Repairing paper caps

Ask him about Halowax 1001 (dielectric constant 5.5, M.P. 91-94°C). It's googleable for more info about the chemical composition.

I also have a couple of pages of info on gutta-percha (natural latex from trees that grow on the Malay peninsula & used in submarine cables from the mid-1800s).

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

I've been known to wax philosophical. ;-)

--
Cheers!
Rich

I think there are many different grades of 'paraffin wax' ranging from runny to brittle, but I would guess that the acidic component is usually stearic acid in all of them.

I know a wax chemist (he makes recording soap-wax cylinders for phonographs) so I will ask him whan I next meet him. (Unless there is already a wax expert in this group)

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~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

I read in sci.electronics.design that Adrian Tuddenham wrote (in ) about 'Repairing paper caps', on Thu, 5 May 2005:

There are several waxy experts, and others quite easily provoked.

--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
There are two sides to every question, except
'What is a Moebius strip?'
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk

But still, in matters vegetable, animal and mineral, I am the very model of a questioner rhetorical. ;-)

--
Cheers!
Rich

I wonder if audiophools would pay extra, if it comes from an ear.... Pat

Only if it's from a "golden" ear. This 'ere wax..

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it\'s the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

And wane philanthropical.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

I was Samuel, the pirate lieutanant, but you can't hardly learn a show like that without learning some of the other songs. Of course, learning Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" helped. :-)

There's Sb, As, Al, Se, And H, and O, and N, and Re, And Ni, Nd, Np, Ge, And Fe, Am, Ru, U...

I hope you're all taking notes, because there's going to be a short quiz next period...

Cheers! Rich

Hello Rich,

That's how I did it, too, but I skipped the wax. Fire safety codes in the pre-WW2 ear may have been a bit haphazard. I sometimes used wood stove sealing compound. Could be painted if it really has to look more authentic. But it's chances of burning up into some toxic plume are slim.

Regards, Joerg

of an organic

acid (each

has 18

The wax used for paper capacitors (actually condensers) always reminded me of ear wax. For all I know, they could have been just that.

Don't stick pins in him!

Paul Burke

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it\'s the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

I read in sci.electronics.design that Rich The Newsgroup Wacko wrote (in ) about 'Repairing paper caps', on Thu, 5 May 2005:

You get several Brownie points for quoting G&S, poor wandering one. (;-)

--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
There are two sides to every question, except
'What is a Moebius strip?'
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk

Hah ! You just reminded me. I had an excellent but somewhat eccentric Chemistry teacher. In his bored moments he would for example illustrate how to make a basic napalm !

One very good idea of his however was to learn to recite the periodic table phonetically. I think I held the record for my school year but couldn't say how many seconds it took me. Jolly handy when going into an exam- just write it down from memory ! I can still get up to about element 80 ish without much error.

Graham

wax:

it

work? Or

filled

with a

rectangular

I was working on the paper buried in rectangular tins and covered with wax type. Still got them.

according to your description, they are IIUC.

made

contain.

Umm, is this right, can anyone confirm? I didnt know PCBs (polychlorinated biphenols) went as far back as 20s & 30s. If so I'd better find that boxful of them somewhere.

Just how toxic exactly is this pcb stuff anyway? I was hoping to recon the 20s ones some time...

NT

wax.

I didnt think there were any. The mains plug is wood, theres no fuse anywhere.

Dont think they worried about shocks much either, all the connections are a row of bare metal screw things on the back, some with HT on them. And originally it ran live chassis as well, off dc mains - no isolation to the aerial or anything. Watch those grubscrews.

I added a lot of safety by building a modern psu for it, complete with scary safety stuff like resistors and fuses, insulated connectors etc, and added iso caps for aerial and so on. But you cant cover everything: If you run antique radios I think you got to get past some of this stuff, and have enough sense to make sure the mains switch is accessible and not leave it unattended.

more

slim.

I think it would be difficult for wax potted caps to go too badly wrong, the power throughput is low and it would shut down if it shorted. I sure wouldnt leave it in unexperienced hands though.

NT

it's more

If it hertz to much one can always buzz off, and go curl up with honey or something.

NT

wax:

it

work? Or

wax.

I did. Obviously I was hoping to do a better job and re-thing the originals for the older radio.

I still dont know whats on the paper dielectric, mineral oil, pcb, wax, who knows.

NT

Hello Bigcat,

That was even true well after WW2. When I restored a Hammond Organ from

1961 the two-wire power cord was badly crumbling, no ground, no fuse. So I changed that. They also didn't place a metal protector behind the rectifier tube which could get red hot when a cap shorted because of the blissful absence of a fuse. Now just imagine wall paper or a curtain dangling behind the organ.

Probably so if you add a fuse. But I have seen some that have exploded and the crud was everywhere. Replacement took maybe 15 minutes, scraping took another couple hours.

Regards, Joerg