[Milsurplus] Water, Water Everywhere.

[Bill Carns]

What you are talking about is getting the moisture to diffuse back out of
whatever material it has gone into that you are unhappy about. The results
will depend directly on the differential (in this case) humidity between the
internalized environment and the external (air) environment. The diffusion
is, as you have suggested also a function of temperature as is almost any
diffusion rate.

So.....you need to do two things to have any significant impact.  I suggest
building a "Dry box" by making some kind of moisture impervious container
and then putting a small dehumidifier in there. Then, as you suggested, also
heat it moderately so as not to damage the rig, components or the box.
There is a real nifty and cheap device that is sold at coops where they
handle poultry supplies. It is just a plug in outlet that has a thermostat
on it. They are not very expensive.  The real cheap ones are fixed temp and
set to maintain just above freezing. The adjustable ones can be set to go to
a higher temp.  OR, you can just make your own.  Bottom line is you need
controlled heat and low humidity.

Re the temp, Most components can handle 50 deg C.  This equates to just over
120 deg F.   Watch out for plastics.

Whether it will work depends on how much damage has been done in the form of
corrosion and modifying the molecular structure of the material.

Good luck and I also have rigs long stored and grimace when you bring this
up. One of them is a real nice TCS set.

Bill
N7OTQ

-----Original Message-----
From: Milsurplus [mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
David Stinson
Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 10:43 AM
To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net; boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Milsurplus] Water, Water Everywhere.

Many of our beloved old radios have been sitting, cold and quiet for many
decades.  
Some of them getting close to a century.
Recently, I've been dealing with bakelite and phenolic in our sets which
have taken-up moisture over the years.  Right now on the bench I have a TCS
receiver in which one of the pins of Z202, an IF transformer, is leaking B+
to ground through the phenolic.  Pulling an IF from a TCS is a pain but
do-able.  
So may we discuss ways to gently drive moisture from our sets?  I can "get
rough" in the stove with those bakelite inserts in WWII radio connectors but
that won't do for a whole set.  I've tried powering just the filaments and
leaving a set for a couple of days but I don't think they get hot enough to
do much good.  Heat lamps can do some damage.
 What have you done?    I'm thinking of light bulbs
with the radio in a thick cardboard box, *outside* in case the box decides
to catch fire or something.

73 Dave AB5S


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