[Milsurplus] [Boatanchors] Is This a Nutty Idea?

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

>     On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 1:30 PM, Joe Connor via Boatanchors 
>     <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net > wrote: 
>     I'm working on a Navy RBM receiver with badly leaking bathtub caps. I 
>     don't want to restuff them because who knows what toxic stuff lurks 
>     inside, and I'd like to leave the original bathtubs in place. Because of 
>     the way these bathtubs are mounted, desoldering the leads is a real 
>     pain, and there really isn't any room on the chassis for terminal strips.  
>     Several of them are three-cap units with the caps grounded through the 
>     case to the chassis. Here's my possibly crazy idea: 1. Replace the 
>     screws and nuts holding the bathtub to the chassis with nylon screws 
>     and nuts; 2. Use a nylon washer to physically isolate the bathtub from 
>     the chassis; and 3. Hang new caps on the three lugs on the bathtub 
>     and ground them at a convenient point on the chassis.  Will it work? As 
>     always, thanks.                                     Joe Connor 

I, along with many others here, would STRONGLY recommend NOT doing any of that !!!

For one thing, that oil in those things, even if it is PCB, is not any sort of danger unless you 
want to drink several gallons of it or bathe in it, or burn it. Many of those bath tubs I have 
dealt with had mineral oil in them, which is non-toxic.

Secondly, if you don't want to rebuild the darned things, rip them out, or leave them in place,  
disconnect the wires which connect to them and move those wires to modern caps. It aint 
that difficult (usually) and is well worth the effort. You should probably use terminal strips to 
mount the caps on and to secure the wires.

It IS somewhat time-consuming to re-stuff bathtubs, but depending on what you want to use 
your RBM for, and whether or not you want to leave it safe and reliable for any future 
generation, doing that can be done over a decent period of time.

It requires a small torch or a heavy soldering iron to open the cases, but other than that, it 
ain't difficult.

I had to do a lot of that with one of my RCH/SLR-F's. I am looking forward (yeah, right) to 
doing much the same thing with my two BC-342s, which, apparently, were never designed 
to be repaired. ;-) or should I say :-(

Ken W7EKB

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus