5 Sep
2011
5 Sep
'11
2:41 p.m.
I've been thinking along those lines for my ASR33.
It's got a lot of
old sticky lubricant all over the typing unit, and I heard recently of
one that was dunked. Mine doesn't always work reliably when it's cold,
but usually is OK after running for a while and has warmed up.
What do people think about that? My feeling is it wants a good clean
and a proper re-lubrication, and cleaning would be easiest by the
"dunk". Obviously a lot of electrical or plastic parts want taken off
first (the motor, for example!).
That sort of method is frwned upon by every book/article on antique clock
repair that I have ever read. The main problem is that it doesn't really
remove the old oil (if you're not careful it gets redepositied when the
solcent evaporates), and it certainly doesn't remove it well from the
placed that really matter -- inside bearings, etc.
Given that the full manuals for the ASR33 are available, it shou;dn't
take more than than a few days to compeltly strip it, clean all the aprts
individsually, making sure that bearings, holes, slots, etc are really
clean, and put ti back togethter. And if you do that ouu know it's right.
I did my first ASR33 like that (actually a Data Dynamics 390, but it's
the smae mechanism) when I was sitll at school without the benefit of
manuals. Anyone else should manage it therefore.
-tony