At 07:54 PM 2/13/05 -0500, Fred Stankovich wrote:

The first attempt at refinishing my signal relay was a bust. At Radio Shack when I asked if they had anything smaller than 22 gauge wire the salesman said "No". Then I saw a package of "enameled magnet wire" on the wall that contained 22 gauge, 25 gauge and 30 gauge enameled wire. Exactly what I was looking for! I was sure that the original electro magnet was 30 gauge.

First we drilled out the rivets holding the contact plate. Then we ground down the fiberboard end of the electro-magnet to give some room to maneuver. After pulling off all the old wire I went to True Value Hardware and found just what I was looking for to feed the wire. 3/32 x .014 round copper tubing that I cut with a Dremel to about a 4 inch length. I threaded the wire through the tube and then started winding. I put about 12 layers of wire on the magnet. I took my time winding but it still only took about 20 minutes.

As per original I soldered a piece of heavier gauge wire to the ends of the 30 gauge and made the connection to the unit. I covered the winding with masking tape. Then I reinstalled the contact plate with small screws and lock washers. I crossed my fingers that it would not get too hot on the test bench. It worked just fine with very little temperature rise over 2 minutes. It was a fun project and saved me about $120.

Regards,
Fred