Cleaned my old Ferisol counter, because well, it was extremely dirty and crusty.
Now I can touch the control without the fear of getting god knows what germs/virus/bacteria/disease...
Top cover was littered with huge black marker writings. Alcool was useless, so I resorted to using the nuclear weapons... acetone. So yes of course it softened the paint and made it all goey/rubbery, so you have to know when to stop before it's too late... luckily the paint appears to be quite think/resistant, even the "texture" survived (maybe it's actually stamped into the metal ?!
![Confused :-//](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/confused0024.gif.pagespeed.ce.5xOqKkq0Co.gif)
)
I could not make it perfect of course, but it's way better, much more acceptable... will make it easier to wait until I can repaint it to make it shiny brand new again.
Sticker atop the right side of the chromed bezel now removed.
Although it doesn't show, the chromed handles and all the metal work now look much less dull and pitted. Up close it's much better, but nonen of it shows on the pictures, sadly...
It's amazing what the green scratchy side of the kitchen sponge can do. Just.. amazing.
Now it's clean and better looking... but still far from GOOD looking, up close anyway. Main problem are all the fine scratches (I guess some were made by me with the sctoch-brite, I admit... but not all of them
![Wink ;)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xwink.gif.pagespeed.ic.cldandycH0.png)
), as well as the lacquer that comes off here and there. I managed to catch that in a couple macro shots below. That shows just how "yellowed" the lacquer is.
So in order to take the cosmetic restoration of this counter a step farther, and as an opportunity/excuse to practice/experiment/learn new restoration techniques.... the plan is to get pull the front panel, strip if of all its controls so I am left with the bare, flat front panel I could easily work on. Then remove the lacquer completely, which would remove the yellowing as well as the millions scratches. Then relacquer it.
So need to figure out teh best tools and consumables to do that well, as painlessly, quickly and safely as possible. That is, without risking of damaging the black prints underneath the lacquer...
From the macro shots below, one can see that there is a lacquer-free spot where the markings are naked... yet perfectly intact. So looks like the markings are very resistant, but the lacquer comes off quite easily. So that's perfect.... gives me hope.
At any rate I have obviously the donour counter to practice on !
![Phew :phew:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/phew.gif.pagespeed.ce.n2uLOVFYMP.gif)
The display colour filter needs polishing too, there is a very big scratch on it
![Sad :(](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xsad.gif.pagespeed.ic.L3FGyzQrjB.png)
Worse case, if I can't polish it out, I could use the filter from the donour, but it's red not orange... I do like the red one but I prefer Orange I think, looks more natural for a Nixie.
What's more... the front panel has a few dents underneath the bottom left corner of the display window.. I can't make that go away. Well, I guess once the lacquer will be remove, I could try working the dents a bit to lessen the pain, but I doubt I could just sand them down as I assume it would destroy the finish and it would make it stand out. So I would need to sand the entire panel down, but of course I can do that because of all the markings...
So I am thinking of using the panel from the donour instead, which does not have dents.... however what it does have is a completely worn out/99.99% gone marking above the " Gate" Neon bulb. There is "Gate" text to be seen any more....
I guess that could be an excuse to try to recreate this marking, another useful restoration technique I need to master if I want to restore my type 575 Tek curve tracer as good as I would like to....
What's more... oh, I have finally found info about the FRB card connectors for the Nixie (and all) boards in this counter.
The guy from "Electropuce" did get back to me but he had no info nor new connectors nor an OEM card extender. What he did have to offer was Nixe board (along with it's mating female/chassis socket), devoid of its Nixie tube, fr 25 Euros, plus no doubt 5 Eyuros shipping on top. So 30 Euros for used board minus its Nixie tube... when I got a complete counter for 80 Euros ? I think he is smoking something funny. Well, at least he did try to help, granted, so I did thank him none the less, because I am not a monster.
The saviour came from my old friend that saw and did it all. The privilege of age I guess...
He managed to pull the datasheet for these connectors !
![Cheesy :D](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xcheesy.gif.pagespeed.ic.KPzuH4J-TG.png)
It's a 'K' series from FRB. Well, actually he said he pulled that datasheet from a 150 page period FRB catalog, entirely devoted to the 'K' series... so my connector is a 'K', but there are many more 'K' connectors that are not like mine... so the full designation is needed here.
PDF attached below.
So I will try to find some "new" connectors for sale on the net. If unsuccessful (most likely) or too expensive, I will resort to pulling a pair of connectors from the donour. It's a donour after all, meh
![Confused :-//](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/confused0024.gif.pagespeed.ce.5xOqKkq0Co.gif)
That's it for today, you can now resume your normal vintage radio activities. I will be monitoring the stability of your radio tuning circuitry with my counter
![Cool 8)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xcool.gif.pagespeed.ic.cOxV6sPNRd.png)
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/?action=dlattach;attach=1443541;image)