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Success Stories If you have successfully repaired or restored a piece of equipment, why not write up what you did and post details here. Particularly if it was interesting, unusual or challenging. PLEASE DO NOT POST REQUESTS FOR HELP HERE!

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Old 22nd Nov 2020, 12:55 pm   #1
Beardyman
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Default Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

This set was purchased from a well known auction site and, originally, was in near pristine condition. It arrived in a somewhat broken state, not through any fault of the sender but more through the poor handling it had received en route.
The case was in 6-7 large-ish pieces, the wavechange switch had been badly damaged, both mounting brackets on the chassis were bent & one of the wafers was at a very odd angle with it's associated contacts bent out of shape.
The waveband switch knob had been broken into several pieces.
With the plethora of information regarding the repair of bakelite cases on this forum it is now back in one piece, some filler in places but one piece nonetheless.
At least the ferrite aerial survived.
Sorting out the wafer switch was quite a task, it had to be removed from the chassis & with the aid of a couple of dozen photos this was achieved. Some of the contacts & contact plates had also been damaged but with about 8-9 hours of fettling it all came back together & operates as it should. Putting it back in was a mission!
The manufacturers datasheet was invaluable in this as it shows the orientation of both wafers in relation to each other when assembled, very handy.
Going through the components on the chassis I found all the Hunts capacitors were crumbling, the remaining waxies were way out of tolerance. All but 4 resistors were within tolerance, the majority were the higher values, those above 100K. C43 (50+50Uf) formed up very well indeed, less than 0.5mA leakage after a couple of hours. R31 (A - E) mains dropper looked brand new, even the values were still visible.
Internally there were the usual dust bunnies & dead spiders but no signs of damp or corrosion.
A new 10W SBC bulb was a tad difficult to track down but they are out there at a reasonable price.
All the valves checked ok for continuity of the filament which was a relief!
After changing the mains lead & adding a chassis mounted fuseholder it was time to put some power to it.
All filaments glowing nicely, HT came up well & stabilised at 205VDC from the rectifier & 190VDC after R29, these figures are comparable to the manufacturers data.
Happy with that but nothing on any waveband, from one end of the tuning scale to the other. At that point I was beginning to think that perhaps more damage had been done that was hidden away, perhaps in one of the tuning coils. I decided to leave it until the following weekend.
I was telling a colleague at work about it & he, sensibly, suggested I go back over the chassis checking all the joints that had been disturbed/re-made as a starting point. Taking his sage advice I sat myself down & after about an hour I found that I had missed soldering C15 back onto the wafer switch, it feeds the grid of the mixer valve, no wonder it was quiet!
Re-soldered & with power applied it gradually came to life on all wavebands, it really shows off on VHF though, the sound is brilliant, quite bassy but not overly so & not too bright.
Only a small re-adjustment of tuning is required from cold after perhaps 10-15 minutes, after that it holds station very well.
All in all I've learned a lot, even things that appear to be smashed beyond all possible hope can be made good with enough time & effort. The case & front grill have cleaned up well, with scale illuminated green it looks very smart & most definitely of it's time.
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Old 22nd Nov 2020, 7:00 pm   #2
FStephenMasek
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

Nice rescue! It is all too easy to make wiring errors during the extensive amount of work we do on these old radios, but indeed fun to hear them play again, perhaps for the first time in many decades.
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Old 22nd Nov 2020, 8:52 pm   #3
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

Looks great, nice job!
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Old 22nd Nov 2020, 10:29 pm   #4
dazzlevision
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

I think these are very attractive (moulded cabinet) sets and when restored, work very well.

I have restored two myself and am very pleased with the result on AM and VHF.

It's a pity the dropper is so close to the cabinet back, which results in that area becoming very "crumbly", unless the set was "very low mileage".

The RF sub-chassis is mounted on anti-micrphony rubber bushes, as is the UCH81 valveholder.

Unusually for a domestic set, Ultra applied a spot of blue lacquer to the soldered joints - presumably after a quality control inspection of them.
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Old 5th Jan 2021, 11:14 am   #5
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

I don't think this set had a lot of use, the back panel is as new & the markings on the dropper are as plain as day.
As you say, it could well be very low mileage.
Quite why they put the hottest running parts in an open faced tin box painted black on the inside I'm not at all sure!
At the moment it is doing duty as a background noise box for my better half while she works from home.
I've adapted an in-car DAB to FM box of tricks to give more selection of stations for her.
She says the tone is very easy on the ear & not harsh like so many of the modern radios.
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Old 26th Jan 2021, 8:53 am   #6
Phil G4SPZ
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

Lovely job, well done!
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Old 26th Jan 2021, 9:27 am   #7
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

That's a very smart, cute-looking set.

Well done from me too, many people would have just returned the package and it would have all ended up in the bin.

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Old 26th Jan 2021, 1:19 pm   #8
Phil G4SPZ
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nickthedentist View Post
...many people would have just returned the package...
That's a good point. Did you claim a refund? On the few occasions I've had to do so, the sender has never wanted the goods back...
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Old 26th Jan 2021, 2:38 pm   #9
Beardyman
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

I alerted the sender immediately it arrived, he was as shocked as I was & gave me a complete refund on the condition that when I'd finished I would send him photos of the whole restoration process. I did that & he was delighted, all in all it was a good outcome. The set had been in his family since new so you can imagine the memories that went with it, value can take on many guises. It is used nearly every day now & sounds amazing. On the other hand it certainly taught me a few things, the depth of knowledge on this forum is second to none regarding repairs to Bakelite cases. Without it I would have made some errors of judgement shall we say!
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Old 26th Jan 2021, 3:37 pm   #10
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

A win-win situation all round, then! The seller got some excellent photos; you got a free radio; you taught yourself Bakelite repair to a high standard; and you have a nice radio to enjoy.

I often think that the value of a vintage radio is not what it’s worth, but what we learn from it.
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Old 27th Jan 2021, 10:54 am   #11
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

One Post moved to new thread here

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/....php?p=1334978

Cheers

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Old 27th Jan 2021, 5:53 pm   #12
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Default Re: Ultra U930, from basket case to working.

What a nice-looking set it has turned out to be! It must have taken quite an impact to suffer that badly.
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