I worked for the top meter manufacturer in the US. I made those Bird meters you love. This is called a pivot & jewel meter moved. Tap the side of the base by the dial with the meter horizontal and level. There should be a slight jiggle. We also used a needle with masking tape adhesive rolled on it. A jewelers eye loop. And checked for debris around the core and armature. Be careful you zap that hair spring and it's toast.
+Ron Edwards Yep the springs and wires in meters are tiny and fragile. Doesn't take much at all to damage them. That's why when you buy high quality replacement meters for test equipment they always have a wire across the terminals to prevent damage from static discharge.
@@mikesradiorepair All panel meters not in use should have their terminals jumpered. The jumper is there to provide electrical braking (via back emf) to stop needle movement and possibly damage while in transit or being handled.
This worked perfectly. Thank you. I have a Uniden Washington I bought brand new in 1996. It's been stored for 21 years. I took it out and got it up and running again, just to find the meter was stuck at 3db and the light no longer worked. Did exactly as this video stated and the meter is working perfectly again. I also upgraded to a12 volt LED while I was in there. Everything is working like it should now. Thanks for the great info!!
Thanks for this! I fixed two out of the three Meters on a Magnum-Dynalab FT-101a Etude doing this, but I got lucky with the first two and made the mistake you describe on number three. I didn't even see the glue (before Cataract surgery, lol...) and the meter came to an undignified end. Fortunately, M-D had NOS and sold me a replacement. An expensive lesson. I wish I'd seen this first. I found this video searching for a specific tutorial on (yeah, I know...it's a little like finding a "made in Bangladesh" sticker on the innards of a Rolls-Royce) the famously luxurious and indescribably appealing "McIntosh" blue power meters. They have a history with this problem, usually only at VERY low signal levels. Sometimes it's exacerbated by severe oxidation/heating oil/nicotine on the meter function switch (three levels of dB scale, a Wattage scale, and a Watts hold) and I've seen problems with ribbon cables and/or Molex connectors where the driver boards are inserted into the chassis. But at times DeOxiting and heavy cleaning just aren't the entire solution. You take your fiscal life (they're 105% pure unobtanium) in your hands when you uninstall these meters, but I may have to take a run at doing this with one of my Macs. I love my McGear, but Jesus H. Corderman, this is an annoyance. Thanks again for your tutorial. It may just solve the problem.
Yup, excellent vid. However, tackling a larger range of meters I have also had minute fragments of dust, lint and metal specks harbouring between the coil and the magnet on some meters I have repaired. You can remover these with stiff a cotton thread dipped in distilled water or a thin strip of double sided tape to get between the coil and magnet to drag them out. Put a glossy sheet of white paper behind the meter so you can see any trapped particles. For metal (magnetic) particles use about 1/4" of the head of a needle, glue it or tape it to a wooden or plastic cocktail stick (you need to reduce the mass of the metal tool here) and using a (very) steady hand touch the offending metal particle and it will attach itself to the pin head; then carefully with-draw. A good bench back lit magnifier helps here. This is obviously more involved than just adjusting the pivots... but can be done if you are careful. Obviously clean the meter lens (preferably with an anti-static cleaner) and inside of the meter before reassembling. The only meter I have not been able to repair is if the coil is burnt out. Oh, make sure you completely reseal the meter... any gaps and the meter will 'breath', and tempreture changes will drag in dust and crud ready to stick the meter up again. Another little tip is to stick a layer of double sided tape inside the meter at the lower edge; this will hopefully 'stick' any dust or crud that gets inside the meter. 73 de G4***
This was a great tutorial. I'm having this problem with a 44 year old BIC cassette deck. It moves, but very sluggishly and it also hangs up in the middle of it's travel path when it's turned off. All the advice I've gotten on various audio message boards leads me to believe that I shouldn't fool with it as I'll probably break it at worst or throw the calibration off at best. I watched another video where the guy used a soldering iron rather than acetone as you have. The soldering iron seems pretty harsh to say the least, and it wouldn't be advised for the screw on the reverse side. Your video gives me confidence that I could actually accomplish this. Removing the meter from the deck would seem to be the toughest part. Thanks for posting it and I will be sure to hit the subscribe button.
This helped me a lot! I fixed my Sony TC-D5M cassette field recorder, the VU meters were a bit stuck and ocasionaly they would get stuck when a peak occurred. Thanks a lot! You made me save 58$!
I have all ways wondered how to get the meters to un stick in old cb radios ? I am real glad you made this video ! IT was very helpful ! Thanks again !! Your a lot of help with your videos !! Rick.
Great video, thanks. getting ready to retire and have some old cb's ive collected over the years some work some don't. thougt it would be a good hobby to keep the old brain box active for awhile. thanks again.
WOW.. AWESOME, STUNNING, OUTSTANDING, BRILLIANT.. THANK YOU SO MUCH.. My Precious President Grant 25 year old CB Radios Meter is Stuck half way🙈.. But I'm So So Scared to Take the Radio apart 😳.. (Don BUSH RADIO (SOUTH AFRICA CH35 LSB).. 🙏.. 73''S..🇿🇦💥!.
Borrowed a diabetic needle from my friend. And filled it with oil used in clock works. I am lazy and lubed the jewels. Will try yours on a rainy day when next I Doo a meter. Tks
Thank You Mike for sharing this video, if I had seen this months ago I could have saved the first meter I tried to unstick. Now I think I've got it down, I was able to save a few after seeing this!
I have a question for you Mike. Regarding the RCI Ranger 2970, is there a circuit or some method that a analog meter be installed on a Ranger instead of the dummy lights? like maybe making a tap using a 1/8" phono jack (Female side) installed on the side cabinet or somewhere out of the way,and have the meter itself with leads with the Male end so you can plug in the analog meter and bypass the dummy lights??? Thanks for reading!!!
OK, oddball comment here... I have been looking all over for the spec on these old meters because i want to use one in a project im doing. long story short, im taking an older CB and setting it up to use with a PC for "sim racing" the goal is to have what looks like a fully functional CB but it really just be a few components on the inside hooked to the PC. (i plan to actually use the mic, internal speaker, controls, and so on) so supposing I want to power one of these meters up and have it respond to voice, without the original hardware. what are the voltage spec's on these things? I can make a circuit to pull the audio signal down from 5 volts to whatever, but I need to know how low to go, and im afraid to blow the little guy testing it.
Hi Mike, Thanks for your helpful video. I'm restoring a Revox A77 and one of the meters is corroded (kind like when batteries leak) and I'm not sure what to do. For batteries compartments I usually use vinegar with very good results...but this is a meter!!! with that little so fragile spring. Then the other meter is worse... the needle got separated from the stuck magnet, but still hanging by the fragile spring. Do you have any suggestion? Thanks
Thanks for the video. I got a pile of meters that are stuck. For some reason I didn’t throw them away I want to try that and see if I can make them work.
The best advice I can give is don't force the pivot screws. Wait for the solvent to soften the Loctite. If you encounter resistance turning the screws stop, your about to strip the screw head.
Watch make lube puts a very fine film trace when it dries out its basically lighter full petroleum based used in the old school cigarette lighters. I think it may be corrosion of the pivot points.
Sometimes analog meters fail because they take a knock and the silk screened plastic backing shifts, making it too close to the clear plastic lens and catching the needle in between. That happened to me with a brand new antenna tuner with cross needles for directed and reflected power. The fix for my case was to simply take the meter apart and reassemble it properly.
I got a decent Messenger 250 with no SMeter Movement. I checked the meter as shown here. Just no bounce at its zero mark. Anything else I can check out on this Signal Meter issue. Do I have to unscrew the back side of the meter to get at the other end of the meter shaft?
I got a uniden Zachary T for free and I've noticed the meter doesn't move either its like 20 to 30 year's old base station radio I'll be doing this to mine as well as its stuck and my light is burnt out how do I go about replacing that?
has 1 yellow wire an 2 brown. don't know where they go. switch is good. yard sale pickup $10. I can do variable power, echo board, mike repair, MOSFET upgrade on uniden 76, Cobra 29 an below and couple of other mods, still learning though...
Yep, just enough. Another reason I remove the old paint. To much and like you say it weighs the needle down and the upswing would read low and once it got over the hump it would read high. Thanks for mentioning it. Mike
good tips what do you use for Attenuator when transmitter testing into your Spectrum analyzer I also have the rigol like yous looking at a 30 db 150 wat feed through
I have two 30db 500 watt attenuaters hooked in series setting on the floor under the bench and if that's not enough I can hook up smaller 10 watt attenuaters at the SA input.
THANKS FOR THE VIDEO!!! I ALWAYS THOUGHT YOU HAD TO PUT IN A NEW METER. TRIED IT ON MY COBRA 25 AND IT IS WORKING AFTER BEING STUCK FOR 15 YEARS. CAN YOU GIVE ME ADVICE ON THIS COBRA 25? IT WAS MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES AND ON THE INSIDE IT LOOKS DIFFERENT FROM THE ONES MADE IN CHINA. ADVICE 0N THE VR1,VR2,VR3,VR4,VR5. BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I WORKED ON RADIOS AND I FORGOT!!
ROBERT SANDLIN CB Tricks is the go to place. Click on the model you have and all the info you need is in the alignment procedure. www.cbtricks.com/radios/cobra/index.htm
Hey Mike I have a question for you I have a President Madison that has the MB8719 PLL chip on a PC-411AB PCB. Currently my receive meter swings backwards when other people are talking everyone, not just one person but everyone. The RF power side of the same meter works just fine when I am talking. Is there an issue in my meter or is there an issue in my radio like a bad diode somewhere. I cannot figure this out for the life of me and I’m hoping you or someone out there could give me a hand. Thanks a lot guys.
Hello Friend! can you help me with my vu's? I am from Brazil and I do not understand your video, one of my vu's are stuck and I can not unlock it, already tried with the hot iron, it works soon hangs again. By locking this deacanso alignment screw it works, but gets the wrong rest (it is an inverted vu, works from top to bottom) the model of my deck is TelefunkenTC400 thank you for your help. (if you can translate to portuguese it helps me a lot, i can't copy the answers here on you tube)
+The Rodog Not going to do anything to thread locking compound. That's for removing light oxidation. You need a strong solvent to dissolve thread locking compound.
+321Catboxnwc Just don't break off as often as the others. They are great tools for scraping, picking up tiny parts and the occasional back scratching.