Philco 41-290 Chassis: Any Cautions? - Printable Version

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Philco 41-290 Chassis: Any Cautions? - Pol-Cat - 06-03-2009

Hi! I just acquired a 41-290 console with an excellent-plus cabinet (yea!), dial group and grille cloth. Chassis (121) and speaker now have been removed and ready for refurbishment. Are there any major issues I should specifically look for or be very wary about that are/may be specific to this particular 10 tube chassis? Thanks! Frank

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Re: Philco 41-290 Chassis: Any Cautions? - Texasrocker - 06-06-2009

Hello Pol-Cat. The major-issue with these particular yrs (WW2) era radios was the orig rubber-coated wiring. Most are always brittle & crumbly, so it is usually necessary to either replace some if not all of the point-to-point wiring, or cut one end loose, & re-sleeve the orig wires with heat-shrink tubing. If the power trans leads are brittle, can pose a serious high-voltage short to chassis & can be dangerous! Check to make sure none of your trans wires are shorted together, or to chassis! If necessary, you can either color-code,or mark numbers on all the trans wires, and remove the trans to re-sleeve all the wires then reinstall it. Replace all your electrolytic capacitors, & bypass caps, check all your tube filaments for continuity,tube pins and sockets cleaned best you can, then you will be ready for a test using a short pc of antenna wire.
Hopefully, you have a variac, so you can power the set up slowly after full electronic restoration. The power trans shouldnt draw more than about 1 ampere max, if everything is correct after restoration, & your orig rectifier tube isnt shorted internally. Have you serviced vintage radios before,.or is this your first attempt? In either case, theres plenty good folks here to help if needed! Best of luck restoring your vintage Philco!

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Re: Philco 41-290 Chassis: Any Cautions? - Ron Ramirez - 06-07-2009

I certainly do not mean to dissuade you, Pol-Cat, but that radio and its siblings, the 41-250/255/280/285/287, are (in my opinion) the hardest radios to restore that Philco ever made. Tex has already mentioned the rubber-covered wiring. That is what makes this radio so difficult. Beware the wires going to the band switch! Nearly ALL of them are rubber-covered, and if you are not very careful, you could break the band switch! Don't ask me how I know.

But good luck to you and hopefully it will all work out well. Just take your time, don't take any shortcuts or get in a hurry, and please feel free to ask us here if you run into any problems.

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