Clean mean speaker frame
 

That looks great! and should make it easier for them to re-cone.

Glass of glue anyone?:nono:

It would be fun to visit one of those re-coning shops.

Buzz

My re-coner found a tear between the voice coil and spider that set him back a little. I hope to have it back in a couple weeks.

I'm about half done reassembling the radio.
A few of the components values don't quite match any of the revisions shown at philcoradio.com.
For example the resistor with the white body in the upper-right is 90K, but it's 100K on the schematic.
Also the mica cap tho the left if it sure looks like 2000pF or is it 1200pF ? The schematic has 1400 pF.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/...d48279df_b.jpg

I did some hunting around online and found another that looks identical to mine. It's so nice to have an all original reference.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77...erchassis2.jpg

I'm in the homestretch (I hope). I reinstalled the tone control, cleaned the band switch and found a new volume/power switch.
The one that came with the set was 1M but should be 350K.
This 450K is the closest I could find and it has a really smooth action. If it works out well, I'll have to cut down the shaft.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5141/...39b6f29c_z.jpg

All 3 grid cap leads need to be replaced including this one on an IF can.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/...97e66cd2_z.jpg

Here's the icky, gooey coil I found inside :yuck:
It seems the old wax has bubbled over the years. Or maybe the coil form has outgassed ?
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5305/...bb277275_z.jpg

I wired in a new lead and hit it briefly with a heat gun on low to reflow the wax.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/...44da33df_z.jpg

Almost done :)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5068/...a4d825d4_z.jpg

I found a few bad dogbone resistors and thought it would be fun to try replicating them using this technique.

My local JoAnn Fabrics had a sale on acrylic paint and I was able to get all 10 colors cheap :)
I got the epoxy putty at Home Depot and used corn starch for the releasing agent.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5226/...ed225f30c0.jpg


I messed up the first mold, but the next two turned out OK.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5149/...b024ea3aa8.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2148/...b8bcbee752.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5106/...c951b9e24f.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5306/...11ac2bbaf4.jpg



Here's the final result. Certainly not something I'd do on every project, but once you have the molds, it goes quickly.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5224/...b5ac232db6.jpg

Here it is all wired up and ready for power. There are a couple modern resistors in series in the back right.
It had already been replaced with a modern resistor when I got the radio and I wasn't sure of the wattage.
Once the radio is working, I'll see how hot it gets and create an appropriate dogbone.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5309/...d1628573_b.jpg

I added a 2A line fuse and a 60W bulb (Dim Bulb Tester) and turned it on.
The B+ came up to about 500 then settled down to 250 - no smoke no flames :)
Also no sound until I added an antenna. Once I did, I was treated to some familiar local AM stations :music:

I removed the DBT now that I knew I didn't have any shorts. That got the B+ up to about 350v like it's supposed to be.
AM is very strong and clear now, but still no SW.

I loosely coupled an RF generator to the antenna input and scanned through the 1.5-4 MHZ band. Still nothing.
I suspect the LO isn't running in SW mode. Time for some troubleshooting.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5181/...19127070_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/...170591f9_z.jpg

Great dogbones! You could go into the business.

No LO on SW? Sometimes a tube doesn't like to oscillate up there, but another one will.

Thanks. Right no LO on SW. I also discovered it cuts out at about 1400 on the AM band too.

I swapped in another 6A7, but have the same problem. The voltages on that tube are pretty close to what's expected.

I'll do some more checking.

I got a great suggestion from the guy who's reconing my speaker to try reversing the tickler coil connections.

Worked like a charm :banana: I have full coverage on the AM and SW bands now. Most likely someone rewound it the wrong way around.

I removed the oscillator coil and indeed the tickler was wound incorrectly. So I removed it and rewound it just like I did with the antenna coil.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2380/...e36fbf7c_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/...44512f5a_z.jpg

I then did an alignment by peaking each of the four IF trimmer caps at 460 kHZ. They really weren't off by much, but it helped a little.

Lookin' Good
 

That chassis looks so good that it's a shame to put it back into the case!.. Just leave it on the table and plug 'er in!..:banana: Love the mold idea. !

Did you make a vid of that process?:scratch2:

Buzz

Thanks. Last night I received this email Maybe I could have saved myself a lot of time and effort :scratch2:

Yes, I made a video about casting those dogbones. It's starts at about 8:44. http://youtu.be/iBrJlkMY4XE#t=8m44s

Bite the dogbone!
 

That's cool.. re make the chassis!

but I like what you did to it.

I watched the vid.. great job as usual!

Buzz:D

There's just one item left to deal with - the dial lamp is very corroded and falling apart.
I drilled out the rivet holding it together, removed the rust and patched with J.B. Weld.
Then, sanded it down, painted silver and reassembled.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2594/...461ba6d6f3.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3031/...7dda865eb7.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2331/...e4e8abf723.jpg

And with that it's finally done :banana:
I'm still using the donor speaker though. One of these days the backordered cone will show up and I'll post an update.

Also, I never was able to completely flatten out the dial, but it works well enough.

Here's some before and after pics.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1163/...eef06306_z.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/...bb7f1437_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5126/...0e075d8e_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/...d9b7ba3a_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2767/...837f1f7f_b.jpg

Here it is back in the cabinet with the donor speaker. I think it sounds pretty good. I'll try enclosing the bottom as suggested earlier when I get the reconed speaker back.

The cabinet could use a little work and the knobs are a mix of black and brown, but it'll do for now.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2439/...69dc2ae1_z.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/...fa4413e9_z.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2087/...7ae5a04233.jpg

The reconed speaker just arrived in the mail. The paper cone was salvaged from another speaker as new ones seemed to be backordered indefinitely at the supplier my reconer uses.
Time to pop it in and give it a try.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5105/...e01b6f2511.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3505/...1e32a90533.jpg

I finally installed the rebuilt speaker and gave it a try. It sounds quite good. I certainly can't tell the different between it and the 37-60 speaker I had been testing with.

I blocked up the radio cabinet bottom temporarily and it does make a noticeable difference for the better. I think I'll cut a piece of masonite to size and mount it with some glue blocks.

I guess that's it for now. Perhaps I'll refinish the cabinet someday :scratch2:


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3454/...8e2b0517_z.jpg

Recommend a piece of plywood 3/8" or better rather than Masonite as the latter is too thin and can vibrate and rattle.

Ah yes - good point!