Allwave 23 2 speed tuning knob

[Thomas Day]

The tuning knob on my allwave 23 will occasionally bind when in the slow speed position, lever behind knob locked to back of knob. Is this something I can repair? Does the knob come apart?There are 2 set screws in the wood part of the knob.

Thanks

Thom

[Curtis Schweitzer]

Yes the knob comes apart.  Be warned, though,that if you take apart the gear reduction metal part of the knob it's hard to get it back together.  Your binding is probably just lack of clearance between the wood and metal parts of the knob.  Loosening the set screws in the wood part should allow you to adjust.  If you have to take apart the metal part of the knob it is full of springs and gears.  It can be disassembled but it's complicated.

[Thomas Day]

Curtis:

Thanks for the response. I will check this out. I used to repair VCR's and 16MM movie projectors, so springs and gears don't scare me too much. I would think that the knob assembly is a planetary reduction gear set. When I got the radio, the entire tuning shaft was binding on the escutcheon. I had to slightly relocate the escutcheon to fix it. Also had to relocate the dial cover because it was off by about an 1/8 inch.

[Curtis Schweitzer]

It is a planetary gear set.  I was only 13 years old when I disassembled mine but i don;t want to do it again.

[Norman S Braithwaite]

Tom:

The three springs are strong but short and the screws are threaded into pot metal studs.  You must loosen the screws equally and uniformly to avoid damage to the pot metal.  If you remove two screws, the stress applied by the springs on the third screw and pot metal stud may strip or break the stud.  Otherwise, the planetary is straightforward.

Norman

[Thomas Day]

Norman: 

Thanks for the 'heads up'. I may try a small clamp to hold the knob together while removing the screws.

Alternatively, I may just try a drop of very lightweight oil, or would this have a lightweight grease instead. 

Pot metal is the bain of all service techs.

[Y2K Bruce]

I recently bought a Scott AW23 with one of these 2 speed knobs and to get the chassis out, I had to remove the knobs.

It was impossible for me to reach the set screw on this knob due to the recessed face board behind doors. I decided to disassemble the 2 speed knob while it was on the shaft-Little bearings from inside it fell out and went everywhere and those 3 little springs popped out too.

Luckily I found all the pieces and got the knob off the chassis shaft and was able to re-assemble the whole thing in my hand.Its a trick to start all those screws slightly and torque them down in series but I got it done ok. I was careful when I put the knob back on after getting the chassis recapped and reinstalled in the cabinet.

The 2 speed knob actually works very well with the locking device. It is a  very clever way to convert the tuning shaft to 2 speeds.