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Philco 39-25T - Printable Version

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Philco 39-25T - Chris h - 01-01-2019

Hello all,

I have a 39-25T that I was given a few years ago, and thought it would be a good project to practice my veneer and finishing skills on. This radio has a pretty good cabinet, with some veneer issues, and figured it would be a good candidate for learning with.

My immediate issue is that the dial excussion is missing the dial glass and push button retainer. A previous owner had removed the “glass” and buttons and covered the openings with the same hideous speaker cloth used over the speaker. The push button switch assembly and tuning coils and caps are present, though. So all is not lost. The tuning dial, is present and in excellent condition, though.

From some pictures I have seen, the dial “glass” appears to be of the vacuum formed plastic type. I have  a few questions regarding the “glass”:
1. Does someone reproduce these plastic type dial “glasses”?
2. Does it also retain or cover the push button legend labels?
3. How is it retained?

Does this model use the long push buttons, available from suppliers like Renovated Radios, or other suppliers?

I am working my way thru the rubber wire used in this chassis, now. The radio was very dusty, dirty, and dead as a door nail. But after a few caps and resistors, it has come back to life. I have removed the push buttons, coils, and condenser rack to get to the components below them. So far, so good.

Thanks for looking.

RE: Philco 39-25T - klondike98 - 01-02-2019

Radio Daze makes the white and black dial reproduction.  Same dial is used on the 39-30 and 39-25.

There is a metal escutcheon that goes over the top of the area for the dial.  The escutcheon holds the station labels in some slots.  New buttons are available from Renovated Radios.

This is what I started with...
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q98egefokc81add/39-25_dialcover_asreceived.jpg?raw=1]

Here's the best close up of the escutcheon I have:
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zs4gzs6la1aohdp/39-25_dialcover_painted.jpg?raw=1]

The escutcheon is not reproduced so you will have to find one on a donor chassis. Perhaps an ad in the wanted section here and keep an eye on the ebay offerings.

The buttons are retained by sliding onto the metal slats seen in this photo with the small rubber piece and circle on the slat.  I never found a replacement for the rubber piece but it works fine without it.  the open end of the slat is to the right and unseen in this photo.  
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/iezjbwnnmsuo8is/39-25_pushbutton.jpg?raw=1]

some notes and threads on the restoration can be found in the link in the signature below

RE: Philco 39-25T - Nathan Slingerland - 01-02-2019

One small addition to Bob's very detailed reply - reproduction dial 'glass' (plastic in this case) is available during from https://dialcover.com/

That's just the clear part.

RE: Philco 39-25T - klondike98 - 01-02-2019

Thanks Nathan, I forgot about that!

RE: Philco 39-25T - Phlogiston - 01-02-2019

(01-02-2019, 10:46 AM)klondike98 Wrote:  Radio Daze makes the white and black dial reproduction.  Same dial is used on the 39-30 and 39-25.

There is a metal escutcheon that goes over the top of the area for the dial.  The escutcheon holds the station labels in some slots.  New buttons are available from Renovated Radios.




Here's the best close up of the escutcheon I have:
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zs4gzs6la1aohdp/39-25_dialcover_painted.jpg?raw=1]

The escutcheon is not reproduced so you will have to find one on a donor chassis.  Perhaps an ad in the wanted section here and keep an eye on the ebay offerings.  


some notes and threads on the restoration can be found in the link in the signature below


That escutcheon color look right, but I have seen some that seem to be nickel plated as well (dull silver).

RE: Philco 39-25T - Chris h - 01-02-2019

Thank you, Bob, Nathan, and Phlogiston, for the reply and the source for the cover. My radio looks a little better than yours did. I have the escutcheon and the dial. I don’t have the cover or buttons. I was wondering about how to treat the escutcheon, so thanks for the paint tip. Mine is brass colored, under all the dirt and nicotine. The dial, itself, has the dark amber color. I don’t know if it has darkened from a white color from age, light exposure, nicotine, or all of these, but kind of like the amber color. Are they supposed to be black and white?

Another problem is the dial lamp socket, the insulator on the inside was a hardened piece of goo, that crumbled when I tried to remove the bulb. I still have a good shell, spring, and center contact. I think I may be able to use a nylon washer to replace the insulator, like Ron has suggested.

Thanks for the replies.

RE: Philco 39-25T - Nathan Slingerland - 01-03-2019

Hi Chris,

I've seen three different 39-25T sets and all had black on white dials (the white plastic can yellow a bit). It's possible yours has a reproduction dial?

You may be interested in this thread where I reproduced a dial that had been damaged by someone trying to clean it with a water based cleaner like Windex (bad idea):

http://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=15162

See this tech section article for how to rebuild the lamp socket (a common problem):

http://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=14963