Damaged Murphy cabinet repair.

[alanworland]

I have a Murphy A474 which has sustained pretty bad cabinet damage in transit (although it still works ok)
I have been in touch with the seller with a view to recover some refund from the carrier (it was well packed but I suspect has been dropped shattering the case corner badly)
As a result I have now been contacted with a suggestion that I have it repaired and forward the bill!
Who would I approach? I need a ball park figure.
I thought I was going to have to cut my losses and would be repairing it myself (which I would prefer) but it seems this may be my only recovery method.
Any recommended repairers that I could contact?

Alan

[Herald1360]

Won't this approach run foul of the idea that the damage to that radio makes it an insurance write-off? No insurer will pay out £1000 to repair a £500 car; presumably the same would apply here. I can't imagine any professional repair costing less than what the set was worth before the accident.

Whether you could get it "written off" and be paid out on it, then buy back the "salvage" is another matter.

[60 oldjohn]

If this had been a perfect then broken then repaired Ming vase repaired how much would it have been devalued by? My point this set in an auction in a few years time I doubt it would fetch as much as a perfect one if the fact was known, especially the more rarer/expensive sets.

I think you should get all you money back through insurance and if you like, offer to buy the set for a fiver as that is all it is worth for parts, maybe a bit more if there is an UL41 in there.

Just my thoughts,
John.

[Nickthedentist]

Yes, it's BER.

Value before damage, ball park figure, say £25.
Cost of repair = a day of skilled work + a few sundries.
Value after repair = probably a tenner.
So it's a no-brainer, as they say.

Whenever this has happened to me, at least half the vendors have given me a full refund as a gesture of goodill.

Nick.

[gavinhall]

I refunded a buyer because of this, I now don't bother sending them, they're just too heavy to be secure. That's my excuse for keeping them all, and I'm sticking to it.

[crackle]

Hi Alan,

I am afraid I agree with the others this set is BER. The value of the set will now only be for parts.
I have only had one incident where something I sent by Parcelforce was damaged.

I successfully claimed on behalf of the buyer and got a full refund and passed this on to the buyer.
Parcelforce normally cover values up to about £50. I normally now say in my adverts for Bakelite objects, collection only but could post at entirely at buyers risk, and they can pay extra for more insurance if they wish.

The claim normally needs to be done by the person booking the postal service.

Mike

[alanworland]

Thanks for your replies, confirming what I was thinking I guess.

I don't think a bakelite set could ever be packed well enough to survive being dropped, the weight of the chassis (particularly the transformer end) would have a lot of kinetic energy once moving and all there is is 4 screws transfering this to the cabinet.

Its not all about value for me, it is (was) a lovely set and would be a shame not to save it - best sounding set I have.

I will let you know how I get on, but I won't be receiving any more by post!

Alan

[Nickthedentist]

It all depends on the set. I've had half a dozen Bush DAC90As sent through the post, and all have been fine. The Bakelite's thick, only has one open face (i.e. the back), and the aluminium chassis with no mains transformer is very light.

Good luck in getting your money back, and doing what you can with the remains.

Nick.

[Lloyd 1985]

Hi,

I've repaired quite a few bakelite sets now, all would have been deemed beyond repair, but I've made them look presentable. Looking at yours if you have all the bits it'll go back quite well, even possibly making the cracks nearly invisible. It may never be worth as much as a perfect example, but it'll look good again, and still be usable.

I think by far the worst set to post is the Bush VHF80! Very thin bakelite, especially at the corners, and the top of the cabinet is only supported by the cabinet sides as there's a big hole in the front for the tuning scale. One smack on the top and they break.

Regards,
Lloyd.

[Glowing Bits!]

I've had a Bush DAC90A pretty much smashed in transit, the seller gave me a refund as it was sold as spares only, the chassis did get a little crumpled but is totally repairable.
The worst I've seen that did not survive transit is a Bush VHF61, needless to say, it did get repaired with lots of glue and filler!

[alanworland]

An update on the situation!
I obtained a full refund of the cost of the set and half the cost of the carriage.
I have also bought a quantity of Araldite and a sheet of aluminium mesh for the repair, so when the time is right, it's stripdown time!
I have bought another bakelite set since - but I did go and collect.

Alan

[Sega radio]

Good to hear it's going well, Alan.

[Nickthedentist]

Originally Posted by alanworland

I obtained a full refund of the cost of the set and half the cost of the carriage.
I have also bought a quantity of Araldite and a sheet of aluminium mesh...

That's the best possible outcome, Alan.

It's a shame that another pristine set has been damaged, but good to hear that it will live on.

Nick.

[alanworland]

A further update!
I have repaired the case using 'Loctite Super Glue' in all the fine cracks and slow cure Araldite where the parts were in pieces.
Once the Araldite had cured I roughened the interior and 'potted in' a fine aluminium mesh in the base using Araldite. All of this was cured at a highish temperature from a fan heater.
Cracks were smoothed off using files and wet/dry paper and any holes and missing bakelite was filled with black Milliput cured at temperature then it was all flatted back and polished. The gold front has been repainted in a metallic gold and laquered.
My original plan was to spray paint the case but although the repairs are visible I am quite happy with the result.
Chassis has had various capacitors replaced and a thorough clean ready for testing!

[Sega radio]

Very fine job Alan, you wouldnt even know it had been damaged

[Nickthedentist]

Very impressive indeed! How did you paint it, and what did you use?

Nick.

[alanworland]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the compliment! I didn't paint the cabinet just the gold front section, and for that I used an aerosol gold metallic colour (a Toyota shade)! which was then clear laquered from an aerosol can.

Alan

[Andrewausfa]

Top job Alan, well done. I tried to repair a Bakelite cabinet that fell off the shelf. Unfortunately all the stresses put into the cabinet during moulding meant it wouldn't go back together very well.

You've done a really good job though on what I think is a very nice looking set.

Andrew

[alanmoore]

Very nice repair .Well done.