Re: Those wonderful 1970's

[grimly4]

People were still creating flush doors by pinning hardboard over great old Victorian moulded doors, thanks to Barry Bucknell. They were also enclosing staircases in hardboard - another big wave of thanks to BB for that one. Actually, all over the land these forgotten treasures are being rediscovered still, thanks to BB.

Power tools of the day were nothing great, as were many of the hand tools, unless you bought pro grade stuff. Having said that, many of the older B&D and Bosch tools were made of fairly good stuff and many survive still.

I recall the use of a Rawl plug driver - a device you had to hammer into the the brick to create a hole - a decidedly user-unfriendly tool.

Insulation was starting out in a big way - cavity wall filling was really taking off (but early PU foam mixes were crap and could collapse into a wisp at the bottom of the cavity). Fibreglass in the loft was a great thing, but many people only fitted 2", some cheapskates only used 1", believe it or not.

[tony sayer]

In article , Tim Streater scribeth thus

SWMBO has a QUAD 33/303 combination for her study, just updated with new caps etc made in 1969 it was;!...

[tony sayer]

Yep got one of they, a B67 superb machine still makes an excellent tape;)..

As well as a few assorted Revox's which I must get round to e-baying sometime;!..

[Tim Streater]

Yes, I really ought to do that too. Where did you get it done?

[Bob Eager]

I have one too...refurbished by Quad a few years ago. Only thing I needed to fix was the capacitor across the mains input which let out its magic smoke a couple of years ago.

[Tim Streater]

couldn't remember the name of the outfit.

Thanks - I may well pursue that. I should prolly get the crossovers on the IMFs done, though, also.

[grimly4]

The hippies had imploded by the 70s.

[Doctor Drivel]

Maxie, these bubble. I know nothing of these. How do they feel?

[thirty-six]

Servisol Super 10. Spray it, work it, leave it. Do it for three days and it cleans off the oxidation as well as displacing dirt and dried up grease. Whatever it is, it probably needs a day for each decade since manufacture.

[Jules Richardson]

I dumped a whole bunch of isopropyl in the Kenwood when I got it; it hadn't been run in years and all the switches and pots were having a major grump. But some proper switch cleaner would have probably* been better if I'd had any to hand (I did call a few places in the local town, but firstly it was sodding expensive and secondly it'd mean about a 20 mile round trip :-)

• although the IPA took care of it without too much fuss.

cheers

Jules

[Terry Casey]

The RS switch cleaner of old was very simple - carbon tetrachloride with a small quantity of light oil, which was left behind after the carbon tet evaporated.

There were more effective switch cleaners for particularly stubborn cases, such as Electolube, but the RS stuff worked on most things.

You had to keep it well clear of plastic cabinets, etc., of course ...

[thirty-six]

Wasn't Electrolube the original name for Servisol Super 10 switch cleaning lubricant?

[Terry Casey]

Completely different products, as far as I am aware.

[Tim Streater]

[Mike Barnes]

Tim Streater :

AFAIK yes, but resoldering capacitors should be OK for a uk.d-i-yer I'd have thought. For my speakers Falcon sold complete crossovers with improved circuitry, which made the job a bit easier.

[thirty-six]

No, soldering is a magic art best left in the hands of a professional. ;-)

[Tim Streater]

True, but these speakers are not small or light:

Bloody heavy in fact. And it's non-obvious how to get to the x-over too :-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

usually by removing the bass drivers.

Then normally the X over can be removed through that aperture.

Nice speakers..

[Tim Streater]

Ah - so if I take out the driver I should be able to see the x-over? Presumably it'd only be the caps that need replacing?

Yes - had them since 1974. The Formica's coming adrift a bit near the corners but I can prolly reglue that and fix with escutcheon pins.

[Tim Streater]

Thanks for that. If TNP's notion applies to my units, I may be able to do it myself (soldering's OK, but I couldn't face dismantling something that large).