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Old 24th Jun 2014, 8:41 am   #1
Michael Maurice
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Default 1955 Pye Black Box

When a customer phoned me to say her Pye Black Box was in need of full renovation, she really meant it!

The cabinet was in a terrible state.

Now my woodworking skills are not great at the best of time, but after looking at Radio Dave's efforts

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=85562

I decided I'd have a go.

The paintwork on the arm and overarm had deteriorated and the 'Hi Fi Badge was broken
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Old 24th Jun 2014, 8:43 am   #2
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

Fortunately the customer had the good sense not to switch it on and the output transformer read ok on all windings.

One EL42 had gone to air.
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Old 24th Jun 2014, 8:54 am   #3
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

The cabinet was stripped with Nitromars, light sanding got rid of the watermark. A bit of filling here and there got rid of dents.

I then applied several coats of Ruskin's Danish oil, leaving it for 12 - 24 hours between each coat.

The results were stunning. A new Hi Fi badge completed the cabinet.

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Now to the amplifier and the deck.

The deck was stripped, cleaned, all old grease removed and then the mechanism was lubricated. The arm and overarm were the rubbed down and spayed (Volkswagen Gold) and a coat or two of lacquer applied. The original knobs were broken, so I obtained two new ones and knowing how vulnerable the speed control know is, I filled the underside with fibre glass resin, to make it much stronger.

I replaced the capacitors in the amplifier and some resistors.

When I switched on I got a lot of hum. Touching the electrolytic can made the hum come and go so I tightened the nut at the bottom, this made it better but not perfect, so I added two 22uF / 450V capacitors in parallel with each section. 22uF was chosen because added to the 25uF in the can, it doesn't exceed the maximum 50uF stated in the EZ41specs.

The tone control wasn't working, so it was replaced, a new mains cable completed the job.

The customer was absolutely delighted.
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Old 24th Jun 2014, 9:29 am   #4
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

Lovely job Michael! It highlights the good finish can be achieved with Danish Oil. Any future scratches can be easily dealt with rather than having to re-varnish.
Wonder why the EL42 had lost vacuum. Possibly the player had been stored in a cold outbuilding or the glass pip had been under stress.
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Old 24th Jun 2014, 10:19 am   #5
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

Nice job Michael. I'm glad you're happy with the result.
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When I switched on I got a lot of hum. Touching the electrolytic can made the hum come and go so I tightened the nut at the bottom, this made it better but not perfect, so I added two 22uF / 450V capacitors in parallel with each section. 22uF was chosen because added to the 25uF in the can, it doesn't exceed the maximum 50uF stated in the EZ41specs.
I've now got three of these and every one has had a poor or non existent connection between the reservoir/smoothing capacitors and the chassis. For some reason these chassis always seem to have a lot of, powdery, oxidation on them.

David
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Old 24th Jun 2014, 11:04 am   #6
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

A very nice job, Michael. I can see why your customer was pleased.

I like your idea for strengthening the deck's knobs, though they only break when the greases stiffen things up.

Where did you get the HiFi badge? The originals are terribly brittle and rarely arrive or come off in one piece.

David's right about those smoothing caps. I had to attach mine to chassis with a clip (kindly supplied by a forum member) to achieve good earth continuity.

Nick.

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Old 24th Jun 2014, 5:32 pm   #7
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

Excellent job!
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Old 24th Jun 2014, 11:09 pm   #8
Michael Maurice
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

Quote:
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Where did you get the HiFi badge?
Ebay
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Old 24th Jun 2014, 11:13 pm   #9
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

Thanks
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Old 25th Jun 2014, 9:32 am   #10
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

Quote:
Originally Posted by newlite4 View Post
Wonder why the EL42 had lost vacuum.
...or as is common with B8A, the 'pip' on the side near the pins was broken...
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Old 24th Jul 2014, 12:39 pm   #11
Phil G4SPZ
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

Beautiful job, Michael!
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Old 25th Jul 2014, 2:47 pm   #12
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

Indeed it is. I'm not surprised that the customer was "absolutely delighted"
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Old 1st Aug 2014, 4:54 pm   #13
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Default Re: 1955 Pye Black Box

That's a lovely job. The resin trick works well with the flimsy knobs on the Cossor 524.

I am restoring a McMichael 365 with a damaged case and I was wondering about abandoning the use of Danish oil and trying my hand as French polishing, but the results obtained on this Black Box have made me decide to go for the tried and trusted fool proof Danish oil method.
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