- 2025
- Dec
- 22
Another S-38C on my bench, part 4: Installing the parts.
Working inside a wild chassis is always an exercise in delicate maneuvers…you have to get in to places without burning or breaking other components that might be unreplaceable. I’ve spent a few hours replacing the paper capacitors in this Hallicrafters S-38C. At least, the ones I know of, some of the postage stamps might also be paper…but the majority of the problem devices are gone, modern parts in their place.
This one has been a bit different. For most of my projects, I’ve been gutting the chassis and starting over. Not here - the old stuff must remain because this is a more complex device with a lot of inductors and adjustable capacitors for the various frequency bands. I did take the time to move some of the parts to more convenient locales, however - mostly necessity as some of the new ones don’t reach as far as the old ones did.
I did choose some different parts after studying where they actually lay in the circuit. The yellow boxy part and the blue drop are both safety capacitors, chosen because these tie the line to various points like power and chassis ground. The remaining parts are regular film devices.
I haven’t soldered everything yet, I want to give it a final look over with schematic in hand. But, another hour or so, and this device is ready to play once more. Well, at least some of the local AM stuff, there’s just not much on SW these days that this thing can hear.
Time to clean the wax off my fingers and pull the schematics, and then clean the wax off of the new parts. That stuff gets everywhere!