Rens DX100b Refurb

[w3bny]

Ok Greetings all. I decided to take a mental health day and spent pretty much all of it down here in the basement beginning the refurb. Here's some highlights.

1. Overall bottom deck. No overt zorch, exploded components or other WTFIT issues. Just dusty. Bit of dust gun and a soft brush.

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2. Issue number one. Busted phenolic so239. Easy enough to replace with a brandy new teflon one.

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3. Issue number two. Cold solder joint on the tuning caps. Easy enough to fix. Re-flow and fixed!

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4. All nice and purdy now!

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Went thru and checked screws, nuts, solder joints etc on the bottom. Found some loose stuff no biggie. Again, no cracked/bulged/blown components. Dusted and de-oxit'd all the snap switches and caps. Nice movement now. flipped back up. Started on the top deck with dusting and cleaning. No biggie. Started checking the tubes. Pulling each one out. Wiping down (no solvents just a soft cloth) and de-oxit of the pins.


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More in next post...

[w3bny]

Welcome back...

5. Problem number 3. WTF!!! Looks like I am going to have to buy a new set of 6146 finals! Bastard!

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6. Buh.... Eh. Not too expensive.

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So I am whileing away the evening cleaning tubes. Then up for a dram of rye and off to napppy bye land.

More later!

On Edit...

I want to put every one of these tubes on a tester but I need to check my tester out to trust it...always something to do.

[NQ6U]

Fun chit, working on boat anchors—it helps that everything is big enough to see without magnification. I really enjoyed restoring the Drake twins and actually made a profit on the deal when I was done.

[K7SGJ]

Welcome back...

5. Problem number 3. WTF!!! Looks like I am going to have to buy a new set of 6146 finals! Bastard!

https://forums.hamisland.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=12838&stc=1

6. Buh.... Eh. Not too expensive.

https://forums.hamisland.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=12839&stc=1

So I am whileing away the evening cleaning tubes. Then up for a dram of rye and off to napppy bye land.

More later!

Don't give up on the 6146 if the plate cap is the only problem, at least not just yet. If the wire still makes it through the tube envelope and the tube itself is good, remove the solder from the cap and take it off. You'll end up with the plate cap with a small hole in it. The cap can be glued back onto the glass with a non conductive heat tolerant adhesive and the wire fed through the hole and re-soldered. I have done that before, and as I recall I used Ambroid glue. I'm sure there are many other adhesives that would work, maybe something for automotive use can be found.

You're a ham, never say die.

[N8YX]

If Eddie's suggestion doesn't work I have a couple sets of those sitting around.

[W3WN]

I MAY have a spare pair of 6146's from the 520.

[kb2vxa]

Don't worry, I've re-soldered plenty of them without adhesive (you have those set screw heat finned caps a smart ham replaced the cheap clips with) and they worked just fine. He was smart enough to do that, so why couldn't he solder worth a poop? Oh, that's not a phenolic SO-239, it's Steatite.

[kd6vm]

I MAY have a spare pair of 6146's from the 520.

Doesn't the DX-60 only use one 6146?

[K7SGJ]

Doesn't the DX-60 only use one 6146?


Yes, but he has the DX-100, which uses a pair.

[WØTKX]

LOVE the smell of solder flux in the morning! :clap:

[K7SGJ]

LOVE the smell of solder flux in the morning! :clap:


Me, too. As long as the solder glob doesn't fall on my leg while I'm soldering. The smell of melting skin kinda kills it.

[WØTKX]

Once, when working on a Jaguar XKE high end sound system install, I dropped a glob of solder right into my navel.

Hurt like hell, and smelled really bad. At least it didn't land on that expensive coco fiber car mat. True story.

[K7SGJ]

Once, when working on a Jaguar XKE high end sound system install, I dropped a glob of solder right into my navel.

Hurt like hell, and smelled really bad. At least it didn't land on that expensive coco fiber car mat. True story.

Man, I thought it hitting my bare leg was bad. I can't imagine it in the navel. And of course when you try to brush it off, it burns the piss out of everywhere it goes, and of course, the fingers as well. Ouch!

[WØTKX]

It wouldn't come out. The inside of my navel blistered horribly, and then turned black.

Took over three months to heal, I was packing anesthetic cream in there every few hours.

:omg:

[K7SGJ]

I can't even imagine the hurt.

[NQ6U]

It wouldn't come out. The inside of my navel blistered horribly, and then turned black.

Took over three months to heal, I was packing anesthetic cream in there every few hours.

:omg:


NOTE TO SELF: Always wear long pants and a shirt when soldering.

[K7SGJ]

NOTE TO SELF: Always wear long pants and a shirt when soldering.

And a navel plug.

[NQ6U]

And a navel plug.

A navel plug?? Damn, now you tell me. I've been doing it...differently.

[KG4CGC]

NOTE TO SELF: Always wear long pants and a shirt when soldering.

Yes. Yes and, don't fry eggs and bacon while in a state of undress.

[w3bny]

Friday update. Took some advice and decided to get rid of those slip on anode caps and found another set of 6146 caps salvaged from a dx-100. That should fix those things! 19 bucks. Not too horrible.



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I can't even imagine the hurt. Had a welder at ss last job get a nice size piece of splatter right in his ear canal. Oh mah gawd....

[PA5COR]

Doing stick welding overhead and a small red hot splatter found the 1 square cm open space in my protective clothing and went for my chest hairs, still have the scar to prove it where it slid down..... not funny..

[K7SGJ]

Friday update. Took some advice and decided to get rid of those slip on anode caps and found another set of 6146 caps salvaged from a dx-100. That should fix those things! 19 bucks. Not too horrible.



https://forums.hamisland.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=12852&stc=1


Had a welder at ss last job get a nice size piece of splatter right in his ear canal. Oh mah gawd....

Those are the way to go, just get some longer screws. Tighten them until the glass cracks and the envelope "snow caps", then back off half a turn.

[N8YX]

I was unsoldering a PL259 in the post-high school ham shack. Like, the year of graduation. Had a large pair of protective glasses on, but a liberated blob of solder did a 3-rail bank past the frame edge and ended up taking a 1/8" x 1/8" x eyeball height gouge out of my right eye.

Ouch.

[K7SGJ]

I was unsoldering a PL259 in the post-high school ham shack. Like, the year of graduation. Had a large pair of protective glasses on, but a liberated blob of solder did a 3-rail bank past the frame edge and ended up taking a 1/8" x 1/8" x eyeball height gouge out of my right eye.

Ouch.

Damn, I've had splatter hit my eye lid and that was bad enough. Did it hit the eyeball itself, and if so did it affect your vision at all?

[N8YX]

Damn, I've had splatter hit my eye lid and that was bad enough. Did it hit the eyeball itself, and if so did it affect your vision at all?
It burned a gouge into the outer layer but didn't seem to affect my vision. An ER visit and some drops helped, but what helped the pain the most was several shots of Jack Black at my buddy's place followed by a good night's sleep. Very little discomfort from that point onward.

[kb2vxa]

"Tighten them until the glass cracks and the envelope "snow caps", then back off half a turn."
"Droll, very droll."
Fred Flintstone

Oh goody, now we're playing pool with hot globs of molten metal! A long time ago in a shop far away... Solder Wars. I had to tin some wires, so the lazy SOB I am decided to melt some solder on the bench and dip the wires into it, BIG mistake! It rolled off the edge, fell into my shoe, and I just couldn't get the shoe off fast enough so I was left with a hole in my sock... and my foot. Then and there I made a solemn vow to be patient enough to plug the solder pot in and wait to tin wires the RIGHT way. DOH, DUH, OUCH, etc.

Again good luck with the DX Ren, I've always preferred it over anything in their class excepting Collins of course. It's rugged as a battle tank, built like a shit brickhouse, and if it could stand up to W2VJZ (SK) Irb's half hour wind chimes interval signal before beginning his morning broadcasts on 3885 from The Sons Of Liberty farm in Liberty Corners, NJ it can stand up to anything.

[WØTKX]

^^^ Oh goody, more political crap in the wrong thread?

Get the solder out of yer eyeballs, man! :doh:

[w3bny]

Those are the way to go, just get some longer screws. Tighten them until the glass cracks and the envelope "snow caps", then back off half a turn.

I actually got the glass off. Cleaned out all that silver black junk and used JBweld to put the tube back together.

[K7SGJ]

I actually got the glass off. Cleaned out all that silver black junk and used JBweld to put the tube back together.

The secret is sucking all the air out.

[w3bny]

The secret is sucking all the air out.

Put a couple of match heads in there and lit them with a magnifying glass

[kb2vxa]

If you want something that sucks, tune in 14.313 and take your pick.

[wa6mhz]

I glued my tube cap back on with JB WELD

[kb2vxa]

JB "Tuesday" Weld?