Cordomatic Repair

[stonesfan68]

I picked up this Cordomatic reel at an estate sale today ($3.25). The cord is shot, but overall the reel is in great condition.



I popped off the cover easily enough, but now I don't know how to get the actual reel removed from the case. I tried to gently lift it out using my fingers, but I hesitate to use anything stronger for fear of bending the metal.

Has anyone taken one of these apart that can give me some pointers?

 

[stonesfan68]

After giving this some thought I decided that nothing lost, nothing gained and started to ponder the teardown of this device.

If you look at the picture of the reel with the cover off you can just see three little metal tabs. The tabs are holding down the round plastic part that contains the conductors. I pried back the tabs, and then pried up the plastic piece. I didn't pry very hard- this plastic was made in 9/1971 so it seemed brittle.





Turning over the removed lid, the wire enters the reel via a plastic holder, and the ground wire is attached to a rivet. I used a plastic pry tool to pop off the piece. I clipped the wires, and used my rotary tool to cut off the rivet head.



So now I have the thing apart and need to go by some #18 wire to replace the old cord.



The wires are soldered on to the reel. Will a small, pencil type soldering iron be sufficient to remove the solder and install the new wire?

 

[Zeeman]

Did you ever complete this? I could use some help with the spring tension on mine. Thanks.