Kit and Heathkits that offer similar
> functions.  If you can find one and afford it a Sprauge TO-4, TO-5 or TO-6
> are the cats meow for the serious restorer as you can measure leakage in uA,
> not just the wink of an eye tube.  The 950 will work for most everyone else.
>  Make sure that the eye tube is bright as it is the only component other
> than the power transformer that will be difficult to replace localy.  They
> including the Heathkit and Knight Kit use a 1629 eye tube and many are being
> scrapped just to get that tube.  It is being used as a cheap replacement for
> the 6U5/6G5 tubes in antique radios.
>
> Randy AB9GO
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Rob Atkinson <robk5uj at gmail.com>
> >Sent: May 30, 2010 10:15 AM
> >To: kenwood at mailman.qth.net
> >Subject: Re: [Kenwood] Capacitor reliability
> >
> >When I get a piece of vintage gear one of the first things I do is go
> >through and replace all the paper and electrolytic caps.  The lytics are
> >always those paper wrapped ones and you can tell they are dried out.  For
> >one thing they are light as a feather.
> >
> >If you can find one at a hamfest, invest in a capacitor checker such as
> the
> >Eico model 950.  (Recap the power supply!)  A DVM like a Fluke 115 can
> give
> >you some capacitance measurements and you can see a filter cap charging
> with
> >the ohm meter but one of those checkers is nice to have.
> >
> >73
> >
> >
> >Rob
> >K5UJ
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>
> Thank you,
> Randy AB9GO
>