Reconditioning an old tuner (Millen 92200)

[W7ARE]

I have recently acquired an old Millen 92200 which is in excellent cosmetic shape. The switches need to be cleaned and perhaps need some adjustment and the knobs turn rather tightly and could probably also use some cleaning and a little TLC. Does anyone know of a competent shop or technician with whom I could make contact and have the work done? Is there such a thing as a "tuner technician" in this age of auto tuners?? Thanks for any info.
W7ARE

[AD4U]

This is something you should be able to do yourself.  There is nothing inside the Millen that you can damage by cleaning it.  Even if it is filthy you can spray it with Purple Power, or 409, etc and rinse it out.  Then use a good contact cleaner to clean all switch contacts and put a DROP of oil on each capacitor bearing.  After that the Millen should be "good to go".

Dick  AD4U

[W7ARE]

Thank you, Dick. My concern is that I am not a technician and I generally screw up anything mechanical that I touch. This sounds almost fool proof though (meaning me-proof), so I will give it a try.

[KG6YV]

That tuner probably needs nothing more than a thorough cleaning of the inductor selector switch, a good cleaning and re-lube of the variable capacitor rotor clips (on the ends between the rotor and end plate) and a check to make sure there is enough tension on the capacitor rotor.  There is a nut on the back end of the capacitors that can tighten the rotor if it isn't making good contact to ground thru the rotor clips.

Get some De-Oxit D5 in a spray can and clean up those areas.  The tuner will work very well for many years.

Greg

[W7ARE]

Thank you, Greg. The band selector switch kinda worries me too. On the one I had back in the 80s, the stops at each band was very precise and distinct. You changed bands by turning the switch and at each band there was a heavy and distinct "clunk" as it engaged.  On this one, as you rotate the switch, it seems to slip a lot before engaging the stop, almost as though the switch itself was loose or something. Have you ever encountered anything like that with one of these?

[AC5UP]

it seems to slip a lot before engaging the stop, almost as though the switch itself was loose or something. Have you ever encountered anything like that with one of these?

Most likely the knob has a loose set screw and is slipping a bit on the shaft. Next likely is a dried out detent mechanism. If you look at the front of the switch immediately behind the mounting panel you should see a disk with a series of holes around the perimeter and a ball bearing trapped under a circular spring. That's the mechanism which gives you the click (stop) click (stop) feel of the switch. If the grease has evaporated, hardened or become sticky you will loose some crispness in the switch action. Clean out as much of the old grease as you can with Q-Tips and WD-40 (or mineral spirits) then re-lube with something like a black molybdenum (light Lubriplate) grease. Rotate the switch to work the new grease into the detent mechanism until it has a light coating all the way around. A drop of oil on the shaft wouldn't hurt and there's no better time to do it. Remember that with things like this it's better to WD-40 the Q-Tip and use it like a wet swab than it is to blast the area with WD-40 and try to clean it up like a slob.

Do this reasonably well and the switch will live a long and snappy life... 

[W7ARE]

Thank you Nelson. I am going to bite the bullet this weekend, take the thing apart and put the good advice received here to use.
73,
Marque