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Notes from the Service Shop A fictional series by John Reinicke Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 CHAPTER 4 The morning sun was joining a cool breeze coming in the window. The island of warm light filled the office area of the attic and again I was happy to spend time exploring the files of the Centerburg Radio Service shop. The shelves of antiquity stretched into the darkness. We had come down the night before and my wife was off exploring Amish country leaving me to explore the attic. At least I was able to get into the attic to open the windows before the sun had heated it up. The cool Fall day, and the breeze insured a comfortable stay. Marc had told me before I left, a Walmart had opened in Centerburg and it looked like it would be a long time before he would be able to sell the building, thus insuring I would be able to continue these trips for some time. I had discovered some old photo albums and what Clemens Mettmann, the proprietor of Centerburg Radio Service, had labeled a Log Book. The log book had sufficient notes it was more of a diary than a simple business log. The first one I opened happened to be from 1932. I sat back in the old oak arm chair to read. As I read, I tried to put things into perspective, and imagined the colors in the photo album. I could almost hear the voices ... 1932 had been a difficult year for anyone in business and the Radio business was no exception. Clem had been able to hold his own by a number of strategies. He, of course, was a radio dealer and he sold Crosley, Sparton and Zenith. As a Crosley dealer, he had also branched into sales of appliances. As the leading electrical technician in town, he had also branched into the sales and service of electrical apparatus. So if a local farmer wanted a motor, or a pump, or even a WindCharger, he could deal with Clem. Clem had even made a deal with the local Ford dealer to repair starters, coils, and generators. By expanding his field of interest and field of work, Clem was able to even expand his business. In fact, he had purchased a Model A truck to make deliveries and run service calls. Clem had already hired a local woman as a secretary. Darcy served as secretary, did the correspondence, helped with the book keeping, and tended the shop when Clem was out on a call. Darcy's skills had also expanded of necessity, and working for Clem was a lot more interesting than waiting tables at the local diner. Clem was also able to pay a little better. By the summer of '32, Clem realized he needed help in the shop as well as the office. He discovered he was spending more and more time in the evenings working on the backlog of shop work. When he found himself working on the Fourth of July, he decided the next day he would ask Darcy to run an ad in the "Clarion" and post a sign in the window - "Radio Mechanic Wanted." The sign and the ad introduced a new round of work into Clem's schedule. The day after the ad appeared, he came down stairs to find a crowd outside the shop when He opened. It took Darcy several minutes to make her way through the crowd and enter the shop to help. As they started asking "may I help you" it became instantly obvious Centerburg had a large number of aspiring Radio Mechanics! After only a few questions it was also obvious Economic conditions were a greater motivation than skill or aptitude. Darcy and Clem spent the morning taking names and doing some preliminary screening since most of the applicants had not the smallest knowledge of electricity much less radio. After a couple of days, Clem had reduced the list to a few names. There was a plant electrician, an auto mechanic with great mechanical skills and almost no knowledge of electricity, an itinerant Tinker who could sound knowledgeable on any technical subject and one high school student. It would be the high school student, Homer, that would get Clem's fancy. Homer's dad had been a farmer outside of town. The farm had been in the family since Homer's Great Great Granddad had homesteaded in 1827. However, by 1932 Homer's Dad, Jim, realized there was no way he could support his family on the income from the farm. Like a large number of Farmers that year, Jim lost the farm and moved into town. Jim was lucky in he managed to get a job at the Bessimer Plant. The job was in maintenance on the third trick and was just enough to make ends meet. Homer had two great aspirations. One, he wanted to go to college when he graduated from High School and be an Electrical Engineer. Two, he wanted to be a Radio Amateur. Both of these aspirations would require something more than his straight "A" academic record and his desire. Both would require income beyond the means of a night repairman, and, it was this, that brought Homer to apply with Clem. It appeared to Clem what Homer lacked in knowledge, would be more than offset by desire and ambition. I also suspect Clem had a strong desire to help and was sympathetic to a person of similar interest. Clem was less than 10 years older than Homer and he sensed genuine similar interests. Homer was hired and had the pleasure of removing the sign from the window himself. Homer would be able to work full time until school started and Clem started with training. Homer's first training would lead to a driver's license so he could use the truck to pick up parts, items for repair, and make deliveries of repaired items. This was very exciting for Homer, since most of his classmates would not have an opportunity to drive on a regular basis. Of course, Homer would also draw some of the more odious tasks about the shop such as sweeping and cleaning. Clem then started technical training. The first lesson would be on that fundamental skill of electrical work; Soldering. Homer would, of course, be a good student since he had practice at home with his own projects. The shop offered a great advantage, in the form of an electric soldering iron. On the farm, Homer had to use an old fashioned iron heated on the stove. This made temperature control difficult and made for projects on the kitchen table, which did not "sit" particularly well with his mother. She objected to the solder blobs on the stove and the blobs and burns on the table and probably questioned the practical requirement for the effort in the first place. Clemens opened with an explanation of what was required. I can almost hear the faint German accent. "Homer, do you know what it means to wet a surface?" Homer replied, "I think it means the liquid will tend to soak into the surface, like water on a cotton shirt." "That is the general idea.", answered Clem, "Now what happens if the surface is not wet?" Homer immediately got the idea, "The liquid will bead up like water on a block of canning wax." "Good, Homer, now what does this have to do with Soldering?" Homer had to think about this one for a while. As he thought back to his projects, he began to get the idea. Clem did not wait for it all to sink in and went on to explain that if soldering is done properly, the molten solder will "wet" the surface and not bead up. Clem explained further the cause of not wetting the surface was oxidation on the surface. "Now Homer, how does one make sure the surface is free of oxidation?" The reply, "By making sure the surface is bright and shiny!" "Correct" replied Clem, "and the flux will insure the oxide does not reform when we solder." "Also, the flux will tend to remove surface dirt and generally clean the joint." Clem pointed out the reason you can not solder aluminum is it always has a surface layer of oxidation that happens to be the same color as the metal. Clem continued, "Homer, on really tough jobs, such as an automobile radiator, you need to use a really aggressive acid flux like Ruby Fluid because it does such a good job of cleaning. But you must always be sure to clean it off with water since if it stays it will continue to "eat" the metal. This is why we NEVER use acid flux on electrical things. The flux will damage most components and the water can certainly harm electrical things. Acid flux will also conduct electricity, which is clearly not a good idea." The lesson continued, "Does oxide make for a good electrical connection?", asked Clem. Homer looked as if he were being taken for a fool, "Of course not!" Clem smiled and responded, "Quite so, and it does not make for good conduction of heat either. This is why the tip of the iron must be kept clean and tinned -- covered with solder. The solder will keep the hot tip from oxidizing. The solder also transfers the heat to the junction we want to solder and the idea is to heat the object, and then apply solder. Solder should be applied to the joint, not the iron. Since the solder itself will tend to oxidize with the high temperature, we use a damp rag to wipe off the tip from time to time. Then just dip the iron in the flux (it was in a tin) and apply fresh solder. Every once in a while, when the tip becomes pitted, we will have to file a new flat surface." In those days, solder did not have a rosin flux core, so it was necessary to brush the flux on the joint first, before trying to solder. We have the advantage of rosin core solder. We also have the advantage of iron clad tips, so we don't have to file and can just replace the tip when it is really bad. So Homer learned a good solder joint will wet the surface of the metal being joined and will be bright and shinny silver. If the joint is not hot enough, or if the joint is moved before the solder sets, the result will look dull and grainy. This is known as a cold solder joint which is not reliable, electrically or mechanically. A few days later, Clem was walking through the back of the shop. Homer was working diligently replacing a volume control in a Philco. As Clem walked by he inquired, "Where are you planning to put the lock washer on that control?" Homer already knew not to respond as if this were a dumb question, since Clem usually had good reason for asking. "I was planning to put it under the nut where lockwashers usually go." Clem wrinkled his nose, since Homer had lost track of where it came from, and responded "It is true, lockwashers usually go under nuts. However, in this case, you will notice the control does not have "ears" to fit into holes in the chassis to keep it from rotating when it is used. So the lockwasher should be on the inside, between the control and the chassis to prevent rotation. Only the nut should be on the outside. If you look carefully on the inside, you will see a mark where the lockwasher bit into the metal. If you look at the old control you will find a small, matching mark. Also, if the lockwasher is not on the inside, the shaft of the control will be too long and the knob won't be in the right place." Homer paused and looked. Sure enough, there were the marks on the inside of the chassis and on the old control. As Homer looked up, Clem was grinning since the lesson had sunk in. Clem knew, lockwashers would be in the right place from then on. A grumble of hunger brought me back to the present, and I looked at my watch to discover it was nearly lunch time and I only had a couple of minutes to meet my wife at the diner on the square. I put the log book back where I had found it for future visits and made my way through the square in the brilliant sunshine.
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