Hack jobs

$_3.JPG
I would like to start a thread with pictures, on hack jobs, there is currently one on the auction site, a Dynaco Mark III, it's like what were they thinking? There are no driver tubes,20 amp (or so) fuse.
 
Last edited:
Couple pics of the HK when I got it,,, partial recap!
 

Attachments

  • P9150007.JPG
    P9150007.JPG
    79.2 KB · Views: 133
  • P9150010.JPG
    P9150010.JPG
    83.8 KB · Views: 139
No pics, but I had an old CB that someone had "re-capped". It was 3 radial electrolytic caps taped together and sort of hovering over the hole through the chassis where the original cap was installed. No clue how that didn't short out.

On my 1939 Philco, one of the filter caps had been replaced with an axial under the chassis. The ground end was connected to the antenna ground terminal on the back which only actually tied to chassis ground through a little swing-in jumper.
 
More of a hack storage job,,, RCA PA amp, with original schematic!!!
 

Attachments

  • Rusty hulk.JPG
    Rusty hulk.JPG
    81.5 KB · Views: 134
  • Chassis bottom.JPG
    Chassis bottom.JPG
    81.2 KB · Views: 137
  • Schem original.JPG
    Schem original.JPG
    80.8 KB · Views: 126
  • P8200022.JPG
    P8200022.JPG
    83.1 KB · Views: 109
I would like to start a thread with pictures, on hack jobs, there is currently one on the auction site, a Dynaco Mark III, it's like what were they thinking? There are no driver tubes,20 amp (or so) fuse. I would post pics but the auction is still live.

Oh man, that one's a mess. The only things worth keeping on it are the chassis and the transformers.
 
Oh man, that one's a mess. The only things worth keeping on it are the chassis and the transformers.
It zero reason to bid on this as brand new MkIII may be purchased anyday.
The only reason to buy an old amp ( in my opinion) is that new ones are unavailable or vastly more expensive)
In addition this one looks like mr handyman has been there. Beware!
 
Looks like he gave it a bias meter, solid state rectifier, triode connected outputs and an octal driver circuit with expensive caps and resistors. Perhaps a lack of finesse but maybe it aounds good! Realistically a new filter cap and driver board could fix it up.
 
I have been lucky enough not to purchase any hacked up audio gear (been pretty careful, too). The worst I've gotten is a ham rig; one of a pair I got "two for the price of one" to restore. The two high voltage filter can caps (900V!) had been replaced with a couple of axials taped together and hanging by their leads under the original hole in the chassis. A CB'er had converted the rig to "high power" operation by re-wiring the power supply and eventually burned up the output tubes, the aforementioned HV capacitors and some of the components in the power amp. He had also messed with the band switching to get it to work on the CB bands. It took a little detective work, but I got it all straightened out and working properly. Some of this stuff just breaks your heart, especially the 'bad storage decisions' like the post above. Very nice restore, by the way!
Dave
 

Attachments

  • 530Scaps.JPG
    530Scaps.JPG
    82.1 KB · Views: 65
  • 530SPchokes.JPG
    530SPchokes.JPG
    40.7 KB · Views: 61
Guess I'll have to put my Citation II in here... Bought this as rebuilt but I knew better after shining a light through the bottom plate. Instantly saw it was a hack job but the price was okay. Last photo is a before an after once I did a little of my own rebuild...

Wish I would have saved the photos from the pair of Eico HF-22 amps that were offered for sale by the same "tech". They were even worse. If you've ever seen one, you know it's pretty sparse underneath. There was so much packed in there you could hardly tell what anything was.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN2917.jpg
    DSCN2917.jpg
    366.6 KB · Views: 109
  • DSCN2926.jpg
    DSCN2926.jpg
    342.6 KB · Views: 108
  • 2edbda42-b02f-451e-b9e6-f1a6fc9455ee.jpg
    2edbda42-b02f-451e-b9e6-f1a6fc9455ee.jpg
    323.6 KB · Views: 106
  • 20160111_174915.jpg
    20160111_174915.jpg
    99.2 KB · Views: 110
Right? Thats a quick, almost finished with harvest get it done fix for sure right there. Then a whole winter to forget about fixing it right. :D

My dad used to do temp repairs like that all the time and just forget about going back in. Luckily they were all temp use items.

After he passed we cleaned out his lab and started giving them "Death Trap" designation numbers. I think we got to 20 or so when we stopped. No farmer, but a very well respected EE with many patents. Go figure. :no:
 
Back
Top Bottom