The PHILCO Phorum

Hi all,

I picked up this radio some time ago and just recently realized that the model number is odd. The Canadian Philco 70 would normally be designated as a 70-A and be a 25-40 cycle set. This one is tagged as a 370 and is 40-60 cycle. I do not think that this radio inherited a tube shield from the 370 chairside as the tag is Toronto-made and this would be a 370-A. The strange thing with the model number is that the 3 is a rather different font than the 70.

Was this another variation of the 70 or is there another explanation for the number? I didn't question it at the time because seeing a '3' in front of the model number is common here, but this is a good two years too early.

One thing that stands out is the "3" is larger and is a deeper stamp than the "70". I'm not sure if that has any significance.

Steve

It wasn't uncommon for Philco to use a 3 in front of their model numbers in Canada, perhaps this was a later production 70. What model of Rogers is the Philco 70 sitting on? I have a 10-60 with a very similar dial, not a very nice chassis design to service.
Regards
Arran

The thing is, Philco of Canada did not start using a "3" in front of their model numbers until 1933.

And the listing of Canadian Philco sets on my site, which was derived from Philco (Canada) factory info, does not include a 370 Lazyboy chairside which would seem to indicate that the 370 Lazyboy was not built or sold in Canada.

One more thing. While it appears that many of the Canadian-built Philco sets were made for 25 cycle AC, not all were. Yours is an example (40 to 60 cycle AC). A Model 70 set designed for 25 to 40 cycle AC would be a 70-A.

But none of this really answers your main question - the "3" in your set's model number tag. My best answer - I don't know. I do feel that the added "3" is suspect since it is stamped deeper and is of a different font, so was obviously added after the original stamping was made.

This is odd since I have seen at least one of those 370 Lazyboy chairsides with a 70 chassis in person, but I don't know whether it was Canadian built, officially imported, or imported by an individual from the U.S. I didn't know when Philco Products LTD started using the 3 in front of their model numbers, I figured it was at least as far back as 1934 given that I have a 3118 which is a 1935 model. The 3 70 complements the Rogers console rather well, even though the Rogers is a 1935-36 model.
Regards
Arran

As with all Philco data I have encountered over the last 23 years, there may be errors and/or omissions in the factory data I used to compile the list of Canadian sets.

As I said, Philco Products Ltd. began using the 3 in front of their model numbers in 1933. The 3 became a C in 1938, and then Philco of Canada developed their own model number scheme from 1939 on; some of these sets have the same model numbers as older USA models which causes confusion now.

The radio it's sitting on is a Rogers 11-66 (chassis 6R632). It's a pretty solid performer. I rotate what gets to sit on top of it every few weeks so that all my smaller sets get the occasional workout.



The tag on the 70-a/370/? is really odd because as everyone says, the '3' had to have been stamped separately from the '70' - but there's no indication as to when or why. It's a legit Canadian tag and the fact that it's missing the 'A' designation is almost as odd as the presence of the '3.' That's what leads me to believe that it's original, no matter how strange.

It's interesting too that the Philco sets are broken into two groups - the 25-40 cycle sets and 40-60. Most other sets from the time period were 25-60, from what I've seen.

To get the definitive answer about the "3," one would have to go ask a dead guy who worked at Philco Products Ltd. in 1931. Not every detail of the company survived the decades, ownership changes, etc.

Interesting side note: 25 cycle power transformers run just fine on 60 cycle AC, but the reverse is not true.

Or we just need to scare up enough of these radios to infer a pattern. Sounds like a challenge.

The 25-cycle sets actually run pretty well. They're cooler than they would have been originally.

With regard to the 25 cycle transformers they can take the full 120-125 AC line voltage without complaint and can normally take more overloading then their 60 cycle siblings in the same models. This is part of the reason why I am using a 25 cycle transformer as a replacement in a C.G.E model KL500 set that had a 60 cycle one with a shorted high voltage winding, it actually came out of a Stromberg Carlson I think but it fits the hole and is close in voltage output. I guess to run a transformer off of 25 cycles you had to make it tougher and more resistant to core saturation, hence the substantially larger quantity of iron.
This is a bit off topic but with regard to the Rogers Eleven -66, did they move the tuning light from the center of the dial pointer to that green plastic lens above the control panel? I think it's strange that a 1937 model would use the same dial scale as a 1936, many of the 1937 models had an airplane dial with a different graphic design where they moved away from the flowery "Rogers" script above the center of the dial and went with more modern looking block letters fitted vertically into that wedge shaped area at the bottom of the dial. I noticed that they did change the cabinet, the console version of my Ten-60 had six short legs rather then a full length cabinet.
Regards
Arran

That is indeed the tuning indicator up above the dial. I've seen the Deforest version of the same set and it was also moved outside of the dial face.

I'd have to look more closely but it was my impression that it was the first iteration of that dial that had the block lettering in the wedge at the base. I thought I'd seen it on 1935 sets. You see it here, for example on a Rogers 4621, which was 1934-35: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14637287@N0...hotostream