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Cobra 29 NW LTD Classic repair help needed.

whiteastro

Sr. Member
Feb 22, 2019
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I picked up this radio in a yard sale for $5.00 because I figured the after-market Cobra mic. was worth that much. It had no power cord or bracket but I have extras. I put it on the bench and fired it up to see what problems it had and everything worked fine and it sounded good but found the meter light wouldn't light and the meter needle was stuck half way. I took it to my garage and removed both covers and sprayed it with contact cleaner and blew it out with gentle air which made the meter needle drop back where it should be. Cleaned a little grub from the circuit board with alcohol & Qtip then put it back together. Back to the bench for testing. Found everything working except the meter light still not lighting ( which popped on later ) and the meter needle got stuck half way again. So is there any tricks to UN-sticking the meter needles because I don't want to spend $20.00 for a new meter which looks like a pain to change anyway. I'm only going to Flip the radio anyway in another yard sale because I already have 2 more Cobra 29s. It would make someone a great basic radio if they weren't a meter reading freak. It dead-keys at 4 on the lower channels and 5 on the upper channels with not great swing but the modulation is 100%. And like always has that great Cobra receive and sound. Plus all segments of the channel display are working fine. Thanks in advance ! Mike
 

Remove, open the meter and check.
Might be back plastic melted because of backlight bulb heat.
Might be electrostatic on front smeter window.
Mike
Thanks and I think your right about electrostatic on the front smeter window because I ran the radio for a while this morning to see what it would do and I found the needle actually moved up a little. So I shut the radio off and wiped my finger across the window right to left and seen the needle drop almost to the bottom. I'll leave the radio off for awhile and later see if I can get it to drop to the bottom. If it does I need a trick to demagnetize the window, plus it appears to me the needle is closes to the window but that might be my old eyes. LOL
 
I'll try hooking a ground wire to the radio and see if I can drain off static. I'm a Hopeful Dreamer.
I think what Mike may have meant was static on the meter lens. If it's static, a wipe with a dryer sheet will eliminate the static.
I've had the static mess with me on external watt meters before. A quick wipe and the needle went back to its place.

Mike, you can correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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Simply rubbing a dry finger across the clear plastic lens of a meter can place a static charge onto it, and pull the meter up above its zero setting, and hold it there.

Rubbing a wet finger across it tends to dissipate the static charge. If that's what holds the pointer at mid-scale, you'll see it drop back to zero.

The meter's body inside the radio will typically reveal a tiny screw inside, usually covered with clear tape. This is the pointer's pivot point, and the screw sets the tension on the pointer's shaft.

Takes a tiny jeweler's screwdriver, and it may be locked in place with a drop of clear enamel. If you can pry it loose, a quarter turn counterclockwise or half turn frequently frees up a frozen pointer.

Simply shaking the radio side-to-side may reveal if the pointer is seized up. Should rock to and fro if it's working. And if it won't return to the zero end of the scale, it's most likely seized.

73
 

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