Vintage Sun Tune Up, Testers, Scopes, Analyzer, Distributor Thread

found this Snap On unit at an antique store today for a reasonable price, plugged it in and heard it struggle, very nearly bought it anyway..

 

Finally got my 820 fired up! A few bulbs out in the meters, which is no bigee...... The screen actually warmed up, and started to show, but only on raster........(flat line)I let it sit for a while, 15 mins, and then it blew the breaker strip...... I reset the breaker on the machine, and now it instantly pops........ Something is worn/touching.....I haven't dug into it yet, and only a visual dig in first.........Looks cool, and have all the accessories, but id'e still like to get the screen up and going........Before I electrocute myself, i'll be asking..........

 

I picked up this Sun 400 and cabinet.. unfortunately I gambled and it doesn’t work. The unit will spin the dizzy. No flash. And non of the gauges work .. I installed a D and AA battery in the panel. And the tach will pull the needle to the left when you put it into calibrate . Aside from Paramont , is there anyone who’s good with these to help diagnose it ?

 

This unit came from a high school shop class

 

"Condenser resistance"? What would be the function and purpose of that?

 

My 504 dist machine has developed a clunking, knocking noise. Belt and drive cone are ok. Any thoughts as to where I might start looking? Thanks

 

There's bound to be some bearings in that drive assembly. Considering the minimum age of those machines, any grease in them may have solidified or gotten some dirt in them.

 

Thanks. I guess I'll just to have to tear into it. It's weird it was ok the last time I used it and started making noise. Guess that's how it goes.

 

Is the noise there all the time or only when a distributor is mounted or not mounted?

 

Noisy any time the distributor drive is rotating. Distributor installed or not.

 

This might be something to look into.

http://paramountd.com/parts.html

Scroll down a little from the top of the page and check out the "Idler Wheel Kit". Sounds like the rubber on the wheel can deteriorate and develop flat-spots which could make it rumble and growl.

 

Thank you. I'll check it out. Wasn't quite sure where to begin looking.

 

That comes from someone cranking the speed control without the motor running. It puts a flat spot on the wheel that rides on the drive. That was one of the fist things we were told never to do.