Just bought a Cornell Dubilier Capacitor Analyer Model BF-50

[Tube TV]

Mine has alligator clips and banana plugs. Leads are about 2 foot long.

I think the shroud is someones add on, mine doesn't have one.


Edit. I seen the pics Yeah I also think this is a capacitor. No clue on the ratings though. If I recall, when it's working the eye will open and close if there's leakage. If the leakage is slight it would pulse once every second or so, and if it was very leaky it would pulse rapidly. I think mine was working on the leakage test. It's a shame I don't have it in front of me or I would take some measurments off it.

Heathkit's early C1 and C2 testers had much the same idea using a neon bulb.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Tube TV

Mine has alligator clips and banana plugs. Leads are about 2 foot long.

I think the shroud is someones add on, mine doesn't have one.


Edit. I seen the pics Yeah I also think this is a capacitor. No clue on the ratings though. If I recall, when it's working the eye will open and close if there's leakage. If the leakage is slight it would pulse once every second or so, and if it was very leaky it would pulse rapidly. I think mine was working on the leakage test. It's a shame I don't have it in front of me or I would take some measurments off it.

Heathkit's early C1 and C2 testers had much the same idea using a neon bulb.

Ok, thanks, I'll just have to make up some of my own test leads using hookup wire, a couple of banana plugs and some alligator clips.

As for the C-D Part 21377, according to a thread on the ARF that Jr. had posted a link to in here, they were saying that that part was some sort of flasher module that utilized a neon bulb or some sort of gas discharge tube assembly that had to be sealed in a dark tube because of it being a "light dependent" circuit, but the person that was explaining that on there had admitted that it was just a guess on his part since the service/owners manual doesn't give any additional information about that part other than a part number, making me wonder if it wasn't some sort of proprietary part that Cornell-Dubilier didn't want others to duplicate.

[Tube TV]

You'd think if it was a cap that they would have just listed it, but they kept it kind of cryptic as to what it is, and don't have it listed on the parts list for resistors and capacitors, just on the schematic.

I'm trying to remember how mine worked on leakage and it seemed like the eye flashed open and closed. If this was the case, a gas discharge tube, or a neon bulb would make sense.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Tube TV

You'd think if it was a cap that they would have just listed it, but they kept it kind of cryptic as to what it is, and don't have it listed on the parts list for resistors and capacitors, just on the schematic.

I'm trying to remember how mine worked on leakage and it seemed like the eye flashed open and closed. If this was the case, a gas discharge tube, or a neon bulb would make sense.

I'm guessing that's what it is, because like I said the ARF forum thread linked to here by Jr. suggested that might of been what it was.

But like I said when I was testing some capacitors I had on hand (including some of the ones I took out of the cap checker itself) it didn't seem like it was working like it should of...

Although like I said, it doesn't help matters any that my selection of eye tubes I have on hand are crap (they are very weak and don't glow very bright and aren't very responsive.)

[vortalexfan]

I was able to source from a friend of mine (a fellow antique radio collector who lives locally) a NOS 6E5 Eye Tube for my capacitor checker and now its working as it should.
I checked several capacitors (new and old ones) and the cap checker worked just like its supposed to.

[Tube TV]

Right on glad it's working. Was I correct that the eye flashes with leakage?

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Tube TV

Right on glad it's working. Was I correct that the eye flashes with leakage?

Yes it does, but not a flash like in the sense of like flashing Christmas lights, but more like the eye tube flashes open and shut depending on how much leakage there is.

[Tube TV]

That's what I remember mine doing too. Glad you got it going.
I'll have to ge mine going. I should have all the caps to replace the wax papers now, and I think I've got enough Electrolytics on hand.

[vortalexfan]

Yes, I actually used it to get my Zenith Trans-Oceanic Radio recapped and I also used it to help recap my 1935 GE, it turns out that the capacitors in my Trans-Oceanic while they were "bumblebee" caps the majority of them were still good yet, none of them measured shorted and measured very little leakage. There was one cap that measured "shorted" (eye tube stayed open) and that was the capacitor going between the cathode of the 1L6 tube to ground (cathode bypass cap) which would explain why my radio liked to fade in and out sometimes with distant stations, seeing as the 1L6 tube is the RF Amplifier tube and if anything electrical related to that goes bonkers then your radio usually starts fading in and out.