Hello, I have a Colonialchassis that has had it's power supply rebuilt in the 70's. The unit works and has no hum. The only potential problem I see is that the rectangular potted caps on the 24's (three of them) are oozing wax. I think one was rebuilt. I am unfamiliar with these caps. Is the box the common ground as connected to the chassis? If I need to bypass these with tubular poly film caps is the chassis the ground? I printed a schematic and it is hard for me to follow. One of these looks like it has a resistor built in it like some of the Philco bakelite blocks did. There are four colored rubber leads coming out of these and the rubber is cracking off as well which also prompts me to bypass them.

Jim,

If there are three caps in the container and four leads then the metal box may not be the common. One of the four leads probably is. If the box also has a resistor in it then the box maybe the common.

I've had some success rebuilding these. If the box is metal, some mild heating of the metal box may allow you to remove the contents and then you can put the replacement caps in the box. I've used silicon sealant to refill it instead of wax. It comes in several colors so you should be able to get a close match to the original wax color.

Mike

:Hello, I have a Colonialchassis that has had it's power supply rebuilt in the 70's. The unit works and has no hum. The only potential problem I see is that the rectangular potted caps on the 24's (three of them) are oozing wax. I think one was rebuilt. I am unfamiliar with these caps. Is the box the common ground as connected to the chassis? If I need to bypass these with tubular poly film caps is the chassis the ground? I printed a schematic and it is hard for me to follow. One of these looks like it has a resistor built in it like some of the Philco bakelite blocks did. There are four colored rubber leads coming out of these and the rubber is cracking off as well which also prompts me to bypass them.

Hello Mike, thanks for the info. I think I have succeeded. The radio works and sounds much better then before. These old rascals were made by Sprague and not to difficult to deal with. Although there were two connected in series I figured out what size new to connect to equal the original. I am going to try and do the same with some Atwater Kent caps that are buried in black pitch. I know this is not going to be easy at all. The Spragues were in a light candle wax.

:Jim,
:
:If there are three caps in the container and four leads then the metal box may not be the common. One of the four leads probably is. If the box also has a resistor in it then the box maybe the common.
:
:I've had some success rebuilding these. If the box is metal, some mild heating of the metal box may allow you to remove the contents and then you can put the replacement caps in the box. I've used silicon sealant to refill it instead of wax. It comes in several colors so you should be able to get a close match to the original wax color.
:
:Mike
:
::Hello, I have a Colonialchassis that has had it's power supply rebuilt in the 70's. The unit works and has no hum. The only potential problem I see is that the rectangular potted caps on the 24's (three of them) are oozing wax. I think one was rebuilt. I am unfamiliar with these caps. Is the box the common ground as connected to the chassis? If I need to bypass these with tubular poly film caps is the chassis the ground? I printed a schematic and it is hard for me to follow. One of these looks like it has a resistor built in it like some of the Philco bakelite blocks did. There are four colored rubber leads coming out of these and the rubber is cracking off as well which also prompts me to bypass them.