If I remember correctly I replace that resistor with one that was 5 watts just to take care of everything..

No further progress on the Baby Champ yet. I want to modify the output circuitry slightly. An electronics engineer friend of mine says the audio can be improved markedly on 5 and 6-tube AC/DC sets by replacing the 150 to 250 ohm resistor running from the output tube’s cathode to ground with a 5.1 volt, 1 watt Zener diode.
The diode insures a consistent, unchanging voltage on the cathode at all volume levels, which a resistor doesn’t.
I know I have a bunch of these Zeners but I can’t find them!
Would like to make the change while the 82 ohm voltage dropping resistor is out of the way.
Oh well, I’ll just keep looking..
Eric S.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Eric Strasen.

Jean,
I gave up looking for those Zeners for the time being and ordered 25 more from Mouser.
They are so cheap that the postage was twice what the diodes cost.
I will eventually find my own large stash of Zeners, so if you could use any just drop me a note and I’ll send you some free gratis.
Note: I misquoted the voltage in my prior post. The Zeners should be 5.1 volts at 1 watt.
The following is what my friend Emailed me in September: “Most of the AA5’s and AA6’s use cathode bias in the output stage which consists of a 150 to 250 ohm resistor from cathode to ground, which yields an average bias of 5 to 6 volts. You can clip out that resistor and replace it with a 5.1 volt, 1 watt Zener diode which will make the bias completely stable at 5.1 volts irregardless of how hard the output stage is driven, or at what volume level the set is playing. Connect the banded end of the diode to the cathode and the other end to ground and you will definitely hear the difference.”
Eric S.

Jean,
The bypass remains, although one may wish to melt out the wax from the old paper capacitor and restuff it with an axial mylar. My obsessive-compulsive disorder doesn’t rise to that height, or sink to that depth, since this Baby Champ is not exactly a museum piece.
As I am a scientist, however, having dissected a frog in a high school biology class, I do plan to experiment some with the Northern Electric.
Since I have been housebound for more than a week due to the frigid weather here, my mind has been wandering in dangerous paths.
As we all know, heat is a major concern in old tube radios — especially small table sets in both plastic and wood cabinets.
The 35L6 and 50L6 are pretty much identical except for heater voltage. Does the 35L6 run cooler than a 50L6?
Probably not, but I have a way to check this without incurring third degree burns.
A friend in Gillette, Wyo. is in the auto body business and has some kind of laser gadget that accurately measures heat. He is due to pay me a visit sometime this month, and I have asked him to bring his heat-measuring gun along.
He also is a crackerjack painter and no doubt could disguise the diode with bands indicating it is a 220 ohm resistor, as you suggested.
Eric S.

Jean,
Has anyone considered liquid cooling?
All one would have to do is thoroughly waterproof the radio’s innards, then equip each set with some sort of mini swamp cooler. A radio’s components should last forever in this scheme, with the possible exception of electrolytics, which are cranky under the best of circumstances.
We could then return to a world of vacuum tube, hard-wired circuitry — as God intended.
Alberta seems to get most of the blame for our cold spells (“Alberta clippers”). Your own province should be viewed with affection — at least in the eastern states — as Hydro-Quebec sends us lots of electricity. Unfortunately, most Amurricans probably don’t know this.
Eric

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Eric Strasen.

Jean,
Perhaps I should wheel my 16-tube Midwest outside to do battle with all the cold air Alberta keeps sending our way.
Eric