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| RESTORATION of TEK 7603 Scope w 7A18 amp + 7B53A timebase |
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| robrenz:
This is my restoration of my first scope from 32 years ago. The story of getting it back 32 years later is this thread It had very little use during the roughly 30 years it was not in my possession but was very dirty inside and out yet was fully functional. The main cosmetic issue was serious corrosion under the nickel plating on the front and rear frame bezels. The main covers were just dirty and needed some body hammer work from heavy items that gently bowed the tops in the perforated areas and some light dents. Magic sponges and simple green were extremely effective at removing the dust that very firmly attached itself to everything. Armor all was used on all the exterior plastic and vinyl parts. The plastic CRT filter needed a wet sand and plastic polish treatment to remove some mild scratches. The main functional issues were the very dirty and corroded bnc connectors and the normal scratchy pots and switches. I disassembled the pots that were bad and ultrasonic cleaned all the parts in IPA. Then cleaned all the contacts and wipe areas with Deoxoit D100L on a soft wood stick. Clean with IPA again and lube the gold wipe areas with Deoxit G100l and the actual pot wiper with Caig Faderlube. The mechanicals were lubed with Triflow grease. The gang switches were flushed with IPA and then Deoxit D100L was blasted thru them with compressed air. The drum switches in the amplifier and timebase were disassembled and all the gold finger contacts were individually cleaned with D100L on paper pulled thru the contact area, cleaned with IPA and lubed with G100L. I also replaced the power cord that was pretty stiff. I have many more pictures but I am trying to restrict this thread to things that are not in your typical restoration. I will start with just before and after shots and then post more details following. Front before, the poor(er) photo quality was not intentional. Front After Top right before Top right after Rear before Rear after bottom after After top and handle After left top After top After side |
| david77:
Great! I was looking forward to reading your restoration on this scope. As soon as I can find one in reasonable shape and at reasonable price I'll get one. A small electronics shop here has a couple of them for sale, in unknown condition without plugins for 550,00 EUR a piece non negotiable - I think not ::). |
| robrenz:
More before and after shots. All the knobs went into the ultrasonic with waterbase cleaner. Front panels were removed cleaned and replaced. Armor all got rid of oxidation on the black portions of the knobs and the AC-GRND-DC switches. Finshed back. Since I had to refinish all of the frame I was able to match the bottom extrusions to the front and rear bezels at the bottom. Very dirty 7A18 vertical amp. Crusty bnc connector. After 7A18 Very dirty 7B53A timebase After 7B53A timebase |
| alm:
Very impressive results! |
| robrenz:
The Frame bezels are nickel plating over a copper flash on the base aluminum die casting. I thought I could just glass bead blast it off but the plating thickness varies greatly because of the current density variations in the plating bath. So all the sharper corners are plated thicker. So I had to file all the nickel off on all the areas that are exposed when assembled. After all the body work and sanding of the exposed areas it went into my glass bead blast cabinet for that uniform frosty finish. The frame and CRT bezel were then washed in solvent and sprayed with Permalac sealant. Very high performance stuff with a price to match. All this work may seem extreme but I think the final results are worth the effort. Heavily corroded spot General peeling General funk Filing thru the corner. Nickel then copper flash then the base aluminum. Precisely filing all the nickel off. Several hours of work followed by several more hours of contour filing and sanding. 220 wet or dry silicon carbide paper glued to a cast iron surface plate. This allows me to flatten the face of the bezel. I put black marker on the face to check when it is all cleaned up. I am about half done, have to sand until all the black is gone. This is the bare aluminum with a glass bead blast finish and sealed with the Permalac. The CRT bezel fortunately was not plated so it only needed some filing, sanding and bead blast before the Permalac |
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