Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-28
n. 54.-Where the Wear Begins.

His experience with automoDlles has
taught Smith that every piece o.
mechanism is subject To wear. Nat
1lraIly. as time wore OF he began &c
speculate as to when ms raulo SCI
would start to wear out.
THE rate of wear on the set oe
ponds upon your ability to Know no"
that wear begins and your Wililnsheas
10 DELAY or offse1 their effect through
care" / told him 1T is more lmpor
tant to know where The wear begin;
than 10 know when the set VIII DC
ready for the junk heap
WIZ. smith at he diaE, the oppor
tunitv was excellent Tor pointing ou'
to him the various ways III WhiCI
wear starts. Even as we started tne
discussion he was twirling the dlais
passing the stations to when ne
knew h. would want to rNurh. II
reminded me OF The way many auto
mobile drivers will shift inu' his q
gear from second when they hIloM
that in a minute they will have 10
shift into neutral and start all over
again in low.
Certain Amount of Wear.
eff YOU could lubricate the shafn
of the variable condenserS all thal
twisting and twirling wouldn't make
much adherence. i explained. "Chuel
the circumstances, however, you are
working with unoiled parlS ana tmete
is a certain amount OF wear. Inns
will eventuate in lowered condenser
efficiency.
"And here's another point you
haven't considered: You are accuS-
toned to setting the dials Wnen you
find something you are enjoying go
ing away and leaving the set 10 u
self. Can't you see that II the On,
denser shafts become too loose ana
100 free they will not stay hrnly IN
position. The Earring OF the mouse
may be sufficient to detune the SET:
At this stage Of the game you VIII
have to stay around the set al tno
time during reception in order 10 Keep
II tuned to the desired station.
lone of the things that Is pound
10 shorten the life of your set is this
fraI table on which you nave IT,
Every time you plug in the Wnoie
set swings a little. I've warned you
about this before, but only IN con
nection with the tubes. You ought
to know by now that 1t doeSh 90
the delicate filaments OF the TUBES
any good to be Jared, ana IL you
want to defer the time when your
set will be troublesome, you Will TAKE
had for everything else on the set
To prove it 1 showed him the loose
ground connection on the back OF the
set Inside the box there was alsc
q soldered connection that dld not
look any too strong. ON the who're
the soldering looked to be or very
high order
Smith Has God Set.
fa, Cr,ith hiS set is
we'll built and well designed. Inc
condenser shafts are designed to al
low looseness to be taken up. There
is ample room for the installation OF
new transformers. The connections
for holding the prongs OF the tuoe
are strong and can be bent LOT llenlel
contact without danger OF breaking.
R,1t service work on any mechanism
entails a certain amount or unaVoiu
able damage. 1t always is better Ilol
to let troubles start.
Most of the wear on your set WIZ,
come from causes you least expect
I added Did you ever stop 10 real-
ize that every time you raise the top
of the set to look inside you are help,
ing II along the road to old age!
When YOU lift the cover you breathe
dire civ upon the condenser plates.
You avoid dampness and yet you orten
omen the hood to give the set gooo
dose of it.
lone of the things you should avoid
"a the opposite extreme. 100 Htlle
dampness is just as bad for the set
as too much. If the set is allowed
to become too dry the case will warp
This can cause more trouble than you
think. Just how much dry heat
set will stand depends largely upon
the seasoning of the wood used in It's
case.
"I speak of this because one OF
the rules of radio involves this risk
of excessive drying out of the set
case. Radio operators are tolo 10