Restoration of Philco 38-40T Radio

[Greg Bilodeau]

Well Bob if you need any help just ask and I will see what I can do.

Gregb

[phil]

part of the reason I created the CVRS forum was to include out of town members and to unite the members across Canada.

The original forum was done with phpBB. I got into collecting and restoring radios partly because I was inspired by the helpfulness of other radio collectors that frequented the newsgroups. At that time I didnt’ know who to ask questions of and things have come a long way since then which is a great help. Many collectors are of an older generation and it’s important for the hobby to encourage new collectors and restorers.

We hired a web developer to improve the professional look of the site and it was ported over into the forum we have now. I was never a real web developer by any means and we made a decision to pass the torch to those more qualified.

I do attend the local meetings and I have a pretty good stock of radios and parts etc , so if you do come to Vancouver feel free to contact me and I might be able to set you up with some worthwhile projects.

I’ve been away from doing a lot of restorations but one of the best local sources was main electronics on main street and Lees electronics was a couple of doors down and both sold high voltage capacitors and related stuff.

I often pop into mode electronics as I work on equipment and often need switches and things.
https://www.mode-elec.com/

I haven’t dealt with mouser a lot but that might be a good source for online ordering.
https://ca.mouser.com/Optoelectronics/Lamps-Holders/_/N-5g6p?Keyword=panel+lamp&No=25&FS=True

of course there are many other places to order online from. It seems the trick is to try by all means possible to avoid brokerage charges as they can really gouge you. I found that if I just got people to value stuff at 5 bucks and drop it in the US or canada post mail it was fine but when they used the courier companies I got hit with huge brokerage charges a few times and really felt ripped off by that.

for the bulbs maybe you could just try mouser and see if they have something that would be suitable. If not you might try the other three above to see if they can mail you stuff.

Phil

[Bob Cuthbert]

hi Phil. Thanks for the note, yes, without forums many things would just about be impossible. I have repaired everything from motorcycles, to telephones and clocks using online forums. I did break down and order a package of 10 bulbs online. I have walked past Main Electronics on Main but never gone in. Next time I will! Thanks for the offer of hooking up. I plan to drop in at the radio museum next time I am down. Weather in Prince Rupert has been sunny so no getting much work done on the old Philco yet, just minor cleaning.

Cheers and thanks again.

Bob

[Bob Cuthbert]

So continuing on with the recap of the 38-40 T Philco 110V/6V (I fixed the problem with the dial light, it was shorting out and did a rebuild, works as it should now).

I am mapping on a photo of the underside of the chassis all the paper capacitors from the schematics. I have run into a large electrolytic capacitor that does not show up on the schematics. It is the large yellow that is on top of Capacitor #24 in the extreme right side of the photo. The label has “Dry Electrolytic Capacitor, MFD 20, Max SGEV 525, AEE-6, DCWV 450” Also includes “Type PRS For rectified A.C. or Pulsating D.C. Circuits only”.

My Questions are:
1) Are any of the capacitors needing to be special as this is a radio that can be powered by 110V or 6V power source?
2) This large yellow capacitor, can I just replace with a 20 mfd or 450 Volts or greater?
3) The large cans that are hold Electrolytic capacitors eg. #31, 14 need to be replaced? How to test?

The radio works really well except for a moderate hum. We only have one AM station in Prince Rupert and it comes in perfect without any antenna hooked up. Just have a load hum. On the last recap I did on a small AA5 Marconi AC/DC set, it too had a load hum and the first capacitor I replaced was the electrolytic, the hum when away. I plan on replacing all the paper capacitors on this set but one at a time and starting with the electrolytic, starting with the big yellow on previously mentioned.

Any feed back appreciated.

Photos attached.

Thanks
Bob

Attachments:

1. 

   Chassis-Bottom.jpg
   

2. 

   Chassis-top.jpg
   

[Bob Cuthbert]

Read this post before you read my earlier post from April 27th.

Me again, should not be trying to figure these things out at night, not only does my spelling go off (loud, not load!) but I missed something that I should have noted about the large yellow electrolytic capacitor that was not shown on the schematic. Someone had cut the yellow wire coming out of the metal tube condenser but leaving the black to go to common negative/ground and Green seems to have also not changed. The “Can” had the specs of what was in it, but appears to have been rubbed out, maybe on purpose. It is #14 on the schematic with 3 wires coming out, Black, Green and Yellow. I think it says on the side of the Can, Green is 8 MFD 350 DCWV and Yellow is 8 MFD 475 DCWV, Black as mentioned, is Common Negative.

My guess is that the two Electrolytic Capacitors, (both 8 MFDs) inside the #14 Can have been replaced with the big yellow 20 MFD Electrolytic Capacitor. I have read it is better to just replace all paper capacitors, who knows when someone made the mods as I am seeing other capacitors not in place according to the schematics. As I in my question #1, are these EC special for this radio as it operates with both AC and 6V DC vibrator power supply.

I have not hooked up a 6 volt battery yet, the rubber “feet” are all toast and if this thing vibrates it could get interesting without the cushions.

Anyway, will work away at this as I create my list of capacitors.

Thanks again.

Bob

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