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My Phirst Philco - Printable Version

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My Phirst Philco - rdnzl - 06-06-2018

Hello!

I picked up this beauty yesterday. All she needs is a tune up and new grille cloth.

I really like the style of this big console. Subdued, but elegant. Not in your face, but homey. Real nice wood.

[Image: https://i.imgur.com/CknpFdt.jpg]

[Image: https://i.imgur.com/Hl6Vp3P.jpg]

[Image: https://i.imgur.com/AJ5MfNE.jpg]

[Image: https://i.imgur.com/R0qYcSF.jpg]

RE: My Phirst Philco - Electrothaumaturgist - 06-06-2018

VERY NICE!!! VERY NICE, INDEED!!! CONGRATS!!! I suspect that it'll need a bit more than a "tune-up", though. All of these need to be electronically restored to make them safe for daily playing...

RE: My Phirst Philco - rdnzl - 06-06-2018

Absolutely!  By tune up I mean restoring the components to their original glory.  

I have a guy...….a really good guy.....who has been working on these things for decades.

He has done two other old consoles for me, a Sparton 1867 Triolian, and a Zenith Zephyr 6S157. They are pretty much like new after he worked on them.

RE: My Phirst Philco - morzh - 06-06-2018

A 116X. Great radio.

RE: My Phirst Philco - rdnzl - 06-06-2018

[Image: https://i.imgur.com/VBpW5FQ.jpg?1]

RE: My Phirst Philco - Radioroslyn - 06-06-2018

Nice set, good player, excellent sensitivity and selectivity, plays loud!

Aside from the strictly electrical service you may want to have a look at the 2sp dial reduction drive (disassemble, clean, and grease). Under the  tuning cap there are 3 rubber grommets that most of the time have failed causing the tuning to seem loose onto the chassis. If so replacement are in order.

I serviced a late model 116B and a 116X (pretty much the same chassis but the B has a smaller output stage as it's a big table model) a couple of yrs ago.

GL

RE: My Phirst Philco - Paul Philco322 - 06-06-2018

A great way to start with Philco I have yet to be fortunate enough to find a set on the high end.

Good luck. 

Paul

RE: My Phirst Philco - tbone - 06-06-2018

Nice looking radio! A great find for sure. I have never seen an acoustic damper speaker that big.

RE: My Phirst Philco - rdnzl - 06-06-2018

What is the concept of the dampeners? Are they like passive radiators on modern speakers? I used to have some speakers back in the 80's that had a passive radiator that was front firing, and when I put my ear and hand to it, it was pumping out lows.

RE: My Phirst Philco - tbone - 06-07-2018

The way I understand these work is by absorbing vibrations and other anomalies caused by the cabinet leaving clear true sound representation. I don’t have first hand experience with them yet till I get my 38-690 done. I’m tempted to pull them out to see what changes they make, an experiment.

RE: My Phirst Philco - Radioroslyn - 06-07-2018

If you've done any web research on the 116X you've probably seen this:  http://www.tuberadioland.com/philco116X_main.html  Excellent write up and mentions the ac. There has been a lot written over the years about the ac.  Some have said it's junk science or that it's just sale gimmick. At the rear the center of the cone is fitted with rubber strap to dampen the cone's movement. A lot of these look like they melted sort of droopy. Someone wrote a piece about replacing the rubber strap with a section of plastic wrist band. It looked ok but not sure if it would respond in the same manner as the rubber would have. As for the ac's in general personally I don't know what the performance is like with or without I've never done a test.
I must admit that I have thought of removing the two small ac and replacing them w/a pair of tweeters.

RE: My Phirst Philco - rdnzl - 06-07-2018

My radio tech guy is going to also be replacing the grille cloth for me when he goes through it. If I am correct, I think this is the correct grille cloth for me to order.

http://www.radiodaze.com/grille-cloth-41-item-grc41-25x25/

RE: My Phirst Philco - Electrothaumaturgist - 06-07-2018

That's odd. That is the cloth I used in the 38-1. Yours being a 1936 model, you would think they would have a different patterned repro cloth for that. I would double check that one...

Jim

RE: My Phirst Philco - Ron Ramirez - 06-07-2018

Jim (Electro) is correct - you don't want to use that cloth in your 116X. You should use this instead:

http://www.radiodaze.com/grille-cloth-03-item-grc03-18x25/

or better yet, more authentic looking, the "Philco Chevron" on this page:

http://richmonddesignsinc.com/grille_cloth_product_page

RE: My Phirst Philco - rdnzl - 06-07-2018

Are you sure about this guys?

Here is a pic of the cloth on the Philco. It looks more like GRC-41 to me.  Two dark lines on a lighter background. The other one looks more like two lighter lines on a darker background.

also, if you look at this page, it looks more like the one I'm talking about. It's light background with darker twin stripes.
http://www.tuberadioland.com/philco116X_main.html


This is my 116X grill cloth. 



[Image: https://i.imgur.com/zrpvbpf.jpg?1]