01-30-2013, 03:18 PM
Hello all. After months of needing to join the phorum for expert assistance, and putting it off in hopes of muscling through it myself, I have succumbed to ascribe to your talents. Although there was one expert that I was in contact with, I hate to keep "picking on him", so to speak. He helped me through the worst part of my electrical woes, but I have one particular problem that I have created for my own bemusement. I am working on a Philco 42-400 roll-top console, 11 tube chassis with am, sw1, sw2, and the old fm frequency. This radio came to me with the chassis in a disintegrating box and the cabinet that must have been in storage for about 30-40 years, and went through a couple of hasty moves in its' lifetime. Amazingly, most all screws and parts were in the box (bottom had been taped good). Dial glass was filthy, as was the cabinet. Chassis was all there, with all pushbuttons in nearly perfect condition (after cleaning). Chassis had a lot of rust spots, and most ALL rubber insulation was nearly rotted off. There were some electrolytics and condensers that were changed over to large orange Japanese components somewhere in the distant past ('60's or '70's?), and there were a couple of mystery connections with one side of the electrolytics soldered in, and the other side not. Schematics seemed to have some crucial information missing, and the thing looked hopeless, but I had already plunked $50 on it from a local auction. (Saw photos online) There was no turning back at that point. Well, after a few months of tinkering with it off and on, (have a side project- '66 Pontiac) I managed to change or insulate all rubber wires. (Yes, I even pulled the push button board down and REWIRED that one. Whew!). changed a couple of tubes that were physically broken, and re-stuffed all the electrolytics and condenser tubes with new guts, re-sealed and waxed them good. "Recapacitated" the Bakelite block. Replaced all resistors. There were a few 18-34 hour marathons that were spent with her, but had not a clue if she would ever sing again. Brought it to life with a dim bulb (150v). Seemed o.k. Installed rectifier tube, and turned the volume, bass and treble up all the way. I figured I'd at least I'd get a buzz, hum, snap, crackle or pop out of it. With my ear up to the speaker-absolutely nothing. Worked wheels back and forth. Got mad, walked away from it for an hour or so. Came back, tried it again. Silence. Never once did it cross my mind to try to tune it in. Turned the tuning wheel, and she pulled stations in all up and down the dial. It was sitting in between stations with absolute silence! I had never witnessed that before with an old radio! No static or hum AT ALL! I was floored! This is probably my 6th radio I've revived, stuffing the old condenser sleeves in all of them, and all of them from the late 30's and early 40's. (Aside from those I had as a kid- a homemade style with Marconi guts from the teens, 1930 Colony cathedral, a 20's RCA Victor, etc...). This Philco 42-400 is the only Philco I've ever worked on, and the only one I've pulled the IF transformers out of. (at this point, I wish I hadn't), which brings us now to my current dilemma: seeing the condition of the rubber wires going into the bottom of the IF cans, I figured that I should change them out. Started with #3 if, changed the cap and insulated the wires- that came out good. (after about 150 hours of run time in the garage, working on the Pontiac and listening to Australian broadcasts to the wee hours of the morning, she became like an old friend), I went on to do #4 IF can- wire casings were really bad, and on the verge of shorting, pulled it apart, and the coil form head was loose on the lower section, but still attached. Snapped a hair wire in half. Fixed hair wire, and insulated wires. worked great. (Power transformer seemed to be running MUCH cooler) Reassembled can- sounded raspy-pulled can apart, and this time, 4 of the wires going into the form were snapped, and top of form was off. Tried to mix and match wires, to no avail... It's dead. Which leads us to this question: Does anyone have a #4 IF can from a 42-400 that they are willing to sell? I'm told the last IF can from any fm models would work: 42-350, 355, 395, 1012, 1013 1015, 1016. I worked on this baby for several months (and the cabinet), and have absolutely fallen in love with her! Then I put her back into a coma... I am heartbroken and sick over this...Can someone please help??? Thanks for letting me bend your ears! I will post photos soon. Electrothaumaturgist.
