Many years ago I purchased a GE SuperRadio. It was considered an "expensive" radio, but I think it was the
best portable AM/FM radio ever made. Because it has external connectors, you can pick up AM stations
thousands of miles from your location with a decent antenna.
For decades it functioned perfectly. A few days ago the volume control was damaged in a freak accident. I
opened the case and was immediately impressed by the construction. All the components look brand new!
There are three square pots soldered to the circuit board for treble, bass, and volume. Pot number four is a
traditional round unit. It's fastened through a hole in the board with a control nut.
There are seven guide wheels for the dial cord. The shaft for the round pot supports the two larger drive wheels.
I have a spool of replacement dial cord, but that is not the problem. Pulling the board so I can unsolder the
damaged volume pot will make this SuperRadio unusable.
It's a classic "Catch-22," if you know what I mean. The drive wheels are buried under the board (solder side).
Pulling the board will instantly remove the dial cord from the wheels. When the board is reinstalled you cannot
run new dial cord, because the wheels are inaccessible.
When this radio was assembled in the factory, several of the plastic structural components must have been
glued or heat sealed after the dial cord was wrapped around the wheels. Obviously, reversing this process
is impossible.
I can think of a possible workaround, but it's not something I really want to try. If I can find an ultra tiny
cut-off wheel for a Dremel tool, I could cut the volume control pins. Using conductive adhesive, I might be
able to bond a replacement volume pot to the cut pins left on the board. The cut-off wheel would have to
be extremely small so it doesn't damage nearby components. Maybe 1/8" maximum. Manufacturers of
custom jewelery use tiny cut-off wheels. The cost for this type of precision bit is probably more than I
want to spend.
If you can think of a more rational solution, please let me know.