Other restorations

[boater sam]

I have been an engineer all my life. For many years since I retired I have been renovating and restoring electronic equipment, mostly valve radios from the early 1920s till the 1960s.

I have watched lots of other restorers on Youtube, David Tipton, of Dave's Radio Adventures,  Don's Old radio Shed,  both in Australia,  Radiocruncher, etc. and of course Mark Maher in the UK.

Recently I found another prolific fixer in America, glasslinger.

I would welcome other members' opinions on the later.

Most of the American guys accents and delivery drive me mad.

Sam.

[ppppenguin]

Glassinger has some amazing skills. He ( I say he slightly tentatively, because there are photos that suggest he has a Grayson Perry style alter ego) makes his own vacuum tubes as well as "normal" electronic restoration.

[BusyBee]

I picked a video at random. Repair / refurbish of an old small radio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EBZ08fk2m0

On looking at a good portion of it I don't doubt his ability at all. He probably compares to many. I just think he is a bit messy though although I don't do much refurbishment / repair so I would not be the best judge. I think he is using his memory well but it's risky not making some notes when he disconnects things. I often find I am called away when I am in the middle of doing something then have difficulty remembering so a little sketch, if nothing else, does help. I note in one instance he got a capacitor on the wrong connection? - Honest mistake.

After sandblasting the chassis having sand fall out of IF cans prior to power on testing?

Perhaps the main questionable thing I noted was when he replaced old large cap which was clipped into place. He glued replacement to the chassis and broke off the old clips. I don't know the actual terminal voltages but it seems very risky as glue joints can break, leaving floating capacitors with high voltages on bare terminals. Using the old clips in some way would be a more secure way.

As I mentioned though, I am not in the best position to judge. I found it interesting to watch and learn but not emulate. Thinking back to the concurrent "Mend it Mark" - for me the better approach although far more time consuming.

Tracy

[boater sam]

I am watching   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7vj19QIvZg

For those of a sensitive disposition, be careful beyond 38 minutes..............................

"A" for speed.  Not a lot for safety but then the US 117v is not so dangerous but is that an excuse for being slapdash?

Sam.

[Mike Watterson]

Maybe the USA 115V AC is nearly as dangerous because it's 60Hz rather than 50Hz?

[boater sam]

Maybe, I have never had a 60c/s shock. A few 2Mc/s ones though.

The US has 117v 2 phase as standard for heavy current appliances so it is 234v if you are careless with those.

The blaze way that they have no protective covers, grommets or double insulation I find, well, shocking. Plugs that used not to have and many still do not have, positive polarity  is a concern as mostly they have single pole switching.

Sam.

[Mike Watterson]

At about 10 kHz and above it's burns. Around the 60 Hz might be worst for heart-stopping?