Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - Printable Version
+- The PHILCO Phorum (https://philcoradio.com/phorum)
+-- Forum: Philco Radio Discussions (https://philcoradio.com/phorum/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Philco Electronic Restoration (https://philcoradio.com/phorum/forumdisplay.php?fid=8)
+--- Thread: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ (/showthread.php?tid=11518)
+- The PHILCO Phorum (https://philcoradio.com/phorum)
+-- Forum: Philco Radio Discussions (https://philcoradio.com/phorum/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Philco Electronic Restoration (https://philcoradio.com/phorum/forumdisplay.php?fid=8)
+--- Thread: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ (/showthread.php?tid=11518)
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - sam - 02-07-2015
great job so far ron
sam
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - Chuck Schwark - 02-08-2015
I love that dial in the dark.
Chuck
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - Ron Ramirez - 02-08-2015
Thanks Chuck and Sam...I like that dial too
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - Ron Ramirez - 02-08-2015
I didn't do much to the radio today, only replacing a few more wires and also resleeving a couple in the coil/bandswitch unit.
All AM coils have good continuity. The 1st SW band RF coil has good continuity, but the wires are sort of messed up. They can be straightened out, however. I still need to check the continuity of the other coils in the radio.
I had an emergency come up this afternoon. I plugged a brand new TV antenna amplifier's wall wart into the wall and as I did, it made a "FOOF!" sound and a nice spark flew out from inside the receptacle box. I turned off the appropriate breaker and pulled the receptacles (two in a double box). The electricians had pinched a black (hot) wire, and it had broken and hit the ground wire, which is what caused the "FOOF!" and spark. That spark took out the new TV antenna amplifier - it no longer works.
Anyway, I spent the afternoon repairing that damage. It could have been worse. I'm glad I caught it when I did, but I'm not happy about the antenna amp.
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - KCMike - 02-08-2015
Yes you are lucky you caught that. Could of had a slow smoldering fire start in the wall void that could have destroyed your house. Sorry it got your antenna amp.
Sounds like your getting close on the radio.
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - klondike98 - 02-08-2015
Glad you caught that bad wiring job before real bad things happened!!!
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - Chuck Schwark - 02-09-2015
It could have been a time bomb in the wall.
Best that you found it immediately.
If I were you, I'd check other spots that electrician "fixed."
Would make me nervous.
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - morzh - 02-09-2015
What is interesting that it took out the amp. Usually if it is inside the outlet type of short (unless I misunderstood?) it occurs outside a device and does not damage it as the current exists only outside.
Unless there is some surge created by it (why?).....in any case, if the amp is new and is under warranty, it probably could be replaced.
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - Ron Ramirez - 02-09-2015
The amp was an eBay purchase.
I tried it one more time before I threw it out. Amazingly, the power indicator LED came on this time (it did not do so after the FOOF! and spark). So it is now back in service.
Chuck Schwark Wrote:If I were you, I'd check other spots that electrician "fixed."
Don't worry, I will!
These "repairs" were done right after we moved into this house in Fall 2013. We are so fortunate that this didn't cause a fire.
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - morzh - 02-09-2015
It might take few seconds between plugins for a device to recover (a bad reset circuit, a PS protection etc).
But as I said before, it is rare for an external Poof! to take out a device. Not impossible but rare.
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - Ron Ramirez - 02-09-2015
Well, let's get back to the subject at hand.
There was one coil that looked suspicious - the first SW band (band C) RF coil. It has good continuity, but the wires had obviously been removed and resoldered at some point. In addition, one of the wire leads had a resistor and another wire soldered to it, with no support. Not a good thing.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-36.jpg]
Here is how it looked initially. I needed to lengthen the wire leads and add insulation to each lead.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-37.jpg]
I took some wire from some leftover AC cord, which is very thin strand. I used five of the strands from a length of that wire and made a stranded wire with which to lengthen one of the coil leads.
Here, you see the first of the four leads has been lengthened in this manner.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-38.jpg]
Now, three of the four leads have been lengthened, and insulation added. The blobs of hot glue were placed to help hold the wire leads in place and was done in an effort to keep the leads from possibly breaking off at the coil.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-39.jpg]
I needed an insulated terminal, which was anchored in place to something solid, to hold the fourth wire lead as well as to use as a tie point for that lead, one end of 5K resistor (16) and a wire going to terminal B7 on the band switch.
Fortunately, the shield between the antenna coils and the RF coils was removable, and there was enough room for a small terminal strip on it at the point where it was needed. So I drilled a hole and attached the terminal strip you see here with a small steel pop rivet.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-40.jpg]
Now, the rewiring and reattaching leads of coil (8) is complete.
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - Ron Ramirez - 02-09-2015
After the tedious work with coil (8), I proceeded to rewire the two IF transformers, polished their aluminum housings, and then reinstalled them in the radio.
I also installed a couple more paper caps. This set uses lots of 0.25 uF caps and I don't have any more paper shells of that value or size, so I am probably going to (horrors!) install the remaining 0.22 uF caps without paper shells.
Anyway, here's how it looks now.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-41.jpg]
Left side of chassis.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-42.jpg]
Middle of chassis.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-43.jpg]
Right side of chassis.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-44.jpg]
Back of chassis, showing the rebuilt IF transformers in place once again.
After getting all of this done, I thought it would be a good time to take a break. So I came upstairs, looked at the clock...it was after 5 pm EST! Time flies when you're having fun.
So I may, or may not, do some more work to it this evening.I still need to install a few more paper caps, restuff the electrolytics, and install them. That should be it.
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - morzh - 02-09-2015
Ron
The second green wire (on the right) looks like it is not soldered to where it goes to (the upper part).
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - Ron Ramirez - 02-09-2015
If you mean here:
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-43.jpg]
then you are correct. That is the antenna lead, and I am waiting until I get the restuffed electrolytics, one of which mounts in place just below the antenna terminal, to solder it into place.
The loose white and loose black wires will connect to the input electrolytic once it is in place.
Or do you mean here?
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/39-770/39770-40.jpg]
It is in the correct position, on the band switch. I soldered it after I took the photo.
If you mean a different picture, please specify...thanks.
RE: Philco Tropic 39-770EZ - KCMike - 02-09-2015
Great work Ron. Nice clear pictures with explanations of step by step process.
One question if I may. The center picture, the upper left coil looks like it has no wax on it.
Is it suppose to be like that? Or is it just the camera not catching it?