The PHILCO Phorum

hi all just signed up on here to try and stay informed on these old machines!

dad has one of these upstairs in the living room from his childhood home..... is it possible to get this thing working? its a drycell battery farm model? not sure if it works or doesnt work.... where should i start? its in very good condition too!!!

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It looks to be in wonderful condition.

http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByModel...013467.pdf

Considering it was well kept, it might just so be that all you need a recap, and since farms do not need DC filter, the recap is easy.

Should you decide to proceed, folks here will guide you though.

wonderful thank you for the help already!

the only thing i see wrong with it is cosmetically the glass dial thing doesn't stay on because the black plastic trim has warped out of shape.

I think it would be amazing if i could get this thing working for my dad - he would be amazed.

Careful with the dial, don't drop it, or you will have to buy a repro (which likely do exist).

One thing at a time.
Do not power it, you will need batteries or power supply for it anyway.

Carefully study the fastenings, how to pull the chassis out, or better yet, wait for the folks here who has dealt with this model, I am sure we have those here.

Photograph/sketch every step you could potentially forget.

Find the source for batteries or info how to maketgem from the modern types.
Take it slow.

Enjoy, the reward will be sweet.

ya I have the original glass wrapped up in bubble wrap tucked away - i was afraid to touch this thing before but with the help on here i am confident i can do it with time and patience... i will await the pros on here to chime in on this project!

thank you !

Hi, Welcome to the Phorum!!  Lots of folks here to help out.  Here's some reading you can do to help get started.

Just saying welcome, and please heed advice to get help before proceeding.
Its easy to get impatient when you first start on one of these and want to get it playing. Good luck.

thanks everyone for the kind welcome - I am going to snap some pics of the inside/rear of the radio tonight...

see where i need to get things started after doing some research

i added a bunch more pictures ! enjoy everyone !

 I see it's a Canadian built version of the one in the gallery, which they decided to call the 212, it should be listed in the Radio College manuals or RCC. Now things to watch for, one important one would be deteriorating rubber/gutta percha covered wire, particularly on the IF transformer leads and the battery cables, there should not be much under the chassis other then that. This set looks like it uses a pair of 1A5 tubes connected in push pull by using Philco's infamous screen grid inversion trick, it's a cheap way to gain more audio output without using a phase inverter tube or an audio interstage transformer, better then a single ended output stage but not as good as a proper push pull output stage. Personally I would rather have an extra RF amplifier stage, tuned or untuned, or an extra If amplifier, but that was something that Rogers or Electrohome would be more inclined to do.
 You can test the set by running it off of batteries, it may even still work as the capacitors don't degrade as fast in a battery set as they do in an AC one due to the lack of tube heat. The tube filaments run on 1.5 vdc, which can be supplied by about two or three "D" cells wired in parallel, the plate or "B" voltage can be supplied by a set of ten 9 volt batteries connected in series, connect the 1.5 volt side first to see if the tubes light, then figure out the "B" side. If the battery cable is in good shape you can connect the batteries directly to the plugs with alligator clip leads, if the cable is in any way crumbling do not try this before replacing the cable or disconnecting it from the chassis. Keep in mind though that it may not work as the wires sometimes break internally near the battery plugs, or the solder joints in the pins go bad. These farm battery sets typically work quite well, but the audio power won't exactly deafen you.
Regards
Arran

welcome jeff
kind of plain jane but I like it looks well taking care of  very nice
sam

thanks guys! i will inspect the wires and test.... who knows it might still work as it sits? other than that i was surprised to see how plain jane it is back there in the chassis just a bunch of tubes/capacitors and well a battery pack spot.... if i needed all new tubes and such how much would they cost me to replace everything back there? plus a battery pack?

Tubes are very often still good but you can chevk prices on Bob Dobush's site.  I've bought from him...there are other vendors as well.  You can find some good info on battery packs an battery eliminators here.  Sam recently made a battery in this thread.

that's crazy - you can make your own battery packs for these things.... so what all the tubes should light up if they are still operational and functioning properly? I am only 25 years old so i have no clue how these things worked back in the day lol also do you know if i can get the black plastic trim piece for the glass cover so i can get that put back on?

Just because the tube lights up (i.e. the filament is working) doesn't mean it is working correctly, but its a start.  It won't work if the filament (which is sort of like the filament in an incandescent light bulb) is burned out.  You can check the filament by putting an ohm meter across the filament pins.  To find out which pins are the ones to check you look up your tube on a database like this one (there are others).  If you measure a resistance (usually an ohm or two) the filament is probably OK.  If there is no measurement, i.e. there is infinite resistance, the filament has burned out and broken.  Some quick vacuum tube reading.  There are vacuum tube testers that will tell you if the tube is performing well or not but that's a purchase you probably want to wait on to see if you become addicted to this sport