05-19-2016, 05:09 AM
Well...
The previous discussion was about resistors inside bakelite blocks. Eric's question is about bakelite blocks in general.
Hi Eric!
I think Philco did this for several reasons. I can think of a few, perhaps others will chime in with their opinions as well.
1. When Philco started producing the bakelite blocks in 1930, radio was still relatively "new" and manufacturers were still secretive about the components inside their sets. Placing capacitors inside bakelite shells added to the mystery somewhat.
2. Bakelte blocks allowed for convenient tie points for wiring including points to ground in many cases.
3. It was thought at the time that sealing the paper capacitors in high temperature wax would add to their life. Indeed, those capacitors often lasted for several decades. Of course, 80+ years on, they have all gone bad by now and require replacement. (And the wire resistors that were put into some blocks are often still good!)
That's all that I can think of right now...
Yes, they can be a pain in the you know what to replace, but the nice thing is that we can now clean out the old guts, pop in new yellow film capacitors, put the blocks back in place and you can't tell they have been touched save for the new solder on the terminals.
The previous discussion was about resistors inside bakelite blocks. Eric's question is about bakelite blocks in general.
Hi Eric!
I think Philco did this for several reasons. I can think of a few, perhaps others will chime in with their opinions as well.
1. When Philco started producing the bakelite blocks in 1930, radio was still relatively "new" and manufacturers were still secretive about the components inside their sets. Placing capacitors inside bakelite shells added to the mystery somewhat.
2. Bakelte blocks allowed for convenient tie points for wiring including points to ground in many cases.
3. It was thought at the time that sealing the paper capacitors in high temperature wax would add to their life. Indeed, those capacitors often lasted for several decades. Of course, 80+ years on, they have all gone bad by now and require replacement. (And the wire resistors that were put into some blocks are often still good!)
That's all that I can think of right now...
Yes, they can be a pain in the you know what to replace, but the nice thing is that we can now clean out the old guts, pop in new yellow film capacitors, put the blocks back in place and you can't tell they have been touched save for the new solder on the terminals.
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
