Another S-38C on my bench, part 5: All done and wrap-up.
Friday, January 2, 2026 at 11:51:56
Welcome to 2026. The weather here was cold and snowy, so I decided to finish up this radio.
This unit was simply a “replace the parts that will go bad so we can use the device.” As such, there’s not a whole lot to say here. I did a quick check per the schematic to make sure everyone was in the right spot, and soldered it in.
I did replace the power cord along with the suspect parts, simply because the previous owner put a short extension cord plug on it. I used one of my stock power cords with a bit thinner insulation. It works better going through the grommet and looks more period correct.
The money shot:
Unfortunately, I can’t post video here as the host doesn’t allow streaming due to bandwidth limits, but the unit sounds good and I don’t hear any silver mica disease problems.
I now have a working S-38C again. I may put this one on display in the front room, as it’s actually usable. I’m not sure yet. The other one I did earlier may go back on the bench to see if I can get rid of it’s noise problems. Who knows, but stay tuned!
A note on the filter: It tested fine, and didn’t show any leakage. Were this going to be placed into service, I’d replace it. But, for now, it’s in surprisingly good shape and if it goes bad we’ll know. There’s also the postage stamps which may be mica or may be paper, who knows. They weren’t necessary for this exercise, but again - they should be replaced if this was going to be put back into service.
A comment on the loop on top - this was a cheap tuned loop given to me by a friend. It works wonders, and takes up far less space than a longwire. I know these are available on that site named after a river, if you have desire to purchase one.
Here’s the complete series list for this unit:
Part 1, Examination and Diagnosis: https://wereboar.com … ation-and-diagnosis/
Part 2, Parts: https://wereboar.com … -bench-part-2-parts/
Part 3, We have parts: https://wereboar.com … art-3-we-have-parts/
Part 4, Installing the parts: https://wereboar.com … nstalling-the-parts/
Part 5: You’re reading it now!
That’s all for this device. Next up is an EICO 902 I/M Analyzer with some issues.
Previous part of this series: https://wereboar.com … nstalling-the-parts/