Recapped the Admiral! - Still having issues...

[RitchieMars]

I'm not sure what to make of my pots... I get a pretty smooth movement on my analog meter when I turn the volume control up and down, but I get so much weird static and pops out of my speaker regardless. I replaced that resistor I thought was acting up, but when I powered it up, I got this repeating tapping noise... the tap,tap,tap I've been getting lately as if someone where tapping the stylus on a record player. It taps more slowly on broadcast, and speeds up to machine gun speed on shortwave and phono.

I was getting some microphonics by tapping the chassis and I thought it might be a tube. I tapped the 2nd Audio Det A.V.C. tube ( 6SQ7 ) and got the static to pop in and out and make weird noises. Swapping this tube with the other 6SQ7 created a constant buzz. And when I turned up the volume, it's dead until halfway and then I got loud static, unchanging in volume. I turn a little louder, it goes quiet. Yet the pot seems to read fine on the ohmeter.

Lastly, something weird happened. After I powered up the radio and powered it back down a few times, trying these tubes. I put everything back in place once more and turned it back on. Nothing happened... no dial lamps, no heaters glowing, nothing. I flipped the switch back off, tried it again. Nothing. Finally I unplugged it, plugged it back up, and tried again, and still nothing. I turn the switch off, then on again... and it seems to turn on but I start hearing this "plink" sound near my transformer so I kill the power.

I feared it was either my transformer, or my 6X5 blowing and popping from the arching inside the tube. So I turn the chassis back over and power it up again just to make sure, and it powers up fine. The 6X5 is fine.

What in the world...?