The PHILCO Phorum

I have several 1940 and '41 Philco chasses with broken loktal tube sockets. I found some modern ceramic replacements on Radio Daze, but when I looked them over I found that the pins were rotated 90 degrees with respect to the mounting holes from the originals. That would mean if I installed the sockets in the original holes, I'd need to re-route and some cases lengthen the wires to attach to the proper pins.

The alternative is to drill new holes for the modern socket. It's not a huge deal, but I'd prefer not to do that if possible.

What do you guys do when you need to replace a loktal socket? Are there sources for vintage sockets or modern ones that are 100% compatible with the old ones?

I have had success over the yrs of salvaging good vintage-type orig tube sockets off old rusted -electronically "hacked" chassis's,.. (all types) from non-restorable garage sale finds , cheap buys on eBay, etc. To remove the old sockets, a "dremmel tool" with proper small grinding tip easily extracts the old rivets when carefully used. There are always plenty of "trashed" Philcos on eBay that sell cheap! You can buy them up a few at a time, just for "parts sets", and usually can come out of the deal with a few good tubes, controls, etc, that will compliment you with a good "backstock" of spare parts! Just watch eBay for the Philco 1940-41 models vintage radios that are "trashed beyond restoration" and purchase the whole radio "cheap" with "actual shipping chgs" to your address. You will then collect enough good "original philco" tube sockets, and all other usable parts very fast to cover many your needs!! Its worked for me many times before! Randal