This was my grandfathers radio and I have fond memories of listening to it with my father as a child. I recently found it hidden away in our attic. Is anyone able to tell me the value of one of these models? I attached a picture. The front screen is torn and the buttons stick and some are broken off. Not sure if it even works anymore. If anyone can give me any information on it, that would be great. Thanks!
Carly
Note from site admin: Sorry, but the photo which was attached to this post is no longer available.
It isn't a huge dollar set but very few consoles are from 1939 forward, that does not mean that it isn't a good set, it apparently has ten tubes so it is above average, so it is well worth restoring if you can. Since it belonged to your grandfather, if I were in your situation, I would keep it and fix it up.
Regards
Arran
Hello, Carly: I believe that you have a 40-195 model. Like Arran said, it's not a particularly rare set, but it looks to be in nice shape and a worthy restoration candidate.
You can find many of the parts that you would need from many of the vendors listed in this site. Including suitable repop grillecloth.
I do not recommend that you attempt to turn this set on. Best to have someone take a look at it and make any necessary repairs to make it electronically sound.
In working order and with a good antenna you should be able to get great reception with this set. It has 2 shortwave bands, so you should be able to pull in many foreign broadcasts.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy your nice set.
Thanks for you reply. By looking at it, is there a way to tell how much restoration would need to go into it, and how much? Is it just AM radio or FM as well? And does anyone know of anyone in the New Jersey area that can take a look at it? Thanks again.
Hi Carly, and welcome!
As Arran and TA have mentioned, your 40-195 has the potential to be a very good radio. These sets, when properly restored, are excellent performers and have a warm, mellow tone.
It will not be an easy job to properly restore it, as the wiring under the chassis is insulated with rubber which dries up and falls off over time so either the wires will have to be replaced, or new insulation put over the wires. But again, the set is worth the effort.
As TA said, it has two shortwave bands as well as AM. It does not have FM.
I believe we have at least one Philco Phorum member in New Jersey. Perhaps he may know of someone in your area who can do the work.
cpainter Wrote:Thanks for you reply. By looking at it, is there a way to tell how much restoration would need to go into it, and how much? Is it just AM radio or FM as well? And does anyone know of anyone in the New Jersey area that can take a look at it? Thanks again.
There is an antique radio club in New Jersey, I don't know much about them but someone in that club should be able to help or point you to someone who could. The cost of restoration generally depends on how much is wrong with it, normally you would want to replace all of the old paper and electrolytic capacitors with newer equivalents at least along with any drifted resistors, these parts are cheap. In some sets from this era, possibly yours as well, they used a form of rubber covered wire that may need to be replaced due to deteriorating insulation, the wire itself is cheap but it does take some time to replace. The tubes in these sets are fairly cheap if any are found to be weak or bad. One common part failure in some early 40s Philcos is the power output transformer, those are more expensive then most of the other parts to replace if you have to buy a new one, used ones or a NOS replacement is cheaper, even if you have to buy new it isn't too bad. On very rare occasions the power transformer can fail (more common on a Zenith then a Philco) if that was so you would want to find a second hand or NOS replacement as opposed to a new production one to make it worth while. It's usually easy to tell when this has happened, there will be a burned smell and often blobs of tar around the power transformer, I doubt whether your set has this problem or it likely would have been tossed years ago.
This model does not have FM but has AM broadcast and two shortwave bands, that being said these sets have very good fidelity if you can find an AM station with music. I believe that Philco introduced FM for the 1941 model year but it is not the 88-108 MC FM band that we have today so even if your set had FM it would need a converter to pick up the modern FM band. I hope I haven't scared you off, I would say that 75 to 85% of the time you can get an old set going with a simple capacitor and resistor replacement if the set is in physically good shape and wasn't messed with.
Regards
Arran