Dr. Dremel and the Kodaslide: Part 2

[P3D Elliott Swanson <elliott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Addendum to previous post:

When hacksawing the back plate from the Wollensak lens housing, don't put 
the barrel of the housing in the vise. Put one of the tabs in the vise, 
(working from the top) and saw down, using the backplate itself as a saw 
guide. 

I know, this sounds obvious, but some people don't have experience with 
hand tools, and putting pressure on the lens housing would deform it 
enough so you couldn't screw in the lens retaining ring.

---------------------------------------------
Same day surgery for the Kodaslide 2 moulded lamp holder...


NOTE: This info should be considered as supplemental to How to Maintain, 
Repair, and Improve Your Kodaslide 1 & 2 by George Themelis. You should 
not mess with a Kodaslide 2, worth $150+, without reading the book first.

George sells the books, and no, we are not business partners. It's simply 
an essential piece of stereo information.

Some lamp holders may not be repairable, but I would say they're in the
minority. Keep in mind that the following is for informational purposes
only and describes what I did. Page 29 of George's Kodaslide manual
describes his approach which is different than the one I used, but works
fine-- also his photos give you a good idea of the internal layout of the
holder. Remember (and George warns about this also) you're working with
high voltage, and you can hurt yourself or someone else if you repair the
unit incorrectly. If you have the least concern here, just buy a PS-1
power supply from Dr. T and go to low voltage operation. You definitely
don't want to hand someone a "hot"  viewer. 

However, if you can do it, fixing the original unit keeps all the 
original functionality of the Kodaslide 2 in place, and having everything 
controled from the viewer is a very nice feature.

This is the minor surgery option to the technique shown on page 29 of 
George's book:

1. Check the condition of the plug/lamp holder for heat damage or signs of
shorting. Do a continuity check with a voltmeter or using a battery & lamp
style circuit checker to be sure that the inside wires are ok. Be a little
suspicious, because you don't want the whole load carried on the one
remaining strand of wire.  If A-OK, continue. if not, you have no choice
but to toss it and either scratch build a replacement or find another one.
You can also use George's technique and split the rubber holder and see if
you could salvage it with radical surgery. Also, it would be relatively
easy to build one of these things, or something that worked like it, and
there are some examples on page 33 and 34 of George's book. Myself, I'd
make a urethane resin casting to replace it because resin is sturdy and
electrically safe, but this approach needs some specialized skills. 

2. Cut off the cord if it's still there. Leave 1/4 inch of it if you have 
that option available (I didn't on the one I fixed-- it had frayed and 
broken flush with the back of the holder on one side.)

3. Starting from the back of the holder (back being the end where the 
cord attaches) saw (razor saw) or slice off a section 3/4 of an inch 
long, and 1/8 inch deep. It's like slicing a piece of bread off the top 
of the loaf. Remove this piece.

4. Use an xacto knife and cut two parallel slits in your cleared area, above 
where the cord is buried in the rubber. Using a small pair of pliers, 
Pull the good wire up through the slit, working gently and slowly, until 
you have each wire sticking up straight above the bottom plug area.

5. Clip the wires at 1/4 inch and tin them with a soldering iron. This is 
essential. Use just enough heat to tin the wires, don't over heat the holder.

6. Tin the wires on your replacement ac cord, also with 1/4 inch of 
exposed wire. Then solder the replacement cord _to the front, or lamp 
side_ of the sticking up holder wires. This is important because the 
wires will be bent back at a 90 degree angle later.

7. Have a good solder join for each wire? Then bend them back against the
holder. Bare wires look a little unsafe? They are, but that gets taken
care of later. 

8. Cut a notch at the back of the plug in the holder. This is the thing
that sticks out on the bottom that connects to the Kodaslide base.
Careful, and don't remove any more rubber than necessary to create a small
flat spot. then use a nylon cable tie, the smallest size, which is about
.010 inches wide and 4 inches long, and secure the power cord to the
holder, with the locking block of the cable tie to the top. This will look
like a ring around the rearmost part of the holder. Clip the excess on the
cable tie. 

9. Rough up the outer surface of the holder. Then seal up your work
with Permatex Black Silicone. This will form an insulated barrier between
the wires as well as covering and isolating the wires from being touched.
Permatex won't actually stick to the cable tie, which is nylon, but it
will keep it secured. Watch where the silicone goes so you don't
interefere with the case's pin (top section of case) that keeps the holder
secured when the case is reassembled. While working, always check for 
necessary clearances.

10. Let the permatex dry, then reassemble and test your work. It may be
necessary to use needle nose pliers to bend the holder's plug contacts for
a tighter fit. Because I used a heaver gauge wire than the original cord,
I had to do a tiny amount of enlarging to the slot where the wire exits
the Kodaslide case. Clean the contacts inside and out with sandpaper or
whatever you usually use. 

This technique keeps the structural integrity of the lamp housing part of
the holder intact.  If the state of deterioration requires you to split
the entire housing (see page 29 in George's Kodaslide book), you probably
ought to use a couple of cable ties around the lamp  section of the
holder to secure the halves together, as well as glue or Permatex. 

No this repair is not pretty, but who's going to be looking inside this
thing anyway, except through the front where the lenses are? It is strong
and seems to be safe. 

No warranties expressed or implied. For informational purposes only. Do 
this at your own risk.

--Elliott


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End of PHOTO-3D Digest 1351
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