I removed this cap from a stereo amplifier job recently. It's only a small cap but it made a very big mess inside the case. Black soot everywhere.

There are some black & brown axials about 3/8" a 1/2" often found in transistorised stuff and 1960's car radio's. Cracking then shorting (like muds) and having a melt down (literally) is never unusual for them. "Hunts" is one of them, I treat that type of cap with the same contempt as wax paper, oil filled & anything with "Micamold" on it

I am still plodding through the mystery set ad hock due to other projects & doing things offsite. I spotted a dry joint on the transformer tabs (heater), that early wire of the 30's is a horror to solder at the best of times.

Marc

Photos uploaded to Posts 13 and 16.

Stan Dean here. If I may join in

I used to tell work mates a little ditty when I saw them sticking their fingers where they shouldn't. It goes like this
Boys, pliers
Live wires
Blue flashes
Then ashes
Stan

Yeah, like what we'd say to the apprentices:

"One flash and you're ash"

One flash and you're ash...

Commonly mentioned in the government workshops I frequented as an apprentice.

When carrying ladders, especially near bus bars: "Look up and live".

But people who cut the plugs off never send them with the radio. When a vintage radio is missing the plug, I always wonder if it was cut off after it went bang.

I much prefer purchasing vintage electronics with frayed cords and original plugs. It is a sign that the innards are still in original condition, and not mauled by some 'well meaning' person.

Re chopping off plugs/cords, I think there's a regulation in VIC about safety of second hand electrical equipment. I heard something today about having to jump through state legal hoops when making stuff available for sale at the upcoming RadioFest in VIC.

In NSW one can run a second hand store without a second hand dealer's licence but can only sell electrical items on 12 days in a 12 month period. This doesn't pertain to electrical safety though, just revenue protection for the government.

Victoria is the only state that requires second hand electrical goods to be subject to a lead test/tag before sale. Anyone that does test and tag any vintage electrical appliance and then sell it is putting themselves at risk of being sued in my opinion - by people who think that a lead tag signifies that the item is safe to operate. It is far better to cut the cord off and just sell the item as an inanimate object. There is no chance of me ever signing my life away on a cord that is good at the time of inspection and then falls apart under new ownership.

I heard something today about having to jump through state legal hoops when making stuff available for sale at the upcoming RadioFest in VIC.

All the more reason to return the event to its rightful place in the ACT, where cooler heads prevail.

In NSW one can run a second hand store without a second hand dealer's licence but can only sell electrical items on 12 days in a 12 month period.

Those operating eBay 'stores' would make a joke of that archaic restriction.

Originally this started out as industrial cables & portable electrical equipment, then the horse got diarrhea and it was realised that it was a money spinner and has gradually got to the point of anything that plugs in: That includes valve & transistor radios that have mains connections.

With the second hand stuff, its test it & cut the cable off if you don't. I see a mockery of it every time I go to a Flea market. If I go to a Radio Club display,it has got to the point where I take "Tag & Test" gear with me.

The negative spin off of this is of course, those in need suffer. Vinnies & others will not get stuff tested as it will cost in some cases more than they will recover albeit they got it for nix. So if its not tested as they have to pay someone to do it, it goes into waste & they have to pay to get rid of it, like a lot of other worthless stuff & genuine trash, dumped on their doorstep: Yes! there are those that do that rather than pay to dump it.

I did get my hands on a "too good to dump Microwave", I did take it to the Lutheran OP shop, but did the Test & Tag so they didn't have to pay & they could sell it. With the advent of RCD's in a lot of places, some of this testing is questionable.

Energy Safe Vic. http://www.esv.vic.gov.au/ Worksafe: http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/laws-and-regulations, Consumer Affairs may also have info?

Marc

I had a friend who worked for a Goodwill store in Salisbury and I asked her if they ever got old Radios and Radiograms in, and she said "all the time" "but they're not allowed to sell them, so the just get thrown out as rubbish"
This was a decade ago, absolute tragedy, I often think of how many lovely items were simply trashed... Shudder!!!

She was just using that as an excuse - I've bought radios from antique shops in South Australia so it must be legal. One was a Raycophone console, purchased at a shop in a small country town between the SA-VIC border and Adelaide - to be honest I don't remember the name of the place but they do have a good hamburger shop. The other radio, an Astor Super Six tablegram, was at a big antique dealer in King Street, Adelaide.

If the cord is cut off it is no longer classed as an electrical item, though I'd say a lot of people don't realise it.

Depends on the store and the knowledge or ignorance of whose in charge.. I bought my Philips 224 Radio player from Murray Bridge Cash Converters for $70 with the cord on, sold as working as indeed it still is, they had other Bakelite Radio's too, I even bought a 1910 wind up gramophone there for $500, in great working condition.
Goodwill is the shopfront of the Salvation Army, whom inherit many deceased estates, so it's a shame they would throw out good items.
Cutting off the cord is a simple and logical way to preserve and sell such things, I couldn't care less if the cord is missing, however I do prefer the antique bakelite plugs if they could tape it to the radio somewhere!