The PHILCO Phorum

Bob's (bandersen) thread on his 41-316 prompted me to start this one.

I've had this 41-616 since 2010. As is the case with many of my sets, it has been sitting, patiently waiting for me to do something with it...







When I acquired this set, it had no tubes, and was missing its original 3-post De Luxe Inter-Mix changer. Some nondescript 1950s changer was placed in the phono compartment...and I do mean placed...not bolted in, just sitting on the motor board.

I plan to install a rebuilt 1942 Beam of Light changer that has been converted to 78 rpm (only) rim drive. The 1942 changer has a solenoid to trip the reject mechanism; this will allow the Mystery Control as well as the far right pushbutton to reject records as it was originally designed.

Anyway...earlier this week, I pulled the huge chassis out and set it on the workbench.



I removed the dial scale and put it away, not to be replaced until the chassis is finished.



As you can see, there are no tubes...but the tube shields are all there in the Mystery Control section of the chassis.





Bob (bandersen), I think the chassis in my set is a bit more crowded than your 41-316 chassis is...

If you notice, many of the original paper caps were replaced, mostly with turquoise Sangamo caps, and a few with black Cornell Dubilier caps. This was probably done in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

The original electrolytics were also replaced with Twist-Lock electrolytics. One was installed well, on a phenolic mounting board; the other was just sort of stuck in an existing hole in a sloppy fashion.

Lots and lots of rubber-covered wiring under the chassis.

Oh, and surprisingly, the audio output transformer is still good! These are often bad in the 1939-1942 models.

I've decided that instead of resleeving all of the wires with heat shrink tubing as I usually do, in this chassis I am going to replace the longer wires and the wiring harnesses running from the stepper unit to the pushbutton mechanism and the individual button lights with new PVC-insulated wires.

I've placed orders for the needed wire, a fresh supply of .047 uF caps (I'm completely out of these), and a motor start cap for the volume control motor.

Wish me luck, folks...this will not be an easy job.

Wow! Good luck with that beast.

I was going to hold off on restoring mine, but I'm in too deep to back out now ;)

I better check the output transformer as well.

Here's a look at that same area on my chassis. Looks pretty much the same to me.

Yes, that side of both chassis appears to be the same...but take a look at the other side of my 41-616 chassis, compared to yours.

The area around your stepper unit switch contacts looks relatively empty compared to mine.

Ron;
Did Philco not use twist lock filter condensers in the early 1940s? Most of the Canadian manufacturers began using them in 1939, G.E, Westinghouse, RCA, and even Rogers. I think that a rewire is probably the best plan, you would use up a lot of heat shrink sleaving the long lengths of wire in that 616 chassis.
I'm lucky in one way, I have a readily available local source of that vinyl covered wire, at least the stranded type, in 16, 18, 20, and 22 guage, in multiple colours. I have most colours of the 18 gauge in stock, I may pick up some 20 guage since it's a little easier to work with. Unfortunately they don't have the solid core wire which was what many of my sets used.
You are fortunate in one way, most U.S manufacturers seem to have stuck to cloth wire until 1939, except for Majestic maybe; but in Canada, Rogers, Westinghouse, RCA, and G.E were using the stuff much earlier on, though not in power transformer leads thank God. I have a 1936-37 vintage Westinghouse that has that same crispy rubber as Bob's 39-30 and your 41-316, it was so bad that I didn't even dare to power it up on a variac. I want to fix that Westinghouse up though, for a 5 tube set it has one of the nicest cabinets you would ever see on a table set and for the weight you would think it had a ten tube chassis.
Strange enough I also have a 1939 Canadian Majestic (a Rogers product) that also has rubber wire but it's as flexable as the day it left the factory, but as typical the rubber shock mounts have turned to dust. The Canadian RCA and G.E sets seem to use a mix of rubber and cloth wire with more rubber then cloth by the late 30's. So as you can see we may have dodged a bullit when it comes to rubber in Canadian Philcos but we still have to deal with it in many other sets.
Regards
Arran

Arran

Philco used twist-lock electrolytics in some prewar Tropic (export) models, but not in the domestic (USA) line until after WWII.

I have one Canadian Philco that is identical to a Tropic model (model 39A, equivalent of a 41-722). I haven't pulled its chassis yet, but I'm hoping that it, too, has cloth wire instead of rubber; like my 39-3A1ACB and my 39-330AT.

(03-16-2012, 07:26 PM)Ron Ramirez Wrote: [ -> ]...The area around your stepper unit switch contacts looks relatively empty compared to mine.

Ah yes, I see what you mean. Is that rotary switch near the stepper unit something to do with the phono mode ?

For clarity, here is a close-up of the other side of the chassis:



Yes, the extra switch next to the stepper unit switch contacts is a relay driven switch, which switches the receiver from radio to phonograph mode and back again. I sure hope there is nothing wrong with this relay and switch.

You'll also notice mine has an extra tube socket - that is for a 7C6, used as a phono preamp.

In the photo above, I have removed the shield (which mounted at upper left) which covers the spark filter coil and associated circuitry. You'll also see more of those Cornell Dubilier Cubs in this photo. You can also see that the restoration work has begun - one cap and one resistor have been replaced, and four short wires have been resleeved.