The PHILCO Phorum
1938 Zenith - Printable Version

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1938 Zenith - Lawrence Austin - 06-03-2026

This was my latest project. A friend from work was going to toss it in the garbage! Starting on my Philco 37-630 now. Transmitting through a Talking House transmitter.[Image: https://scontent.fpit1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/649108105_10233255718518459_37179757492483441_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=SyAWDS3RpbMQ7kNvwEIAJU7&_nc_oc=Adp9M7D6pmqfhbduIsWRTT9f7uhKY0Po6lk228dJ3pVPouqzVrrMiYa8Yc28_h7hBPA&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fpit1-1.fna&_nc_gid=AdsTrN6_roW-dr7duf8nUg&_nc_ss=7b2a8&oh=00_Af_g58KBF98bBjMVQ7MQwVqPtU3Usm779f-CLmmkPrUFfw&oe=6A268C6C][Image: https://scontent.fpit1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/648892973_10233232547259192_8464098335258478361_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=wApuqMAygvAQ7kNvwHkIYt_&_nc_oc=AdqdiSGlyVZK_oURjo3dXcws05pzCWQk9DEXhkvQveDUvDDFay_rsnJ-E2d8dyJ450M&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fpit1-1.fna&_nc_gid=sGt4hyd_FFztgZLc4yQZUQ&_nc_ss=7b2a8&oh=00_Af9KfihP3uQCOGnCi7XYm1pCCMNpVl62NoH3MsMY3xWZqg&oe=6A26AB79]
[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QVKXruVDf8]

RE: 1938 Zenith - morzh - 06-03-2026

Wow....tossing a 9-S-262 Zenith in the garbage is like tossing $200 in that same garbage.
And, if by some miracle (and this might be the case if no one tried to restore it) it still has 6T5 eye tube in it and by some double miracle it works, the tube alone today is ober $100.

Well, I can see it is not 6T5, maybe 6U5. Maybe you had to buy it. Still. This is one of the great and inexpensive ones.

RE: 1938 Zenith - Lawrence Austin - 06-03-2026

The eye was in the radio when I got it. Can't remember the number but it was the first thing I tested. Had to get out my older wooden box tube tester to confirm it worked. My newer serve yourself store tester didn't list it on the rolodex. Got me in the mood for restoration when it lit up nicely. New belts, electrolytics, coupling caps, a good portion of the resistors, output tube, output transformer and BAM.

RE: 1938 Zenith - radiorich - 06-03-2026

Hello Lawrence Austin,
What great Save
Sincerely Richard

RE: 1938 Zenith - tbone - 06-04-2026

That came out beautiful! Plenty of power with the single ended output. Does this have a lamp above the tone control? Not many sets had the second lamp. Really cool.

RE: 1938 Zenith - morzh - 06-04-2026

Larry,


So it was then changed at some point.

Originally the tube was 6T5. Unlike the others it has concentric indicator, not the sector type.
Electrically and pin-out-wise it is exact same as 6U5, and this is why 6U5 (which is likely what you have) typically is the replacement.
However, 6U5 became also pretty expensive (likely for this very reason) and some folks (myself included) use 6E5, which is cheaper, also pin-compatible and available from many manufacturers of the past, and its octal version 6E5S (Soviet) is widely sold around, often from Eastern Europe.
It has different sensitivity and so requires changing a resistor or two.

I need to get a new belt for mine. I put Adams manufacturing (since retired and the business was transferred) neoprene belt in, and for a few years it worked, but since froze. Neoprene belts require constant exercise.

RE: 1938 Zenith - Arran - 06-04-2026

Functional 6T5 tubes are hard to come by, they were used in production radios for maybe a year or two, Brand Z being the most famous, I don't know how long they were produced but I suspect that production of replacements was discontinued after the war. They are fairly easy to spot as the end of the tube heater is visible from the center of the green target. A 6E5S is electrically similar to a 6E5 but with an octal base, octal based magic eyes were quite common in Europe for some reason, but then again the Soviet tube industry was already set up to produce octal tubes so producing ones with the older American 6 pin base would not have made sense. I have a few radios with good magic eye tubes, no 6T5s but 6X6s, 6E5s, and 6U5s, and I was thinking of adding an off switch for the magic eyes, in the sets I intend to use on a regular basis.
Regards
Arran

RE: 1938 Zenith - Lawrence Austin - 06-04-2026

tbone- I added the tone control lamp since the notch in the metal was there.

morzh- This is where I got the square belts. Not sure what it is made of?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/195362408794

RE: 1938 Zenith - Arran - 06-04-2026

That reminds me, I have a 1938 Sparton that may need a belt, I know that one of my Stromberg Carlson sets needs one. To me they are the answer to a question nobody asked given that there were less expensive, or more reliable ways of working a dial, most of my sets use either a dial cord, a cable, or some sort of friction drive.
On the matter of adding a pilot lamp, I've thought of doing that with some AC/DC sets I have that don't have one, but would be nice to add as they have a slide rule dial.
Regards
Arran

RE: 1938 Zenith - morzh - 06-04-2026

Larry


Looks like some rubber to me. (OK, Neoprene is also a synthetic rubber).

I used O-rings on a radio where a neoprene belt froze, and it also froze in a very few years.
So, I think, since it froze in the position it was in, it requires a regular exercize, like maybe every week or so.

Also, the original belt was a leather flat belt.

RE: 1938 Zenith - Arran - 06-05-2026

Mike;
The one I found in the Stromberg was made like a small automotive belt, it had bands of cloth laminated to the rubber, presumably to prevent stretching. Leather would be preferable, if it would fit, as long as the leather is conditioned from time to time it would outlive the rubber ones, at least the natural rubber ones, polyurethane might hold up long as well, a lot of synthetic rubber is what is called "butyl" rubber, which is what they use in tires, it gets hard with age.
Regards
Arran

RE: 1938 Zenith - Eliot Ness - 06-14-2026

Quote:morzh- This is where I got the square belts. Not sure what it is made of?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/195362408794

Those are the best belts to use. The style that Adams sold (and then another guy took over) need to be exercised like others have mentioned. I now regret my decision to buy several of the Adams belts when he was going out of business, but at that time no one had reported the issue of the belts freezing. Every time I walk by one of my Zeniths with an Adams belt I try to spin the dial a few turns.

I think Alan Jesperson sold square belt material you super glued to fit, and that works pretty well if you use a high quality Cyanoacrylate (super) glue. I think Mark Oppat still sells that square material to make dial belts.

Going back to the square belts linked to on eBay, he made me a few for some of my Zeniths and I like them a lot more than the Adams style belt. I have used O Rings before but they deteriorated after a few months. I used to have a stash of the JFD replacement belts, but the popular sizes got used up fast.