The PHILCO Phorum

I helped a friend move a few months ago. Amobg his prized possessions was an old Philco floor model radio. He said that it was working at one time but not sure how long ago.
my background is working with guitars and amps. I covered a little "communication" electricity with my basic electronics a few years ago.
I want to help my old pal out and get the beauty working. Here are some of the questions I need answered.
1. The label shows a chassis number "40A" which I beleive is the model number.
The exact model I am not sure and will have to refer to the pictures to find a match.
This unit is listed as 25-40 cycles. As I understand it, the household current is 115 volts at 50-60 cycles. Will this unit work? Is there any modifications to enable me to match the cycle rates?
2. the speaker is in poor shape. As my pal is only looking to have it operable but doesn't want to spend a lot on it, I would propose to replace the speaker with one that I have on hand. I am curious about the connections to the speaker. This unit has a cord with wires running to a 4 pin connecter. These wires appear to connect to the speaker magnet assembly. I looks like some kind of 'tap' coil. There is a lot of movement here.
Also there is a pair of wires coming from thetuner assembly. These have a pair of 'new' wires (lamp cord) attached and continuing on to a 'lug' connector which is also going to the speakers.
At present I do not have any pictures. I will attempt to get some as it may help clearup any confusion.

I have looked at a schematic but was not able to establish what wires are supposed to go where.

the unit has a 10" speaker and the following "specs"
40 Watt, Code 121, CSA 1476, T 1041 (stamped on chassis), cycles 25-40.
Tubes: 7A7E, 7J7E, 7B7E, 7B6, 7B5E(?), 7Y4.

Any help/advise would be appreciated.

Please post the schematic and we'll have a look. Chances are you can adapt most any speaker to the set. Probably will have to do some work inside the chassis to replace the electrolytic capacitors at a bare minimum. Same as restoring an old amp. Wax capacitors and out of range resistors replaced, add a fuse, somehow I think you know the drill.

I found it at link removed by site admin due to plagiarism
and entered Model 40 .
I'm a newbie when it comes to computer tech stuff. sorry.

Daniels Dad, you are in Canada, correct? Your 40A is nothing like the USA model 40, the schematic of which you found at the link you posted. BTW, whoever runs that website took that schematic - as well as other Philco schematics - from this website.

https://philcoradio.com/library/index.ph...chematics/

The USA model 40 is from 1929, and was made to operate on 110 volts DC only.

The Canadian 40A is from 1941 and does not have a USA equivalent. Six tubes, equivalent to the table models 33 and 37 (Canadian).

You will need to acquire the schematic for Canadian Philco models 33, 37 and 40. You should be able to order this from Just Radios in Canada. The cost is $7.00 plus GST, HST, EST, CST, EDT, GMT, LS/MFT, and whatever other tax you good folks have to add on.

http://www.justradios.com/

Sorry, Daniels Dad, in trying to point you to an accurate schematic I failed to address your other questions.

From what I have been told by Canadian acquaintances in the radio hobby, 25 cycle AC was widely used in Canada for many years, even after we Americans standardized on 60 cycle (60 Hz) AC current. You Canadians now have 60 Hz AC as well. Your Canadian Philco 40 will work fine on 60 cycles. The opposite, however, is not true - a power transformer designed for operation on 60 cycle AC will burn up if 25 cycle AC is applied.

It would be best if the original speaker were used, or the same type of speaker pulled from a junk Philco set of the same type. There are people who recone speakers, but this is generally not a cheap job. A modern PM speaker could be substituted, but then the original speaker's field coil has to be replaced with something, usually a high wattage resistor of the same resistance as the original speaker field. That resistor will have to be placed somewhere on the chassis where it can safely dissipate the heat it will produce, away from other components. See why it is better to use the original speaker, or a substitute from a similar Philco set?

Daniels Dad Wrote:Also there is a pair of wires coming from thetuner assembly. These have a pair of 'new' wires (lamp cord) attached and continuing on to a 'lug' connector which is also going to the speakers.

This sounds scary. Sounds like someone did some creative rewiring. Not good. You need that Canadian 40 schematic, with some guidance (which we can provide) on how to read and use it.

Good luck. You shall need it. Just don't resort to using the Red Green method of patching everything up with duct tape.

Thankyou all. I will now not so boldly go where few have trod.
I will contact you if I run into any trouble.
I will try to source someone here (Halifax) with some knowlege/experience in this field.
As Halifax is the home of Canada's east coast navy, I should not have too much trouble finding someone near by.
Again thankyou one and all.

Daniels Dad

Hi Daniels Dad! I know this is a long shot....sending you a message...since this thread is so old. But just in case, here I go. Firstly, hi, my name is Desiree and I'm Canadian too. Also, I have just bought a 40A radio....and as of this moment you are the only other person in the world that I have seen online write about my model. So I am curious - how did it go? Were you able to get it working? Also, do you have a picture of it?
Fingers crossed you see this..

Hi Desiree and welcome.

Unfortunately, "Daniels Dad" hasn't visited the Phorum since his last post (Feb. 13, 2012).

I found a photo of a Canadian 40A here:
https://radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=10785

thank you....thank you....this picture literally took the breath right out of me. Now I know, for sure, the model, and what it looks like. I am so very very grateful for this picture thank you.