grundig: KS620 Ch= HF45;

I recently bought a working KS620U that had trouble tuning past a certain point of the FM dial.  So I took the chassis out and used deoxit to try and loosen the tuning knobs and wheels.  Unfortunately, the string that transfers the knob turn to a new freqency on the radio snapped  (it was difficult to turn).  Here's a picture of the snapped string:

Does anyone know where to get replacement string like this?  I bought a nylon guitar string to try, but it doesn't seem to have enough friction when around the tuning dial.

Thanks in advance!

craig.

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So after a little more research, I think that this is called a dial cord and it seems that in the US there is one place that has already been listed called Settle Fabrics.  Is that correct from someone who has replaced their dial cord before?

craig.

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Linen (or replacement) Fly Fishing line is perfect and comes in different sizes. I have also successfully used button hole thread, builders tiling cord (stretched to get a straight line while tiling) and crab fishing string (heavier cords) all work too.

It might seem counter-intuitive, but the cord should be waxed. An ordinary paraffin "wax" candle is fine. Correct tension is important. If the cord spring is too stretched the spindle sees too much load and spins. If the cord is too loose the turns on the spindle will tangle. The spindle must be very clean and smooth as the usual two turns approximately need to be sliding or the cord "walks up" out of the tapered part.

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Thanks Michael.  Very useful tips and it's nice to know that there are so many options available.  Now I suspect that I could probably even get the guitar string to work if I got the tension right.

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Monofilament nylon is usually too slippy, But there are steel drives that can be replaced with same diameter steel guitar wire. There are a few Philips Models that use both kinds of cord!

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Thanks for the guidance, Michael.  I went to the local fabric shop, bought some button string, lubed it up a bit with wax from a candle and installed.  Everything worked out well with the only trouble getting the string maze together correctly, but now I see what you mean by the tension being important.  The spring expanded about 15% in order to get everything tied together correctly and that expansion amount matches the other one in the radio so I feel confident that it's gonna last as well.

Great success and thanks again for the accurate answer!

craig.

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