'48 Zenith 8H832 wooden AM/FM

[radiotvnut]

I found this at one of my least favorite flea markets for $45. It's a big Zenith 8H832 AM/FM1/FM2 wooden table radio from '48. It looks nice except for the non original headphone jack on the front. This set also has the Zenith tone switches and two 6" speakers indside. I tried to get them off the price; but, had no luck. I just finally said "what the heck" and bought it. After I got outside and put my nose close to the radio, I realized that I should have left it there. I got the unforgettable smell of a severly fried power transformer! I just hope I can salvage one from a junk radio as I'd hate to have to buy a new one. Anyone had any dealings with this radio?

BTW, there was another interesting radio there from the same seller. It was one of those late '40's Westinghouse radio/phono combinations with the detachable radio section for $50. I only had enough for the Zenith so the other one had to stay behind.

[gadget73]

Early FM, neat stuff. Maybe you'll get lucky and the transformer is only a little crisp, and not completely done for.

[Jeffhs]

I agree with gadget73. I'd take the back off the radio and have a good look at the transformer; as he said, it may have simply overheated. If it's gone, I don't know what to tell you, as I have no experience with this particular Zenith (although I do have three wood-cased Zenith table models, all from the '60s and all with series-string filaments, although my '65 MJ-1035 has an unusual series-parallel filament arrangement [two strings], with a 6.3-volt transformer feeding both of them).

If the original transformer smells as if it has been burning, there may be other problems, such as a shorted rectifier tube (some of the early Zenith radios had real problems with their 6X5 rectifier tubes shorting and taking the power transformer with them). Any time a transformer gets so hot it smokes and/or burns, you can be sure there is a very severe overload somewhere. I don't know why Zenith didn't design these older sets with fuses in the power supply; as much as they must have cost when they were new, I'm sure a fuse wouldn't have added that much to the price.

If you have to replace the transformer, you'll need the Sams Photofact on the radio so you can determine what type of transformer to get. It would have to be either a Zenith transformer from a junked set or a generic transformer that can supply the required voltages, although in this day and age of solid-state everything that runs on 24 volts or less, high- or multiple-voltage transformers are becoming very difficult to find.

Good luck. I hope you get that 8H832 singing again, as those radios, like all Zeniths from the '40s through the '60s, were excellent sets. I like my three wood-cased sets, although the MJ-1035 has issues with the volume control and doesn't work very well at the moment. However, the other two, my K731 and C845 (my avatar is a picture of a C845 very similar to mine), are working just great and sound excellent, which was a hallmark of Zenith radios from the '40s through the '60s (that's why I like them so well; that and those fine wood cabinets).

Your set probably will sound just as good once you replace the transformer and the filter capacitors (a short in one may well have been why the transformer burned).The 42-50 MHz FM band, however, is no longer used for FM broadcasting; it was, however, the original prewar FM broadcast band, before the present-day 88-108 MHz band was commissioned. Those frequencies (42-50 MHz) were originally used as television channel 1 (circa 1946-49), then when that channel was abolished in 1950 or so, the same frequencies were realigned and eventually became the amateur radio six-meter band.

[radiotvnut]

This radio uses a 5Y3 rectifier. I downloaded a schematic and the transformer has a 5V rectifier filament winding, a 6V filament winding for the other tubes, and a CT HV winding of unknown voltage. The Zenith P/N for the transformer is 95-1062.

[jeyurkon]

Playthings of the Past has a number of Zenith radio power transformers. perhaps one is close enough. I didn't find the exact part number, but many center-taped HV with 5V and 6V filaments.

John

[ianj]

What a great looking early FM set!

[Sandy G]

Kewl...!