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Heathkit IG-42 Signal Generator Restoration – Part 3

 

Heathkit IG-42 Signal Generator Restoration – Part 3

Line Cord and Chassis repair —

To continue on with the restoration, I replaced the ceramic disk filter capacitors on the line cord input with safety capacitors.  These are designed to fail to an open state, rather than a shorted state.  We hope that they never fail, but if they do, it should leave the chassis safely isolated from the line voltage, regardless of which way the old style plug is plugged in to the wall.

 
Line Cord safety caps installed

Next, I cleaned all tube sockets and switches and potentiometers with Caig DeOxit D5 cleaner.

 
Caig DeOxit D5

Then I applied DeOxit F5 Fader Lube to the potentiometers.

 
Caig Fader/Lube F5

I continued with a drop of 3-in-1 oil to the bearings of the variable capacitor.

 
3-In-1 Oil

Once all of this was done, I became aware of the really poor condition of the chassis.  Despite my efforts, it was still pretty dirty and had signs of corrosion that I had not been able to deal with in its present state.  So I decided to tear the unit apart, down to the chassis, by removing screws that held tube sockets, terminal strips, can capacitors and other related hardware.  This allowed me to lift up all of the components as a unit, and remove the chassis from the mess.  This enabled me to really clean the chassis as was needed, especially between the chassis and the front panel, which is where most of the corrosion had taken hold.

 
Chassis Cleanup

With the chassis free, I cleaned it with soap and water, and used wet/dry sandpaper to remove as much  corrosion as possible.  Then I applied a coat of wax to the surface to discourage any further corrosion.

 
Chassis Cleaned

I put the unit back together, and tested to make sure it still worked.

 

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