SiloScience
04-04-2009, 10:24 PM
Hello. I recently bought a 1962 Hammond A102 organ in B+ condition and as I've been working on this and that, I've noticed the main transformer on the preamp has been dripping wax for a good while. After cracking open the reverb amp I see that it is dripping also.
Is this leaking normal for the era? As you can see the preamp hangs inverted like a combo amp....
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk101/SiloScience/Other%20Builds/IMGP2425.jpg
And you can see in the pic below the yellow wax coming from the low end of the large trxfrmr. It's also all over the power amp which sits directly below the preamp. The reverb amp is on the left, it's main trxfrmr leaks wax onto the shield plate under the amp chassis. (BTW .. there's 18 tubes in this Hammond).
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk101/SiloScience/Keyboard%20Stuff/IMGP2613.jpg
And also ... how do I go about converting the power cord to a 3 prong? I mean, how did they ground these old things? It has a non-polarized 2 conductor plug, and when I checked the schematic over I couldn't tell which leg to connect to hot, neutral, and ground when I went to put a new power cord on it. I connected up a 3 conductor cord but before I connected the chassis ground wire I measured it just for kicks. 67 volts! WTF? From the chassis of the tonewheel generator to ground I read 67volts ac. I'm a bit confused. I know I may have to get ahold of a Hammond tech or check with someone at a Hammond forum, but I thought I'd ask. Sometimes there are standards with older gear that some of you are familiar with .. it never hurts to ask the dumb questions.
Thank you. Brian.
Is this leaking normal for the era? As you can see the preamp hangs inverted like a combo amp....
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk101/SiloScience/Other%20Builds/IMGP2425.jpg
And you can see in the pic below the yellow wax coming from the low end of the large trxfrmr. It's also all over the power amp which sits directly below the preamp. The reverb amp is on the left, it's main trxfrmr leaks wax onto the shield plate under the amp chassis. (BTW .. there's 18 tubes in this Hammond).
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk101/SiloScience/Keyboard%20Stuff/IMGP2613.jpg
And also ... how do I go about converting the power cord to a 3 prong? I mean, how did they ground these old things? It has a non-polarized 2 conductor plug, and when I checked the schematic over I couldn't tell which leg to connect to hot, neutral, and ground when I went to put a new power cord on it. I connected up a 3 conductor cord but before I connected the chassis ground wire I measured it just for kicks. 67 volts! WTF? From the chassis of the tonewheel generator to ground I read 67volts ac. I'm a bit confused. I know I may have to get ahold of a Hammond tech or check with someone at a Hammond forum, but I thought I'd ask. Sometimes there are standards with older gear that some of you are familiar with .. it never hurts to ask the dumb questions.
Thank you. Brian.