I recently went through my SR-500 Tornado to clean and lubricate gearing in an attempt to make the tuning smoother. ?I used alcohol on a paper towel to wipe the two "wheels" that go in-between the friction gear plates, holding the paper towel on the wheel before it goes into the friction plates, and turning the tuning knob many times. ?I wanted to make sure there would be no slipping or stiffer tuning due to old grease or oily buildup. ?Then I used a stiff brush and alcohol to scrub any old grease from the meshing gears on the frequency dial. ?Then I used a little bit of sewing machine oil on the gears. ?Yes, I know that grease is most often recommended but I felt the sewing machine oil would result in a tad smoother feel. ?
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The tuning did improve a bit. ?I think there is only so much one can do with friction gearing to make it smooth. ?Not sure I'd even use the word "smooth" when talking about friction gearing.. hi hi.
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My buddy Don N9OO has also been going through his SR-150 gearing as well, and he pointed out to me that there is a nut applying a spring tension the friction gear. ?Neither of us wanted to mess with that although I've read where that is an option to adjust tension if the gear is slipping.
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Now I just bought an SR-160 that I believe has never been restored. ?The frequency tuning was significantly stiffer, so now I had a comparison. ?My Tornado tuning almost felt "smooth" compared to the SR-160, so that just tells you how stiff the SR-160 tuning is. hi hi.?
73, Scott WA9WFA
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