The PHILCO Phorum

Is it OK to replace solid rubber coated wire with stranded wire? I am going to replace the rubber wire in my 41-285 chassis and I have discovered, as many of you know, that the majority of wire to be replaced is 18-20 Gage SOLID wire, (white and blue seem to be the most common) can it be replaced with 18 gage stranded wire or should I search out soild wire and replace it solid w/ solid ?

It matters not. Just so long as you are careful withthe bends on solid wire so as not to cause a break, it is a lot easier to handle. Anywhere wiere the wire will physically move durinng normal operation, it should be stranded.

When replacing the rubber wire, is it necessary to completely unsolder the connection un-wrap the wire and wrap the new, or just clip the rubber wire as close as possible and solder the new end in place :

jjbuzard Wrote:When replacing the rubber wire, is it necessary to completely unsolder the connection un-wrap the wire and wrap the new, or just clip the rubber wire as close as possible and solder the new end in place :

Hi,
It is not necessary to unwrap the original wire from a terminal.The radio will not know the difference, and if you do it neatly, it would be hard to detect.
If the terminal has only one wire going to it, then you may be able to remove the old completley. But if the terminal has several wires going to it, then you are best clipping off the old, right next to the terminal, then wrap the new piece around. Make sure that the new wire doesn't touch an adjacent terminal causing a short.

Sometimes thrying to unsolder one wire might loosen the other wires causing an open circuit, or movement to an adjacent terminal.

In a worst case scenario, you may not be able to get to one end of the rubber coated wire. In that rare case, I have taken a piece of shrink tubing, and unsoldered one end, slipped the tubing over the original wire snugging it up to the hard to get to end. Then reattach the loose end. You might even be able to use a standard piece of spaghetti tubing slipped over the old wire.

Good luck with the project. Rewiring takes time and might go a little slow, but it is worth it in the longrun for safety and reliability.
Happy Holidays.
Gary.

I will be very, very tempted to throw the next rubber wire kingdom I find into the trash. I've done a 41-250, and the latest was a 42-321. I used over 15' of desoldering braid on that last little radio. I only finished it because the cabinet came out very nice. At least it performs well.

Stephen, if you can survive a 41-250 without becoming an alcoholic, you can take on any radio with rubber-covered wiring!

I finished a 40-201 the day after Christmas. Rubber-covered wiring galore. The one bright spot was that there was a lot of room to maneuver around in under the chassis. I can see where something like a 42-321 would be a pain. It took a week to restore this chassis, working 3 to 6 hours per day on it.

Here's how I replace rubber insulation:

I unsolder one end of the wire. Usually, there is a capacitor or two I need to replace which is also soldered where the wire I need to take care of is. So I unsolder the joint, remove one end of the wire, and remove all of the old rubber insulation. I then choose some 3/16" heat shrink tubing in the same color as the old insulation, cut to the correct length, and pre-shrink the cut tubing before sliding it over the original wire. I then solder the wire back into place. Repeat for every wire in the thing. When finished, the radio looks like it has all new rubber-covered wiring. But the heat shrink tubing should (hopefully) last much longer than the original rubber did.

I just started working on my 42-1015 yesterday. I pulled the band-switch assembly out and am going through and replacing the wiring. This one is going to be a major PITA but it should sound great when its done.

This has been a very informative post for me, I will be taking on a 40-165 in a few months, I was wondering about this part of the restoration.
Good advice, Thanks !
Dan

FStephenMasek Wrote:I will be very, very tempted to throw the next rubber wire kingdom I find into the trash. I've done a 41-250, and the latest was a 42-321. I used over 15' of desoldering braid on that last little radio. I only finished it because the cabinet came out very nice. At least it performs well.

Wow! I don't think I have used 15 feet of desoldering braid in my entire life I just draw off the solder blob on the soldering pencil tip and fling it into an ashtray or the garbage can. (I probably should be saving it - haha).

I look at wire replacement sort of like I do lawn-mowing. Its a time-consuming, brainless PITA but it sure feels good and looks nice when its done.

-Bill

Listen to Bill! Save yourself some money, skip the braid. I've NEVER owned desoldering braid. I use a solder bulb to draw off the solder. I've also never reused the old solder... Cheers!

Same here. I make extensive use of my desoldering bulb...I don't know what I would do without it.

I do the same, melt and fling. Poke of the excess solder just before it turns solid with any small implement that is close at hand. My favorite is still a dull or busted dental explorer which you can get from your dentist at no cost. Just shake the chassis after this to get the droplets out onto your bench.

Now remember that this stuff is nasty. Sweep it up and dispose of it responsibly. And wash your hands when you return to the first floor, lest you glow in the dark as I do.

A bulb or spring loaded vacuum pump and a pick tool work good to get solder lumps out of a lug.
But sometimes I want the lug clean of all old solder and for that nothing beats a piece of braid.

Ron Ramirez Wrote:Stephen, if you can survive a 41-250 without becoming an alcoholic, you can take on any radio with rubber-covered wiring!

Thanks! I finally got around to taking photos of the chassis, as I am ready to finish the cabinet along with a group of other cabinets (hopefully, it only needs touch-ups, not stripping).

Nice job, Steve. Might I add that collecting mostly 1930-1938 radios (me) means that I have fewer cases such as this where it is tight spaces with a lot going on. UNFORTUNATELY the rf deck of the Philco 37-___ and 38-___ radios will add pure joy in a really BAD way. I have a 37-670 tombstone that drives me nuts when I listen to it (loses volume/shadowmeter blacks out) and I have put off working on it because I KNOW it will eventually lead me to the d**d rf deck.

The first Airline that I have really "messed" with is a 62-196 tombstone that I am currently finishing. On this model,anyway, I found the overall layout including what at first appeared to be a complicated dial system, to be well laid out and "repairable." I did NOT care for the "dual" volume pot configuration, but did especially like the way they laid out the chassis underside. BZ !!!

It recieves well and sounds great for a 7 tube radio with a relatively cheap 6" speaker.