VCF East, ASR33 help wanted

From: Bill Sudbrink <wh.sudbrink_at_verizon.net>
Date: Tue Jun 29 09:50:28 2004

I have an ASR33 that exhibits the following symptoms in local
mode (I have not attempted to test online):

1) Paper will not advance (roller seems to move OK when turned
   by hand)
2) Bell will not ring
3) When at the start of a line (carriage to the left) it will
   over print several characters before it starts moving to
   the right
4) Carriage returns very slowly and sometimes does not make it
   all the way back
5) Filthy inside (although not as bad as when I got it... I've
   vacuumed and blown a lot of crud out of it)
6) Smells a little funky... not the clean warm oil smell that
   I remember from high school days

As well as being dirty, I suspect that it was improperly
lubricated by the previous owner as it seems to be particularly
sticky inside.

I also have a nearly new KSR33 from the same source that was
improperly handled to the extent that its plastic shell was
shattered (it was in a cardboard box with some newspaper, none
of the shipping bolts in place, and apparently roughly moved
around his ham shack). I have made no attempt to power up the
KSR (in case stuff got bent) but I think that it could be used
as a source of replacements if some of the parts of the ASR are
badly worn.

I would like to recruit 3 or 4 knowledgeable and highly motivated
classiccmpers (motivated by the prospect of DINNER and BEER on me)
at VCF East to completely tear down, clean, adjust, lubricate and
reassemble the ASR. I will supply all of the tools and materials
(unless you have special purpose tools that will help). I picture
a marathon operation, with the experts doing the disassembly,
assembly and adjustment work and me with a toothbrush and a pan of
Simple Green (or alcohol or kerosene or whatever solvent the experts
suggest) busily scrubbing parts as they are handed to me. With four
guys and one scrubber, could this be accomplished in a couple of
hours?

Why don't I do this myself?

1) I don't really have the space. Having the entire interior of a
   hotel room to myself will be something of a luxury to me (I have
   two kids). Or maybe I can ask Sellam for some space at the
   festival and we can make it a spectator sport. It could even
   become sort of a challenge...
   "The crew at VCF East was able to rebuild an ASR33 in two hours,
   how fast can the West or Europe do it?"
2) I don't have the unbroken periods of time. I have the fear that I
   would get it all apart, have one of my all too frequent family
   "emergencies" and then have to pack it up, resulting in lost parts
   when I finally get back to it.
3) I'm a gutless wimp. If I get it apart, I'm not sure I could get
   it all back together, even with the docs. I have original prints
   of some of the docs and the rest in electronic form.

Email me if interested,
Thanks,
Bill
Received on Tue Jun 29 2004 - 09:50:28 BST