06-13-2007, 05:23 PM
I finally succeeded in getting a new push-button power switch into my 41-280. Someone installed a toggle switch on the back of the cabinet years ago, before I got it, and it has always annoyed me to have to reach behind the cabinet to turn it on.
I found a switch at Ace hardware that is virtually identical to the original Philco switch, except it has a clear plastic top and a metal push button on it. This is probably like the one Ron found at Lowe's. I drilled the rivets that held it together, and inside it is identical to the old Philco switch.
When I drilled the tops off the rivets to remove the old switch from the radio, the bodies of the rivets stayed in place. I decided to leave them as guide pins for the new switch. I cut two pieces of solid 20 ga. wire and soldered them inside the old rivets on the radio, thinking maybe I could bend them around something to hold the new switch on.
I dry-fitted the back of the new switch in place. It might not have been necessary, but I filed a little bit off the rounded edge to make sure the plunger on the radio push button would clear it.
If you look in the hole behind where the old switch was, the push-button plunger has a brass piece with a slot in it. In the new switch there is a spiral-shaped piece of metal with a hook on one end and a sort of "T" at the other end. The hook end of the spiral piece hooks into the slot on the push button plunger.
I put the spring on the spiral piece, narrow side toward the "T." I compressed the spring almost all the way down with my fingers and with some pliers I hooked the end of the spiral piece into the slot in the push button plunger. Then I released the spring and the spring held it in place.
I assembled the rest of the new switch (without the clear top and push button) and held it together with my fingers while I slid it over the old rivets. I bent the two wires I had soldered into the rivets, and they held the new switch loosely in place while I wrapped a tie wrap around the push button assenmbly to hold the new switch in place. (Not very vintage looking, I know. Too bad. I could have drilled out the old rivets and used sheet metal screws, but I don't have any small enough. Besides, I'm not sure how much clearance there is for screws inside the switch block.)
After I actuated the power button on the radio a couple of times, the inside pieces of the new switch fitted themselves together. Then it looked and felt just like the old switch, except for the tie wrap, of course. I wired it up, and without looking inside at the tie-wrap, you can't tell it from the original.
I found a switch at Ace hardware that is virtually identical to the original Philco switch, except it has a clear plastic top and a metal push button on it. This is probably like the one Ron found at Lowe's. I drilled the rivets that held it together, and inside it is identical to the old Philco switch.
When I drilled the tops off the rivets to remove the old switch from the radio, the bodies of the rivets stayed in place. I decided to leave them as guide pins for the new switch. I cut two pieces of solid 20 ga. wire and soldered them inside the old rivets on the radio, thinking maybe I could bend them around something to hold the new switch on.
I dry-fitted the back of the new switch in place. It might not have been necessary, but I filed a little bit off the rounded edge to make sure the plunger on the radio push button would clear it.
If you look in the hole behind where the old switch was, the push-button plunger has a brass piece with a slot in it. In the new switch there is a spiral-shaped piece of metal with a hook on one end and a sort of "T" at the other end. The hook end of the spiral piece hooks into the slot on the push button plunger.
I put the spring on the spiral piece, narrow side toward the "T." I compressed the spring almost all the way down with my fingers and with some pliers I hooked the end of the spiral piece into the slot in the push button plunger. Then I released the spring and the spring held it in place.
I assembled the rest of the new switch (without the clear top and push button) and held it together with my fingers while I slid it over the old rivets. I bent the two wires I had soldered into the rivets, and they held the new switch loosely in place while I wrapped a tie wrap around the push button assenmbly to hold the new switch in place. (Not very vintage looking, I know. Too bad. I could have drilled out the old rivets and used sheet metal screws, but I don't have any small enough. Besides, I'm not sure how much clearance there is for screws inside the switch block.)
After I actuated the power button on the radio a couple of times, the inside pieces of the new switch fitted themselves together. Then it looked and felt just like the old switch, except for the tie wrap, of course. I wired it up, and without looking inside at the tie-wrap, you can't tell it from the original.
John Honeycutt
