There is a shock factor, too. The first time that anyone looks at it they just shake there head and walk away. Once you look past the 1 inch layer of dust, the components really aren't in that bad of shape. The worst that happens is either a capacitor fries or a tube blows. The wiring has asbestos insulation and I seriously doubt that a fire would start.

I'm going off of personal experience from using old tube radios in my poorer ham radio days. I've run some stuff that most people wouldn't touch. This is just a glorified PA system. I do appreciate the feedback, though.

Also, please ask them about the direct hook-up to the H-9 diving horns. There has to be a junction box somewhere in the control room that the diving alarm contactor would tie into - I'm referring to the back-up system that bypasses the 1MC in case it were not operational.

Did you find the Blueprints for the systems?

Another Torsk member said to clean it up. You can attempt to power it up but the caps and transformers may not be any good. The Batfish's is about the same condition as the Torsks.

I asked them. I know the Torsk's works. It is possible everything was bypassed and wired with new for each compartment in the Torsk.

Here is the place to get some tubes. Ebay. Personally, I would clean it up and inspect after the cleaning. Check for dry connections that crumble by the touch of your hand. Locate the tubes you need no ebay. This puppy will take more than a weekend to do...no doubt. Keep on going back to our forum for any other responses and ideas on how to handle this piece of history.

A transformer is manly two coils of wire wound closely together to step or step down the voltage. In this case, they take the 120 VAC and drop it down to something like 12V and then a rectifier probably converts the power from AC to DC. Capacitors are the main culprit, because of their lack of integrity over time. I didn't notice any discoloration on any of the caps in these boxes, but that doesn't indicate their poor condition. Something as simple as a diode could fry and that would stop everything in its tracks.

In general, tube equipment is pretty robust and tubes are easy to replace. I had an old Heathkit HW-101 tube transceiver that looked almost as crusty and dusty as these things. I cleaned it up as best as possible and the bugger still worked - got over 100 Watts output on some bands. There are enough tubes between the two amplifiers that we can get one of them working and the replacmeent tubes for the amps are very cheap.

I told Rick that the worst we can do is nothing at all and the second worst thing we can do is fire it up and fry something. Then, we resort to modern technology to pipe music, noise, voice, and alarms over the reproducers.

I heard some wires crackle a little when I opened up some of the trays, but that is due to the cloth and asbestos insulation. I'll definitely feel around and make sure nothing crumbles. The worst that would happen is it would short to ground and blow a fuse. The control panel has a lot of fuses built into it.

My first step is to bring some clorox wet wipes and wipe everything down. Getting rid of the filth is half the battle.

I found a few tube suppliers that have 2A3 tubes ranging from $25 - $90, depending on the maker and if it's new or used. The bottom amp has two already installed. So, i should be able to swap tubes between the amps and get one working - gotta love redundancy.

Good news about the Sig. Gen. tubes...
 

I dicovered that I copied the part numbers down incorrectly for Sig. Gen. 1, but you saw how much filth is crusted onto the ciruit boards. I got a reply from Vacuum Tubes Inc regarding their pricing... :p

"The VR75-30 is a type 0A3. Also, I suspect the other types are 6SL7GT and 6ZY5G
0A3 - $5 each
6SL7GT - $7.50 each
6ZY5G - $5.50
S+H is $6.75

Jim Cross - Vacuum Tubes, Inc. - phone/fax 407-481-9994 http://www.vacuumtubesinc.com Check us out for new, used, audio, antique, and collectible types.
Vacuum Tubes, Inc.
1080 Sligh Blvd
Orlando, FL 32806-1029"

Your determination is a good thing!!! Keep at it and let me know how it goes. Even with a short to ground if it happens keep a fire extinqhisher handy. That dry dust build up can ruin a whole day.

I might try to get back down there this saturday with some cloth rags and water. The dust came off easily when I wet my finger and wiped it over a small spot... (no, I didn't lick it a second time). I also need to bring some goof off to get the gray paint off the front of the panels.

A friend of mine sent an email with the photos to his uncle whom worked on comm. devices in the Army in the late '40's. He's also an active amateur radio operator. Hopefully, he'll tell us what to test and look for before we add power.

Yea, I really hate the fact that they went in and painted everything grey, it runined alot of stuff when it comes to fixing things because alot of numbers and words have been completely covered up. If I was there, I would be helping you out Sarsfield, and I wish I could be there.

We are all in the same boat, sort of speaking. The paint is as thick as thieves on the Torsk. Most parts as much as 6 layers thick. Most time you will find a slight rap with a screwdriver will send the paint flying. Occasionally we get paint stripper involved depending on the part. Remember also, you are attemting to restore and some parts you can just clean up only, others you can make look brand new. That was something I had to get out of my head...I was attempting to make it all look brand new. Some pieces do not lend themselves to that so I clean them up as best I can. :up:


Oh, rags, I went through my closet and took out shirts I just do not wear anymore. I have two large 55 gallon bags of shirts that are being donated to the Torsk rag collection!!!!! Check your closets out for old clothing that would be suitable for cleaning. Small actions like that help out quite a bit.

[quote=AVGWarhawk]Remember also, you are attemting to restore and some parts you can just clean up only, others you can make look brand new. That was something I had to get out of my head...I was attempting to make it all look brand new. Some pieces do not lend themselves to that so I clean them up as best I can. :up:

Yeah when I went in to polish the tubes in the summer, I would put one layer of polisher on and clean it up, and then another layer of dirt would pop up.

I have to remember to bring a hack saw to remove a bent bolt that is holding on the collision alarm housing. Talk about paint. The nut has been glued onto the end of the bolt.

I have a whole bag of nice cloth rags that I'll bring with me. I can get the inside of the electronic equipment looking pretty good. Especially the vacuum tubes, since they are glass. I should bring a tooth brush, too, to loosen up most of the dirt.

Yea, it's stuff like that, that makes it harder for us to improve the Batfish. I know for sure in the engine room they painted over the cover of the engines, I personally think we should take off the cover and display the engine's internals. We also need to do a general cleanup of all below deck space, such as the battery compartments the pump room, the motor room, the space below the engine rooms , and probably the freezer in the galley (the open space is pretty clean in it.