11-30-2017, 01:28 PM
Hi Everyone!
Last week, I acquired a Philco 41-250 that appears to be in decent shape considering its age. I pulled out the chassis and I have started cleaning it. I have some experience in repairing antique radios -- I have successfully repaired about 5 or 6 AA5 radios, but those were pretty simple jobs. However, I have not had much success with transformer sets like this 41-250, so any advice will be much appreciated!
First of all, other than the usual re-capping and replacement of worn out wires, is there anything in particular I should look out for on this particular radio? The underside of the chassis looks very clean -- the only thing I've noticed is it looks like the filter caps were replaced at some point a long time ago.
Secondly, after I took a good look around, I decided to power up the radio using a variac and a current meter. I know many advise against this, but I wanted to see what I had before I started tearing things apart
. The pilot lights all lit up very well, but it seemed as if the filaments on the tubes were weak. The filament on the rectifier was lit but dim and one of the two output tubes got hot after the radio was on for about 2 or 3 minutes. Also, I got no sound out of the speaker other than some very very faint hum -- not the kind of hum associated with bad filter caps. The bandswitch was in the AM broadcast position. What are the most likely reasons why the radio seems dead?
I have ordered replacement caps and will begin digging into this radio in earnest next week. I know I will have lots and lots of questions! Many thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations you guys have. I look forward to sharing this restoration experience with everyone!
Best regards,
Jason
Last week, I acquired a Philco 41-250 that appears to be in decent shape considering its age. I pulled out the chassis and I have started cleaning it. I have some experience in repairing antique radios -- I have successfully repaired about 5 or 6 AA5 radios, but those were pretty simple jobs. However, I have not had much success with transformer sets like this 41-250, so any advice will be much appreciated!
First of all, other than the usual re-capping and replacement of worn out wires, is there anything in particular I should look out for on this particular radio? The underside of the chassis looks very clean -- the only thing I've noticed is it looks like the filter caps were replaced at some point a long time ago.
Secondly, after I took a good look around, I decided to power up the radio using a variac and a current meter. I know many advise against this, but I wanted to see what I had before I started tearing things apart
. The pilot lights all lit up very well, but it seemed as if the filaments on the tubes were weak. The filament on the rectifier was lit but dim and one of the two output tubes got hot after the radio was on for about 2 or 3 minutes. Also, I got no sound out of the speaker other than some very very faint hum -- not the kind of hum associated with bad filter caps. The bandswitch was in the AM broadcast position. What are the most likely reasons why the radio seems dead?I have ordered replacement caps and will begin digging into this radio in earnest next week. I know I will have lots and lots of questions! Many thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations you guys have. I look forward to sharing this restoration experience with everyone!
Best regards,
Jason
