Hammond M-2 Whiskers

As I was working on my M-2 I had a good view of the tone wheel generator in bright lighting.  I thought that the tone wheel generator chassis was dusty but instead it was covered in whiskers.  Zinc whiskers are crystalline structures that grow in the shape of a thin hairs emerging outward from a zinc surface.  Every metal surface of the tone wheel generator is covered.  The exact mechanism for whisker formation is unknown.  More information on zinc whiskers can be found at http://nepp.nasa.gov/whisker/other_whisker/index.htm

 

This image and close-up is of the tone wheel generator rear metal chassis.

 

This image and close-up is another area of the tone wheel generator rear metal chassis.

This image is along the top of the tone wheel generator rear metal chassis.

This image is in the center of the tone wheel generator rear metal chassis.

This image is down inside the tone wheel generator metal chassis.

 

 

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