Posts: 83
Threads: 14
Joined: Jan 2012
City: Mount Vernon, WA
Hi everyone, I'm brand new to the forum and just picked up my very first radio project a Philco 47-1230 in pretty good physical condition but not playing. The bad news is I didn't know that I wasn't to try powering it up without some preliminary checks and repairs.
The good news is that the blue smoke genie didn't come out of anything and no weird sounds or smells came out just some humming and occasional small pop from the speaker.
After trolling this and some other forums I finally removed the chassis from the cabinet this afternoon and got hold of the electrolytic caps I think I should replace.
I also got the Rider drawing from Nostalgia Air, and I am all set to get to work. Are there any other things I should be wary of before I start playing around with it?
I look forward to getting to know the board and its members. I picked the unit up for my mother to put in her living room and it was a sweet looking cabinet that would look nice as a piece of furniture if nothing else, and I figured I would look into repairing it for her. What I didn't expect was to be as interested in this hobby as I am. I suspect this is the first of many old radios coming through my door. Pray for my wife...
One cannot forbid people to be idiots....all one can do is try not to be one. -Morzh
Posts: 13,776
Threads: 580
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Ferdinand
State, Province, Country: Indiana
Welcome, sir! I am glad to see you now know to not apply power again until your new treasure has been completely checked over for signs of trouble.
Remember...safety first! There are voltages inside an old radio that can kill! Always make sure the chassis is unplugged before you start working on it.
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
Posts: 909
Threads: 117
Joined: Jun 2007
Welcome to PhilcoLand! I took a quick look at the schematic and good news is this chassis has a 5Y3 tube rectifier instead of selenium rectifiers or voltage doublers used in some Philcos produced around the same years. Replacing selenium rectifiers can be challenging indeed to some beginners, tube rectifiers are much easier to service. The other good news is all the info on nostalgiaair is complete for your restoration with parts list, nice schematic, etc. Should be a good project for a beginner, and hope you catch the vintage radio repair bug the rest of us here have also!
Since this is your 1st restoration, you will have questions. The best techs are here to help you indeed. You will need to replace all the capacitors one at a time. The parts list at nostalgiaair pages has all them listed. You can get all the new capacitors needed including the electrolytics from
http://www.justradios.com . They have great prices and the newer smaller sized capacitors fit much better than the originals. For a beginner, I would recommend adding a terminal strip or 2 under chassis to add the new electrolytics caps, and relocating electrolytics wiring, resistors,etc. under chassis and associated wiring connections, leaving the original electrolytics cans on top of chassis in place making sure you take the originals completely out of service. A tube manual or nostalgiaairs tube diagrams can be used to make sure all your original tubes filaments still have good continuity, use each tubes keyway on the base, and count pins numbers clockwise. Best of luck with your restoration, and hope my tips help to get you started in the right direction. Welcome to the forums!!
Posts: 83
Threads: 14
Joined: Jan 2012
City: Mount Vernon, WA
I finished replacing the electrolytic and paper caps in the set and replaced a couple bad tubes. It is playing on AM and I got the phonograph working but no luck with FM yet. I will revisit that a little later.
I am also looking for the correct dial scale. At some point in the past it was removed, and a blank glass pane with an inkjet printout (incorrect too) dial scale was substituted. I have been unable to locate a replacement through any of the parts suppliers listed on this and other websites. Does anyone have an extra or know of where I could purchase one?
Posts: 13,776
Threads: 580
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Ferdinand
State, Province, Country: Indiana
I'm afraid I can't help you with the dial scale, but I do have a suggestion on the FM.
Take a look at my website:
http://www.philcoradio.com/tech/ftcap.htm
Your 47-1230 may have a bad three legged capacitor that is in the FM circuit. If this is bad, you won't receive any FM. And it must be replaced a certain way - the link above explains how.
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
Posts: 2,353
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Joined: May 2010
City: Clayton, NC
Welcome to the Phorum. You are lucky to have an older set that can pull in modern FM!!
Posts: 83
Threads: 14
Joined: Jan 2012
City: Mount Vernon, WA
Ron,
I did find your article about the feed through caps, and did follow your directions to replace it. It's at my mom's house now, and I don't know for sure when I will pull the chassis again to address the FM issue. I am building a couple of AM micro-transmitters for my radios and for hers; but I do hope to sort out the FM.
I see from the numbers that these sets were produced in pretty good numbers, are they still fairly common? I would be interested in finding a parts set or even just the chassis. Mom's cabinet is in pretty good shape, so only electronics are needed really.
I certainly hope a user out there has a dial scale that they could part with. I am willing to pay a reasonable amount for one.
