Heathkit HW-101: Can it be saved??

[@jamilsouzagodoisouzagodoy1099]

Sei lá o que "Papagaio" está falando...

[@johnmeoff]

i wonder what his lungs looked like

[@tubeDude48]

The guy that had this, must have been a *real PIG!!*

[@PapasDino]

A braver ham than me Charlie Brown! ;-) I think you're gonna do fine and look forward to the nice restoration! 73 - Dino KLØS

[@benjaminmeadows1380]

Been using 6au6 in drake r4a with good results

[@M0UAW_IO83]

Oh wow, disgusting but that just makes it all the more satisfying to restore. I think I'd start by giving it a bath.

[@germanjohn5626]

We used to go to the car wash to foam the chassis and boards (after removing relays and meters) with tire wash foam. Basically the same stuff as superclean. cleaned a lot of oil from blown up HV capacitors from amplifiers that way. Just let it sit in the sun for a couple of days to dry out and if there were coils or transformers submerge them in alcohol after they are dry. The alcohol will remove the last of the residue and dry out any water in hidden places upon evaporating.

[@R2AUK]

I just watched "The Flea Market!! Hamvention 2022" video on "Ham Radio Crash Course" and at 48:15 noticed something that looked familiar. Could it be this very rig? :)

[@levelupeelab]

Haha, yes indeed! Too funny, thanks for the catch!!

[@barryf5479]

During Covid, I got bored and went after an old SB101 that a friend gave me. He couldn't get it working. With regard to painting the cabinet, I did that and it turned out perfectly. I will note the SB101 cabinet is mostly perforated with small holes for ventilation and sanding it and using paint remover would plug up all of those little holes. At first, I took the chassis out of the cabinet. I then took the cabinet to a sandblasting place and had them remove all of the paint. As you mentioned, Heath didn't use a primer before painting. I found a very close match with finish and color using Krylon Fusion All In One paint and primer. The color"Matte Pale Sage" was a very close match to the Heathkit green and the cabinet turned out beautiful. Yes, I got the rig working. It had an initial mis-wired power supply and a bad solder connection in the AGC circuit. I ended up giving it back to the person that originally gave it to me in working condition. He rekindled his interest in amateur radio along with his son. Over twenty years later, he had his original Heathkit in working condition, looking like new.

[@davidkerl1431]

Enjoyed this very much. Dave N9HF

[@nicoschadjidemetriou4373]

Oh my dear. He asked money for that dirt? I gave free a whole working Ford Corsair (1964 model)to someone who wanted to buy it. My 73s from 5B4ER.

[@stanleybest8833]

Don't restore too fast. Don't give up. You have to strip all the tar destroyed paint. Good paint is hard to find. Just pick another color and texture and plunge through.

[@eduardopower5254]

Wow man I just loved this video. Another follower here. 73

[@levelupeelab]

Awesome, thank you!

[@cwebs1000]

Glad to run into your pages. I am on my second Hot Water 101 project, or should I say HW 100 this time. I did a 101 that started out as a parts chassis. Stripped it down to bare frame. Last Saturday I got the HW 100 also a parts chassis. Lots of cleaning but not quiet as bad as yours.Still in the clean and look stage. They are fun to work on if that's what you are into. I'm not a double E just a hobbyist. I watched all your videos on this radio. Nice job.Carl

[@t1d100]

Please give us the details on the "Super Clean" product. It did an amazing job! Link?

[@levelupeelab]

That is actually its name - "Super Clean". It comes in purple containers ranging from spray bottles to gallon jugs and larger.

[@t1d100]

@@levelupeelab Thanks; I will look for that. I know that cleaning old tubes can remove the writing from them. You might want to write down all of their information, before attempting to clean them.

[@t1d100]

Great find??? Like you, I am not sure, at all, and am rather skeptical of the project. I think I would have started with testing the tubes, even before cleaning anything. They are the project's go-no-go point. But, as most look okay, I think it makes sense to commit to the gory cleanup. Then, do some testing and reevaluate, before finishing cleaning and painting. Odor Control Tips = After cleaning, seal as many surfaces as possible with Zissner BIN123 Primer (Kilz won't kill the odor.) This primer is amazing at stopping odors. I even sealed gasoline that had soaked into the concrete, when I took in part of the storage room to make a nursery. But, this stuff has a tremendous solvent odor, itself, and should be used outdoors. It dries really fast and the odor goes completely away. A treatment with ozone and ionization will help finalize the removal of lingering odors. Ozone is even sold in a can. IIRC, it can be found in the automotive parts department/store. Whether using a generator, or can, place the unit in an airtight container and let it "soak" for a few days. Treat and soak it outdoors. I am rather confident that you are never going to completely remove the odor from the PCB and that the odor will be noticeable when the unit is used/warms up and on humid days, in use, or not. There is the happy-wife factor to consider, in this regard. But, good on you, if you give it a go.

[@levelupeelab]

Thanks for the tips! Yes, I am concerned about lingering smoke odor, especially from anything other than bare metal surfaces. After the cleaning and after the check-out of the components, I expect it to still stink, so I've got baking soda and activated charcoal ready to try as absorbers. Now there's a preview of episode #2 :)

[@t1d100]

@@levelupeelab "Baking soda and activated charcoal ready to try as absorbers" = That's a pretty good idea! But, I wonder if those will actually draw the odor out, or just absorb what is freed by other natural factors. It sure won't hurt the board to try. Maybe make a super-hot water bath and soak it for awhile. BTW, just as an encouragement, my best friends bought a house that was in this same condition... Nicotine literally oozing down the walls of a house on a beautiful river-front lot. Like your project, it was a matter of the heart to save it. With an amazing amount of repeated hard work, they have had nearly complete success. The keys were cleaning a-l-l (think ceilings, inside cabinets, etc.) surfaces, applying sealants, a commercially manufactured ozone/ionizer machine running for days/weeks and repetition. Of course, all this was done, before they moved in. The floors are slate boards and the last of the odor was found residing in the tiny bit of dirt between the slates. A pick was used to scrap that out. The house is now a show-place and a thing of joy.

[@levelupeelab]

Wow, thanks for sharing that story. Sure sounds like it was a lot of work.

[@mikefinn2101]

Looking good

[@k8byp]

The paint is removed due to exposure to grease (oil therefrom) that seeps out over the years. Note its near the VFO knob. Its clean as should be inside

[@germanjohn5626]

I have 2 carcasses of the 101 in great shape that I found for pennies, one has the tubes the other not. One of these days I will dive into restoring one of them

[@t1d100]

I did find the Super Clean product! Have you used it to remove soldering flux? If so, how well did it work? (I use Amtech brand flux.) Did it damage the board; I am not sure that it is rated for plastic, as it is a degreaser and plastics can be oil-based...

[@levelupeelab]

It definitely will not remove RA flux, haven't tried it on other types.

[@glatta0]

Let me know if I can help in any way.

[@berndb.5097]

This project is bound to be very interesting. Cleaning the case is one thing, I'm curious to see how the inner areas are cleaned. I work on projects like this from time to time. But I've never had a device in such a miserable condition. One thing I don't understand, even if you're a smoker, you should realize at some point that it's time to start a cleanse. mny 73 de Bernd

[@levelupeelab]

Thanks, I'll be showing the interior cleaning details in episode #2.