The PHILCO Phorum
Model 70 Help for the newbie - Printable Version

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Model 70 Help for the newbie - mikehorning - 02-06-2009

Hi guys,

Well if you have been keeping up with me, you probably know I'm on my first restoration. I have a model 70. So far I have restuffed the Bakelite caps and the two wet caps. I used to have a loud hum. After doing all of the caps, I now seem to have silence. When I turn the volume knob I can hear the crackle of the speaker but that is about it. When I turn the tuning knob, it sort of sounds like it may be trying to pick up a station but it is just a very slight occasional disruption, and I can't actually hear any sound. I have about 3 feet of antennae wire. Should I have more?

Once again, I am looking for advice. I am guessing that I probably need to verify that my tubes are actually good (I have a few extras), but I don't have a tester yet. I also thought I should see if there were other things that I should be thinking about.

Also, while I have been working on this, I have encountered another problem. The last time, I pulled the plug that connects the speaker to the chassis, a wire broke off the right at the speaker plug. It looks like that plug is riveted closed. Should I order a replacement end to fix this or can you drill the rivets and repair the wire and plug?

As always, I really appreciate everyone's help. I'm learning a lot. And I'm hoping I can see this to completion.

Mike

Re: Model 70 Help for the newbie - Ron Ramirez - 02-06-2009

Hi

Yes, you need an antenna longer than three feet. 20 feet is a bare minimum; the radio was designed to be used with an outdoor longwire antenna on the order of 50 to 100 feet long.

Even with that short piece of wire, though, you should at least be getting your local stations.

Check continuity of your set's antenna, RF and oscillator coils; chances are that one or more are bad. Common occurrence with the older Philcos.

Yes, you may carefully remove the rivets from the speaker plug, repair the broken wire, and reassemble.

Re: Model 70 Help for the newbie - mikehorning - 02-07-2009

Thanks for the help Ron, I can handle that.

Re: Model 70 Help for the newbie - mikehorning - 02-07-2009

Well Ron it looks like you were right. It turned out to be that the 1st detector was open. I have two model 70 chassis, and one of them turned out to be good. So after a month I can say that I can finally have stations!

I don't think I've worked all the bugs out though. I've noticed that I can only seem to get stations high on the dial and when I do turn the tuning knob, I will get a station in real clear for a moment and then suddenly the radio goes quiet and completely loses the station. It seem like if I turn the volume knob and wiggle the tuning knob that I can sometimes get the station back.

Any thoughts on that? As always I really appreciate the help. My wife didn't think I'd ever get this to work, so thanks to the Phorum, I look like a genius in her eyes.

Re: Model 70 Help for the newbie - Ron Ramirez - 02-08-2009

Hi Mike

Read this tip from my site's Tech Section.

http://www.philcoradio.com/tech/tuner.htm

This should prove helpful in resolving your problem.

Re: Model 70 Help for the newbie - radiorich - 02-09-2009

Hello Ron,
Well I'm not Mike but that tip aplies to my Philco 20 deluxe that I will be working on this year.
Sincerely Rich
P.S. mike thats great you found the problem far as that set Goes maybe it will need alignment done to it later .
to improve the reception even better.Also Ron off the subject a little far as that 50 to 100 would that hold true for say my Philco 610B tombstone that I have .

Re: Model 70 Help for the newbie - Ron Ramirez - 02-09-2009

radiorich Wrote:far as that 50 to 100 would that hold true for say my Philco 610B tombstone that I have .

Yes.

Any vintage radio designed to use a longwire antenna (as opposed to a built-in loop) will benefit from having an antenna attached which is as long as possible.

Re: Model 70 Help for the newbie - mikehorning - 02-09-2009

As always thank you Ron. It's pretty exciting to see it come back together again. I've ordered some grommets, and in the meantime, I think I'll get started on the cabinet. I was looking at a picture of a model 70/71 that you had posted a while ago. Did the 70 originally have brown trim along the base and on the edges of the face, or is that just a Darker Walnut lacquer?