[R-390] R-390A and the Selenium Rectifier

[Barry Hauser]

> Hello Barry,

Uhh, h-h-hi Glen...

> I think you still got Sel rect poisoning.

wha .. wha wha.. what makes you say that, huh?

> I know I do, the taste is still in my mouth.

I didn't eat the thing -- but they do put Se in vitamin pills, d-d-d-don't
they?

> I say OM, "if it's working-leave it be".

Is that, uh, like, if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

> Check voltage or front to back resistance, and if its better than 10:1,
leave it in.

Dunno, having a little trouble with the concept, y'know -- front/back?
(Might have somethin' to do with why I don't know whether I'm comin' or
goin' and location of various body parts.)  Lemmeseee now.  Y'mean if it's
0.0011 ohms in one direction and .00010 in the other, keep it?  Ditto if
it's like 4 megs in one direction and 41 megs in the other?  You wouldn't be
holdin' back essential info, would ya'?

> I've only worked on ten or so 390A's in my Air Force career, and never
seen one go south.

Me neither.  Hey, wait a minute.  I wasn't in the Air Force -- are you tryna
trick me, Glen?  Also, better watch out with those sideways regional
remarks. How would you like it if people said stuff like "Say Jeeter, what
happened to your ol' pickup?"  "Well it was runnin' great, then all of a
sudden it went northwest!"

> Of course that was 20-40 years ago, and a lot of signals have passed the
airwaves in that time.

I've been through about a dozen A's in more recent times and all the Se
rectifiers were good in those.  So were all the C553's I pulled out. Got a
bunch of Zenith tube TO's, all with their seleniums still working.  There
may be a one in a 100 chance that the cap will short and take down a filter
or the rectifier will smoke and, uh, I dunno, end life as we know it ... so
it's an ounce of prevention vs. a pound of cure by that method of reckoning.

> I think the real experts should step forward at this time and relay their
thoughts on the subject.

I wish they would too Glen, 'cause then I wouldn't feel compelled to make
these marginal replies.  But, y'know what -- for the last several months
I've seen questions posted from time to time and refrained from replying
because I know there are guys on the list who know more about the subject
than I do -- but then ... nothing.  Fewer and fewer posts and finally ....
poof.

Maybe the real experts are replying off-list.  But that would be like some
ham going "CQ, CQ, CQ etc."  to no avail, but then his cell phone rings or
he gets his reply via Yahoo or IM.  OK, I guess it conserves bandwidth and
avoids arguments due to differences of opinion and so on.

Anyway, the real truth is that the real experts were abducted by aliens and
replaced with replicants.  Look like the originals, except can only handle
one light beer a day and don't post.  Might expose an inconsistency, anomaly
or possible clue for the MIB (Men in Black, not "mint in box") who monitor
the 'nets and the airways 24/7.

Hey!  Wait a minute.  The real Glen Galati has an electronics store, was
complaining about slow traffic and wouldn't discourage people from buying
silicon rectifiers and bridges -- or maybe even NOS seleniums amongst all
that stuff you have in the back there!  OK, who won the world series in
1959?  How about 1859?

Gets very foggy there in Tacoma, doesn't it. Makes it easy for the grays to
sneak up on a guy.

BTW -- the thing about pre-emptive replacement of seleniums came from the
experts, back in the good ol' ancient days of this list.  Last thread on it
was maybe 2 years ago -- before the aliens.  Feel like a walking book - as
in Fahrenheit 451.

Barry