12-25-2017, 03:42 PM
Tuesday afternoon at 3:16 saw power being applied to the 38-1 for the first time in over 40+ years using the ole dimbulb checker (I think it may have detected me, but was keeping mum about it) 
attached the three speaker wires to where I thought they'd go on the pin connectors (as per the schematics hopefully and before initial power up) and threw the dice. Apparently I attached the wires correctly because to my surprise, nothing snapped, crackled or popped!!! 
left it running with the dimbulb (was quite dim, indeed) for about 20 minutes, checking for any anomalies and smoke.. Power transformer was cool as ice, though all tubes lit up and were hot. Took the bulb off and plugged 'er in. It was receiving a frequency noise up and down the scale, but no reception. Played with the antenna wire and and attached it to the grid of the 6A5 (or so I thought) and got a weak but solid signal- she played "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison, then I was called away till later. Tried again with the wire at different locales, with one station coming in weak. Next morning, pulled the 6A5, and luck would have it, there was only tube on the whole chassis that you couldn't make the lettering out on, which actually was the 6U7 (with the chassis still on the cradle on the floor, it was slightly difficult to access the tubes or anything else on the flip side. I rebuilt the entire chassis on the floor, sitting Indian style- no easy task) aside from going through the entire tube lineup, I stuck the mystery tube in the freezer for a few and found it was the 6U7!!! I had that one and the 6A5 swithched!!! Installed the tubes into their respective sockets and BAM! Pulled stations in across the board down to about 740, then there was a big gap of nothing but noise in the lower spectrum, but played the stations it did receive from 740 up LOUD AND CLEAR!!!!! The tone control works wonderfully and does a very nice job of tempering the bass and treble at all volume levels. The volume and bass controls work fantastically and really produces a dynamic type of sound the louder the volume goes, (there is no end to the volume control. the louder it gets, the better the sound. I don't dare to open it up and blow my speaker cone out into the next room) even with that disintegrated speaker cone which I had to fix gaping holes and cracks on! The transformer runs so cool, only gets tepid after an hour of running, the input transformer is almost cold after an hour, as well as the field coil and voice coil. The only things that run a little warm are the choke (was running hot at first, but now just very warm after an hour) and the 3 candohm strips- those DO run a tad hot for my taste, but I guess that is their nature. How hot is too hot for them? The side of the chassis gets toasty. Coincidently, that warm running choke is directly above the candohms, and had its wax melted out at some point in the past, but I checked it just now, and it doesn't seem to be anywhere near as warm as it has been previously. Had a problem installing the lower RF cover- everytime I put it on, reception would go out. Checked for pinched wires (none), re-routing a couple of them in vain, and checked everything under the sun to no avail. Decided to just put the cover on and take it off the cradle, and address the topside. A poor solder connection (ancient joint) pulled from the bottom lug of the tuning condenser. Soldered it up and it's back to life! Replaced a couple wires on top, and opened up the frequency range to get stations below 740, and straightened a maligned tuner plate. I am so happy with this... I removed antiquated repairs (MANY) and put everything back to schematic specs. Apparently I miswired nothing 
Now to put the dialscale back on and do a quick alignment (doesn't need much) Even get a few shortwave stations in on both bands... the mag tuning even works to some extent on the upper frequencies, and the dial lights all work! Thanks again for everyones help in bringing another Philco to life!!!!!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY PHILCO PHRIENDS
attached the three speaker wires to where I thought they'd go on the pin connectors (as per the schematics hopefully and before initial power up) and threw the dice. Apparently I attached the wires correctly because to my surprise, nothing snapped, crackled or popped!!! left it running with the dimbulb (was quite dim, indeed) for about 20 minutes, checking for any anomalies and smoke.. Power transformer was cool as ice, though all tubes lit up and were hot. Took the bulb off and plugged 'er in. It was receiving a frequency noise up and down the scale, but no reception. Played with the antenna wire and and attached it to the grid of the 6A5 (or so I thought) and got a weak but solid signal- she played "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison, then I was called away till later. Tried again with the wire at different locales, with one station coming in weak. Next morning, pulled the 6A5, and luck would have it, there was only tube on the whole chassis that you couldn't make the lettering out on, which actually was the 6U7 (with the chassis still on the cradle on the floor, it was slightly difficult to access the tubes or anything else on the flip side. I rebuilt the entire chassis on the floor, sitting Indian style- no easy task) aside from going through the entire tube lineup, I stuck the mystery tube in the freezer for a few and found it was the 6U7!!! I had that one and the 6A5 swithched!!! Installed the tubes into their respective sockets and BAM! Pulled stations in across the board down to about 740, then there was a big gap of nothing but noise in the lower spectrum, but played the stations it did receive from 740 up LOUD AND CLEAR!!!!! The tone control works wonderfully and does a very nice job of tempering the bass and treble at all volume levels. The volume and bass controls work fantastically and really produces a dynamic type of sound the louder the volume goes, (there is no end to the volume control. the louder it gets, the better the sound. I don't dare to open it up and blow my speaker cone out into the next room) even with that disintegrated speaker cone which I had to fix gaping holes and cracks on! The transformer runs so cool, only gets tepid after an hour of running, the input transformer is almost cold after an hour, as well as the field coil and voice coil. The only things that run a little warm are the choke (was running hot at first, but now just very warm after an hour) and the 3 candohm strips- those DO run a tad hot for my taste, but I guess that is their nature. How hot is too hot for them? The side of the chassis gets toasty. Coincidently, that warm running choke is directly above the candohms, and had its wax melted out at some point in the past, but I checked it just now, and it doesn't seem to be anywhere near as warm as it has been previously. Had a problem installing the lower RF cover- everytime I put it on, reception would go out. Checked for pinched wires (none), re-routing a couple of them in vain, and checked everything under the sun to no avail. Decided to just put the cover on and take it off the cradle, and address the topside. A poor solder connection (ancient joint) pulled from the bottom lug of the tuning condenser. Soldered it up and it's back to life! Replaced a couple wires on top, and opened up the frequency range to get stations below 740, and straightened a maligned tuner plate. I am so happy with this... I removed antiquated repairs (MANY) and put everything back to schematic specs. Apparently I miswired nothing Now to put the dialscale back on and do a quick alignment (doesn't need much) Even get a few shortwave stations in on both bands... the mag tuning even works to some extent on the upper frequencies, and the dial lights all work! Thanks again for everyones help in bringing another Philco to life!!!!!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY PHILCO PHRIENDS
