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Peter Wieck[_2_] Peter Wieck[_2_] is offline
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Default Restoring a Variac

On Monday, June 18, 2018 at 11:20:38 PM UTC-4, wrote:

Greetings.. Not sure if anyone is here or not, Just stumbled across this while trying to solve a problem I have with this V20 variac I just got from a friend. The whole assembly is seized up in the frame. The outer shaft cylinder is too tight in the mounting frame and will not spin free at all... I took the whole unit apart and put the base with the shaft cylinder in the cold to hopefully free it up, and still had to use a heavy mallet to remove it. This is supposed to spin freely, but I don't see how it would. There is no corrosion or dirt.. everything is nice and clean. any ideas?


If the frame is made of pot-metal, that is likely the issue. Pot-metal will swell, distort and generally deteriorate over time.

https://www.radiolaguy.com/info/PotMetal.htm

A solution (not "the" solution) might be to drill out the frame where it is binding and install some sort of new bearing. But, sadly, if this is the issue, it will continue. Please let us know if this is NOT the issue, so we might consider other options.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA