02-28-2011, 03:27 PM
Hello all,
To start off, I'm completely new to restoring radios. I love the look of the wood box radios and I love vacuum tube technology so I decided I'd try my hand at restoring an old Philco 42-327. I had to replace one tube because the heating element had been broken and since the heaters are all in series it prevented any of the other tubes from working. I've got the capacitors on order now, so I'll replace all the old paper capacitors which I'm almost positive don't work anymore just based on the looks of them (many are cracking and looked completely dried out).
My biggest question is the speaker. The paper cone completely disintegrated when touched. I guess this was a lesson in the delicacy of the cones and one that I won't soon forget. I read about the glue stick trick and wish I had learned that trick about 2 hours earlier. But, aside from all that, my question is this: Where is the best place to buy either a new speaker (4"x6" 1watt speaker, preferably philco-old-school) or the reconing kit? I've never reconed a speaker, so I need something with good instructions. Also, there are two small wires that run into the center of the cone and coil around a cardboard cylinder. I think these 'may' be for the voice coil, but I'm not sure. I bring this up because one was broken before the paper fell apart. I have no idea how I could reconnect the wire since it's so small (only hair thick). Is the speaker even worth trying to fix? Can I just go buy a similar sized new radio speaker and stick in there or would that fry the radio? I want to use the antique speaker if possible, but I want the radio to work more than that
Thanks for all your help in advance and hope to hear from you all!
-Brandon (regel_1999)
To start off, I'm completely new to restoring radios. I love the look of the wood box radios and I love vacuum tube technology so I decided I'd try my hand at restoring an old Philco 42-327. I had to replace one tube because the heating element had been broken and since the heaters are all in series it prevented any of the other tubes from working. I've got the capacitors on order now, so I'll replace all the old paper capacitors which I'm almost positive don't work anymore just based on the looks of them (many are cracking and looked completely dried out).
My biggest question is the speaker. The paper cone completely disintegrated when touched. I guess this was a lesson in the delicacy of the cones and one that I won't soon forget. I read about the glue stick trick and wish I had learned that trick about 2 hours earlier. But, aside from all that, my question is this: Where is the best place to buy either a new speaker (4"x6" 1watt speaker, preferably philco-old-school) or the reconing kit? I've never reconed a speaker, so I need something with good instructions. Also, there are two small wires that run into the center of the cone and coil around a cardboard cylinder. I think these 'may' be for the voice coil, but I'm not sure. I bring this up because one was broken before the paper fell apart. I have no idea how I could reconnect the wire since it's so small (only hair thick). Is the speaker even worth trying to fix? Can I just go buy a similar sized new radio speaker and stick in there or would that fry the radio? I want to use the antique speaker if possible, but I want the radio to work more than that
Thanks for all your help in advance and hope to hear from you all!
-Brandon (regel_1999)