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Philco TPA-1 Progress . . . - Printable Version

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Philco TPA-1 Progress . . . - PhilcoFordTesla - 12-05-2019

Got the amp working easy enough and sounds pretty decent- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEtvu4ldFts but didn't have a lot of hope for the original motor after retensioning the brushes still not able to get continuity and the commutator looked burned, so decided to repower with a Mabuchi RC280 RC car motor, turns out these are just a purrfect 24MM diameter case and 2.0mm shaft size compared to the original-    

The resulting speed achieved was ~22-1/2 RPM  Icon_sad so I thought about it for a day or two while I have been waiting for a couple other motor choices, ~$2-$3 free shipping from China! 

But tonight I thought about ways to increase the speed with a sleeve over the motor shaft and picked a piece of PVC ~18ga wire insulation which got me close to the right speed, but adding a piece of shrink tubing over that made it just about the right speed at the top of the range  Icon_biggrin  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85gdEytzZac  The case cleaned up quite a bit with my favorite lanolin hand cleaner, a nice brush and a moist rag.

PWM controller and lower voltage motors coming soon, this one was advertised as "3, 6, 9, 12V  . . . "  17,000 rpm . . .YMMV


RE: Philco TPA-1 Progress . . . - PhilcoFordTesla - 12-05-2019

Cartridge retrofit . . .                      

funny the 1.5" x 1/4" record adapter seems to have swollen over time and no longer fits the center holes :-(  Time to chuck it in the lathe and do some sanding and polishing!


RE: Philco TPA-1 Progress . . . - PhilcoFordTesla - 12-05-2019

missed this one! just before I got mine? Nicely writen ad- https://www.ebay.com/itm/PHILCO-TPA-1-ALL-TRANSISTOR-PHONOGRAPH-1955-WORKS-/264339542138?nma=true&si=1FrqqSvPjE51cqes1IhA9QkQnwQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557


RE: Philco TPA-1 Progress . . . - OldRestorer - 12-05-2019

Looking fantastic!

I used the P51-2 in mine also.

Icon_smile


RE: Philco TPA-1 Progress . . . - PhilcoFordTesla - 12-05-2019

Thanks, sounds pretty terrible but if I can find a better solution for motor speed than a piece of shrink tubing it might help the WOW factor  Icon_crazy , but it sure sounds a lot better with an external signal! Maybe time to try one of these cartridges in another RCA player, did one a few years ago and don't recall it sounding much better though lol.   Icon_rolleyes


RE: Philco TPA-1 Progress . . . - Ron Ramirez - 12-05-2019

Admin Note: Moved to Philco Electronic Restoration since this involves an ongoing restoration.


RE: Philco TPA-1 Progress . . . - PhilcoFordTesla - 12-09-2019

Sounding quite a bit better tonight, time to put the screws back in? https://studio.youtube.com/video/-Bwe9A62syo/edit I have a Fabian record to put on for the wife, her teenage heart throb! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bwe9A62syo&feature=youtu.be


RE: Philco TPA-1 Progress . . . - PhilcoFordTesla - 12-10-2019

Sounds even better tonight with this little PWM controller, running here from ~7 volts but it runs well off of a single 3.7V cell. Need to pick up some Alkaline D Cells but they get like $2 apiece now so ordered a 12 pack on ebay if I don't decide to run it off the 18650's with some little regulator modules on order . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSjx52Unftk&t=12s


RE: Philco TPA-1 Progress . . . - morzh - 12-11-2019

D cells are not bad at all on Amazon, and very recently Shoprite had a huge sale with the Energizer like 75c apiece. Or better.
I stocked up.