The PHILCO Phorum

Hey guys,
Haven't posted much on here lately, pretty busy caring for my mom. Made the mistake of looking at Craigslist again and now I am the new owner of a 40-180! It was about a half hour drive north of me and in really good original condition, and priced at $45 bucks I just couldn't say no! Now, where to put it?!!!
Kevin

It is a great looking radio, just get the new pushbuttons.
45 bucks....excellent.
Hopefully you do not need to rewire it.

Unfortunately you almost always do need to rewire these sets. Even if it does not need it now once he starts changing capacitors, resistors, or starts poking around the insulation will start falling off unless is still flexible by some chance. One thing I know about early 1940s Philcos is that the rubber/gutta percha covered crap runs up into the IF cans, so that should be replaced at the very least if it's brittle.
Regards
Arran

This was the reason I let go an excellent 40s Philco console (even buttons were intact) in my town. Wasn't looking forward to a full rewire.

I would not turn a higher end model down if it were in good shape, for a reasonable price, in spite of how people look down their nose at the 1939-42 Philcos they are all decent performers. Those 40-180 and the successive models in 1941 and 42 also had a cheap but cleaver way of including a push pull output stage on a budget priced set using what Philco deemed as "Screen grid inversion", without using an audio interstage transformer or a phase inverter tube. It does not work quite as well as a true push-pull setup but it's still an improvement over a single ended output stage.
Regards
Arran

I think if I fool with one of those again I'd mount a little 6C4 under the chassis.
Terry

Really nice radio. But I have way to many consoles and my wife is on my A--. I think I would collect that radio in the table model to save space for something special.

I can't remember whether there was a table version of a 40-180 or not, I think so, but even if not the chassis will bolt into a slant front table cabinet without issue. With regard to adding a 6C4 under the chassis, I don't think I would modify one to that extent, even if there was room underneath. There was a higher end model using a similar chassis that did include a phase inverter tube I think, I would have to check the manual to find out which one.
On the other hand the 40-190 uses an extra double diode tube as a second detector, which is a waste of a tube socket, one could dump the double diode, use a triode-double diode, and then use the detector tube socket for a phase inverter tube. I don't know how much you would gain in power output though as the B+ voltage is fairly low for an AC set, you would gain some but it would also improve the fidelity.
What they did with the 40-190 was similar to the old trick some companies had of using a 6H6 and a 6J5 to bloat the tube count when they could have used a 6Q7/6R7. In most cases the 6H6 had the cathodes tied together and at the same potential as the cathode in the first audio triode. Some even had both diodes in the 6H6 tied together, or had the plate and cathode tied together on one side. In other words the 6H6 was a useless tube in that application.
Regards
Arran

I believe the closest table model to the 40-180 would be the 40-150. the chassis are very similar, I restored a 40-150 last year and while it was a pain replacing all that wiring, it turned out to be a great performing set. I'm not planning on doing anything major with this 40-180 for now as I have too many other irons in the fire. I'm going to clean it up and try some "restore a Finish" on it and move it into the house.
Kevin

Kevin,

That good looking radio was a steal at $45.00! I'm glad you were able to save it. You never know what might have happened to it.

I'll bet it will look great with some Howard's Restore a Finish on it.

I just bought a 40-150 at the SCARS radio swap meet in Burbank, CA almost 2 weeks ago. It needs a replacement dial glass. The dial glass itself is intact, but the painted backside is very "runny' and very difficult to read. Somewhere in it's past, I'm guessing it got some kind of cleaner/solvent on it which melted and shriveled the paint.

Hopefully, I'll be able to find a good used one somewhere. I know there's new ones out there, but I'd rather find a good used one that's not too expensive.

Tom

The large black cylinder hanging next to the speaker- is that a rotary antenna?

yes it is.

Kevin, I've got the solution to your storing another console issue. Sell me the Chrysler and you'll have lots of extra room! Take care, Gary