Re: R-4C PTO cleaning, stuck on this part!!
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Steve:
I agree 100% with your theory on migration of the lighter?components?of the bearing grease.
I have been using white lithium grease on the ball race for years.? I've never had to go back and re-clean one, and re-grease, though there are so many Drakes here none of them get "over-used".
Removing the front panel just?makes so much sense and allows proper cleaning of the Preselector tuning drive, all the pots, etc.? I can have the front panel removed?and the PTO out in 10 minutes or less.? Great time to clean and re-whiten the line on the knobs too!? Front panel gets cleaned then a couple of coats of Pledge with a soft cloth polish between the 2 coats and again after the 2nd coat.? I wouldn't even dream?of cleaning a PTO gearset without removing it from the rig.
That said....you CAN do a pretty good job of cleaning?the front PTO bearing without removing?the PTO.? You do need to remove the lamp hood and dial light socket. I use 6" cotton?swabs dipped in 99% alcohol and clean the bearing as best you can.? Rotate the dial during this process.? You will need 6 or 7 swabs in all likelihood to eliminate most of the old grease.? Use the whole?lithium sparingly.? One or two VERY small dabs will be enough.? Use the stick end of the cotton swabs?you just used to clean the bearing out.
73 Peter VE7PS
On Sun, Jul 16, 2023 at 2:58?PM Steve Wedge, W1ES/4 via <w1es= [email protected]> wrote: I was going to comment that attempting to keep the PTO wired to the set involve a lot of gymnastics and take a lot more time than simply removing the front panel, clipping the three wires to the PTO filter board and properly removing the PTO to an area where you can easily work on it.
The nylon gears (even with the "metal" gear train) are going to offer more resistance than a strictly metal setup like the B Line and earlier (Yes, those have a nylon gear but it's not directly bearing on the tuning knob).
I will add that the occurrence of "oil" on that nylon gear in the earlier sets was probably NOT applied by well-intentioned hams but is actually the lighter oil component of the grease that was installed in the ball bearings of the PTO.? The lighter portions of the grease separate and migrate via the pinion gear.? The best thing to do with those is to clean out the entire assembly with mineral spirits and then wash with IPA.
I have been considering using lithium grease for these bearings and am wondering if anyone else has tried this.? The Li grease wouldn't break down like the GP grease that Drake used with the bearings.
73,
Steve Wedge, W1ES/4
Time flies like an arrow.? Fruit flies like a banana.
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On Sunday, July 16th, 2023 at 5:45 PM, VE7PS < ve7ps@...> wrote:
Justin:
I've done many PTO's in the past, and every one was removed from the radio...both rx and tx. Note that you will have to remove the front panel to get the PTO out.
BTW, the "Smooth and Silky" PTO article as written by Neil, K1VY. Ron posted that to his great Drake site. I'd recommend going through another article that I wrote on PTO removal that you can find on Ron's site in the Hamvention presentation for 2018. The link is here and starts on Page 15. I tried to cover some things that Neil left out...like how to remove the front panel and what tools you will need.....and a few "gotch ya's".
With the front panel removed, you have an opportunity to clean between the front and sub-panels, the dial window, and make sure the dial window goes back on on the front side of the sub-panel. Early C-lines had it installed on the rear of the sub-panel, which made it more prone to dial rub.
Also...there are at least 4 different mechanical variations of the R-4C PTO. Make sure you take a picture at EVERY step of its disassembly! Lay the pieces out on a towel IN ORDER and snap a pic at each step. If the pics in either my article or Neil's show a different PTO than yours, and you get stuck...get in touch with me as I may have additional pics that could help. Of the 4 types, I have had three of the versions apart. One is extremely rare and you are unlikely to come across that one.
Good luck!
73 Peter VE7PS
Doing the Smooth and silky PTO cleaning preceture to my R-4C by WB4HFN
I¡¯m up to the disassembly part where the PTO can be removed from the receiver as far as the service loop will allow, however, the long metallic part of the shaft is unable to clear the front face of the cabinet round cut out hole. In some of the pictures on the site, looks like this metallic shaft was removed and just the brass part of the shaft is left.
if I can remove this metal shaft part from the brass part, then I would be able to remove the PTO and proceed.
does anyone know if this can be removed and how it is removed??
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