GassMann
Well-Known Member
Hey all,
It's been a while since I replied to this thread. I wanted to come back to finish the story of this repair. Terry sent me wire... thank you SO much. I got a micro-welder and it worked great. Took a bit of getting a handle on it but I got there. I was able to repair one of the gauges with what Terry sent but I now had two more that failed. I could not find the wire ANYWHERE so I turned to Microsoft's CoPilot. Within seconds, it returned 5 places. 4 of them in China... but one of the in Florida. A company called Pelican Wire Home. The have EXACTLY what I needed but they only sell it in 100' spools for $500. I asked if they could find their way to 10' for this project. The sales rep said "Heck, I can send you a sample for that low" and he did... totally free. First, it's an American company and second... what a great customer service. If you ever need 34-gauge, insulated nichrome wire, hit up Pelican Wire.
So... I was able to wrap, weld and repair all 4 deflection gauges. Below, one with wire @twecomm sent me (with the white silk insulation) the other with the wire from Pelican Wire. I micro-welded the wires to the base, then covered that with heatless solder to make sure it anchored. I got to tell you, it was TEDIOUS wrapping the bimetal deflector rails. But all is right with the world again. Are they accurate? Heck, not totally sure. I bought a set of resistors for inline testing. 10 ohm, 24 ohm and 75 ohm. With the 24 ohm, I manipulated the deflector rails so they would read at 50% of the swing arc. Not sure that was highly accurate but from what I read, it should have been close enough for government work.
It's been a while since I replied to this thread. I wanted to come back to finish the story of this repair. Terry sent me wire... thank you SO much. I got a micro-welder and it worked great. Took a bit of getting a handle on it but I got there. I was able to repair one of the gauges with what Terry sent but I now had two more that failed. I could not find the wire ANYWHERE so I turned to Microsoft's CoPilot. Within seconds, it returned 5 places. 4 of them in China... but one of the in Florida. A company called Pelican Wire Home. The have EXACTLY what I needed but they only sell it in 100' spools for $500. I asked if they could find their way to 10' for this project. The sales rep said "Heck, I can send you a sample for that low" and he did... totally free. First, it's an American company and second... what a great customer service. If you ever need 34-gauge, insulated nichrome wire, hit up Pelican Wire.
So... I was able to wrap, weld and repair all 4 deflection gauges. Below, one with wire @twecomm sent me (with the white silk insulation) the other with the wire from Pelican Wire. I micro-welded the wires to the base, then covered that with heatless solder to make sure it anchored. I got to tell you, it was TEDIOUS wrapping the bimetal deflector rails. But all is right with the world again. Are they accurate? Heck, not totally sure. I bought a set of resistors for inline testing. 10 ohm, 24 ohm and 75 ohm. With the 24 ohm, I manipulated the deflector rails so they would read at 50% of the swing arc. Not sure that was highly accurate but from what I read, it should have been close enough for government work.
