Cobra 19XS Faceplate Removal

[Midlander853]

Hi all,

I just picked up a Cobra 19XS from eBay and wanted to change the dead S meter bulb. Any ideas of how to get the front faceplate off? I've removed the 4 screws in the sides holding it on but it's not budging. Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[TM86]

You're probably not going to like this...

The 19XS was designed to be disposable. As in Cobra didn't want you to fix it. So they did something nasty. The front plate with the radio's name on it is glued to the plastic piece behind it. If you can get that off without damaging it too much, you can then remove the nuts holding the shafts for the channel selector, squelch, and volume. Once that's done you should be able to remove the plastic bezel.

I say "should" because I haven't checked if the back of the bezel is glued to anything.

The 19XS was my first 40 channel radio. Once someone told which pot to turn to crank up the modulation I was hooked for life on this hobby.

 

[Midlander853]

The 19XS was designed to be disposable. As in Cobra didn't want you to fix it. So they did something nasty. The front plate with the radio's name on it is glued to the plastic piece behind it.

Not the worst thing I could hear but...close

I did get to looking this afternoon on the web and it seemed to confirm that Cobra did this to many of their radios - in fact many CB manufacturers did. One way that removal COULD be attempted would be with a heat gun, a blow dryer on high heat, etc. Either way, it'll be a challenge for sure, but I don't think impossible. I've seen a YouTuber who replaced the S-meter bulb to LED white and the 7 segments to blue. Really cool and nice but I'm not gonna replace anything unless it absolutely needs it.

I did open up the radio for a PCB/component check and it does look like the faceplate is solid on the back. So the plate more than likely is glued to it. I'll have a go at it sometime this week and see what happens!

It IS an amazing little radio that I'll probably put in my car! And it was less than $25 with shipping! It's caked in dirt but a simple clean should help.

 

[Midlander853]

So another question...

Receive seems kinda weak on this rig. Transmit is just fine. I can only pick up anyone local and the S meter only works when a signal is local. Background noise isn't making it budge. Not even Channel 6 comes booming in. Anyone know if and when a recap might be needed? There seems to be a few questionable caps in this radio, one has bits of the outer coating scraped off. I already cleaned out the volume and squelch pots.

 

[Cable Guy]

I recap 25-30 years from date of manufacture, sooner if some caps are failing from leakage, domed tops, etc. I don't know how old it is but it probably only needs a good alignment.

 

[Midlander853]

I recap 25-30 years from date of manufacture, sooner if some caps are failing from leakage, domed tops, etc. I don't know how old it is but it probably only needs a good alignment.

Got it, the rig's from 1985 so I wasn't sure if it was due or not. I'll look into realignment, I found the service manual online. I may come back and post some pics of the board when I get home this evening.