10-09-2022, 06:29 PM
I am in the process of restoring a Philco 90 (early model serial number 74879 - 2 45s) and found the speaker cone and cables were pretty much unusable. I read the Phorums looking for a good way to rewire the speaker cable, but did not find anything that suited my operation. I came up with a "semi" easy way to put new wires in the plug without having to drill the rivets and take it apart. Your mileage may vary, but this worked well for me.
Old wire removal:
The connectors in the plug are hollow, and when they were originally made, the exposed wires were pushed through the connector, cut, and soldered into place. These wires can be removed without taking the plug apart. You will need a variable speed hand drill, a 1/16th inch drill bit, a 5/64th inch drill bit, and a soldering gun (a little pin-point soldering iron will not supply sufficient heat).
The plug has one small connector and three larger connectors. This ensures you can only insert the plug into the radio one way. Carefully drill out the old solder and wire from the center of each connector. Use a low speed and do not push very hard. You use the 1/16th inch drill bit to drill out the small connector, and the 5/64th inch bit to drill out the three larger connectors.
After you drill out the center of the connectors (being careful not to damage the connector) the wires will still not come loose. Now, use the soldering gun to heat the connector while pulling on the wire. When the solder melts, the wire will come out. Complete this procedure on all four connectors. After all of the wires are free from the plug, gently use the drill to remove existing solder from the centers. You are now ready to insert and solder the new wires.
New Wire Installation:
I used the standard brown and black cloth covered wires I purchased from Radio Daze (I get no renumeration for this). I used the old wires as a template for length, which was around 20 inches long. I stripped the wires to the same length as the connector (these will be pulled into the connector and soldered).
For the next operation, I used 38-gauge enameled wire, but wished I had a little thicker wire. Cut four pieces, approximately two inches long, to thread the wire through the connector.
You will need to thread the wire through the connector and pull it out through the opposite side of the plug. Leave around a half and inch of wire on the connector side. Bend it over so it won't come loose. Do this for all four wires, as it will become more difficult as more cables are run through the hole on the other side.
Take the first cloth covered wire and solder the enameled wire to the stripped section. Make sure you get it secured firmly as you will be using the enameled wire to pull the stripped cable end into the connector. I needed to use needle nose pliers to pull the wire through. Once the wire is securely in the connector, clip the pull wire and solder the cable in place. You will need a fair amount of solder because you want the solder to fill the connector. Continue to add solder until it is full.
Repeat this operation for the other three cables. As you complete each wire, check it for continuity with its connector, and to make sure there is no shorting with any other connector.
When I finished the cable construction, I wound the two adjacent wires together, so I had two, two wire pigtails. Then I wound the two pigtails together like the original cable. It actually went much easier than I had imagined it would.
Old wire removal:
The connectors in the plug are hollow, and when they were originally made, the exposed wires were pushed through the connector, cut, and soldered into place. These wires can be removed without taking the plug apart. You will need a variable speed hand drill, a 1/16th inch drill bit, a 5/64th inch drill bit, and a soldering gun (a little pin-point soldering iron will not supply sufficient heat).
The plug has one small connector and three larger connectors. This ensures you can only insert the plug into the radio one way. Carefully drill out the old solder and wire from the center of each connector. Use a low speed and do not push very hard. You use the 1/16th inch drill bit to drill out the small connector, and the 5/64th inch bit to drill out the three larger connectors.
After you drill out the center of the connectors (being careful not to damage the connector) the wires will still not come loose. Now, use the soldering gun to heat the connector while pulling on the wire. When the solder melts, the wire will come out. Complete this procedure on all four connectors. After all of the wires are free from the plug, gently use the drill to remove existing solder from the centers. You are now ready to insert and solder the new wires.
New Wire Installation:
I used the standard brown and black cloth covered wires I purchased from Radio Daze (I get no renumeration for this). I used the old wires as a template for length, which was around 20 inches long. I stripped the wires to the same length as the connector (these will be pulled into the connector and soldered).
For the next operation, I used 38-gauge enameled wire, but wished I had a little thicker wire. Cut four pieces, approximately two inches long, to thread the wire through the connector.
You will need to thread the wire through the connector and pull it out through the opposite side of the plug. Leave around a half and inch of wire on the connector side. Bend it over so it won't come loose. Do this for all four wires, as it will become more difficult as more cables are run through the hole on the other side.
Take the first cloth covered wire and solder the enameled wire to the stripped section. Make sure you get it secured firmly as you will be using the enameled wire to pull the stripped cable end into the connector. I needed to use needle nose pliers to pull the wire through. Once the wire is securely in the connector, clip the pull wire and solder the cable in place. You will need a fair amount of solder because you want the solder to fill the connector. Continue to add solder until it is full.
Repeat this operation for the other three cables. As you complete each wire, check it for continuity with its connector, and to make sure there is no shorting with any other connector.
When I finished the cable construction, I wound the two adjacent wires together, so I had two, two wire pigtails. Then I wound the two pigtails together like the original cable. It actually went much easier than I had imagined it would.