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I Just purchased a 1936-37 Philco 116X "basket case" floor-standing radio... - Printable Version

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I Just purchased a 1936-37 Philco 116X "basket case" floor-standing radio... - docace2000 - 09-06-2018

Hello ALL, I'm VERY new to this forum as well as VERY new to working with the old "Vintage" tube style radios.  I do have a H.S. electronics education so I do know my way around a soldering iron.  I have some separate issues to deal with on this project: The cabinet is in all one piece but the wood finish veneer is SHOT and will need to be COMPLETELY refinished as well as the fabric screening.

AND the radio does attempt to turn on but nothing more than a hum is coming out of the unit.  All but 1 of the 4 (!) of the speakers is completely gone and the one still "standing" is mostly disintegrated but  there is still enough of the paper is there to make the humming sound.

So my questions are this:  I would like to have a Tube Tester of my own to have around to check the tube as needed.  What is the bare minimum type I will need to check all the 11 tubes on this unit?  I went on e-bay today and I'm completely lost as to what kind of tube tester I will need.  If I find I really like this hobby, I may find in the future that I would to do more projects (even more challenging) than the 116X I have now.  Any advice you can give in this area would be MOST helpful. ( I DON'T have a problem buying a decent Tube Tester in the $100 to $200 as long as it's working now )

Question 2: Where can I find replacement fabric screening for the radio and a replacement "Philco Radio" wet decal that was near the radio dial at the top of the unit?

Question 3: are there any books that you might recommend for me to help me get up to speed with working with tube radios in general?

I still have the radio in the trunk at the moment but I will be posting pics as I go with the project.

ANY input or help will be kindly appreciated from all that I'll be encountering along the way as this project moves forward! 

Thank you all for anything you can do for me!

RE: I Just purchased a 1936-37 Philco 116X "basket case" floor-standing radio... - PhilcoPhan1936 - 09-06-2018

For the grill cloth, I recommend the Philco "Chevron" from Richmond Designs.

https://www.richmonddesignsinc.com

For Replacement Decals, head over to Radio Daze. They also have a Chevron Cloth, but in my opinion, it's not as nice as Richmond's.

http://www.radiodaze.com/decals-46/

RE: I Just purchased a 1936-37 Philco 116X "basket case" floor-standing radio... - docace2000 - 09-07-2018

Awesome!  I'll go check out those sources A.S.A.P.!  Thanks!

RE: I Just purchased a 1936-37 Philco 116X "basket case" floor-standing radio... - klondike98 - 09-07-2018

Welcome to the Phorum!
Icon_wave

If you are only restoring this one radio then a tube tester would probably not be a good buy. As a casual radio restorer a tester that is a simple emission tester would likely be just fine. There are many on ebay of various manufacturers. I bought a Jackson model 648 (that was produced for many years with some upgrades over those years) that I find does the early tubes as well as those into the 50's. In reading about these I found they were well regarded units by the radio repair guys. A Hickok 600 is often considered better particularly for folks who want a mutual conductance measurement of their tubes. These are pricier. For folks who do a lot of testing and want accurate tube performance readings I believe most go for a calibrated TV-7 D/U tester... even pricier. Others will surely have their own opinions as well.

RE: I Just purchased a 1936-37 Philco 116X "basket case" floor-standing radio... - KCMike - 09-07-2018

Welcome. The 116X is a good radio. Could be a challenge to start out with but doable.
 Here is some general info on getting started with old radio repair.
  https://antiqueradio.org/FirstStepsInRestoration.htm

RE: I Just purchased a 1936-37 Philco 116X "basket case" floor-standing radio... - Radioroslyn - 09-07-2018

>All but 1 of the 4 (!) of the speakers is completely gone

The set actually only has one spkr, the other three are acoustic clarifiers.
You can read abt them here:  http://www.tuberadioland.com/philco116X_main.html
The one w/the wires connected to it is the spkr.