Paper capacitor and Hallicrafters S-40A notes
I always consider 'leaky' to mean that they are somewhere along the road to
'short' and just haven't arrived yet. Leakage, particularly on HT circuits,
will ultimately lead to heating and then is just a matter of time.
You are certainly right in saying that changing the leaky capacitors would be
the correct way to go from the technical viewpoint.
However I adopt a different phylosophy. I use the HT-40 (or other boatanchors
radios) for maybe a few hours per year in total, just for fun. For normal
operations, I use recent equipment.
So, the risk of failure caused by the HT-40 leaky capacitors is moderate. On the
other hand, if I would replace the leaky capacitors, I would have the certainty
(and not just the risk) of spoiling the originality of the radio.
So, in the end I prefer to leave the radio as it is, as long as it works
acceptably.
73
Tony I0JX
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