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Brought home a fada - Printable Version

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Brought home a fada - jerryhawthorne - 09-28-2013

Yes, a 500 mile drive but the new owner of a fada 46. Same family since new and other than tube changes untouched. I new the tuner was frozen but had to see what I could do. Yup, really frozen. Pictures attached. Will take me some time to figure out how to get that dang thing taken apart. Here are some pictures.
Jerry

[Image: http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn129/JerryHawthorne/fada4.jpg]

[Image: http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn129/JerryHawthorne/fada3.jpg]

[Image: http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn129/JerryHawthorne/fada5.jpg]

[Image: http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn129/JerryHawthorne/fada1.jpg]

Anyone with experience on this radio, love some help on disassembling the front off the tuner.
Jerry

RE: Brought home a fada - Arran - 09-28-2013

It obviously came from out East, I see that the second scale has call letters written on it and all of them start with a "W". Hopefully some penetrating oil will help free it up, I can't see the hubs holding the rotor plates but the frame of the tuning condenser is at least made out of steel. It's the rotor hub that fails in Majestic tuning condensers, they crack and can warp causing them to jamb.
I hope that the eventual sale price reflected the fact that the dial mechanism is frozen? It's a crap shoot sometimes when it comes to pot metal, as I said before it can range anywhere from minor repairs to a major operation reproducing new mechanical parts. I don't know the extent of the pot metal issue in Fada sets of this era, at least it isn't like a Crosley Jem box where the entire tuning cap can turn into unusable junk.
Regards
Arran

RE: Brought home a fada - jerryhawthorne - 09-29-2013

Arran thanks for your comments. Yes, NY call letters. The flash tuner as far as I know was only set up for NY stations. It is basically little more than a "microswitch" on the plastic dial that has indents on it to trigger a light when the tuner reaches a NY station. The radio was sold the the great grandfather of the people I bought it from and indeed in the NY area. It will be a challenge to try to get to the tuner with all the stuff in front of it and see what I can figure out.
Regards, Jerry

PS: Arran, don't worry about the price, at my age, I don't worry about things like that. It's a hobby.

RE: Brought home a fada - Electrothaumaturgist - 09-29-2013

Hit 'er with PB Blaster at the pivots, let it sit a good while, spray it again, then maybe very lightly rap it with a prod in strategic locations carefully, if possible, put some more PB on 'er and try to work it back and forth. Works most of the time on rusted automobile related parts for me. Heavy duty stuff. That'll be a Deusey of a radio when you're done!!! SWEET!!! Icon_biggrin

RE: Brought home a fada - PhilcoJohn - 09-29-2013

Nice radio good luck with it. Rarely see a Fada radio for sale. And it was made in my neck of the woods!

RE: Brought home a fada - Jamie - 09-29-2013

That cabinet is a work of art. It will be a fantastic radio when you get it finished.

RE: Brought home a fada - Jayce - 09-29-2013

That radio looks great! I just hope the pot metal problems aren't too bad. Erm, is it me or does the speaker frame look like it is built of pot metal? I saw a late 20's Fada that actually had a pot metal speaker frame a few years back.

RE: Brought home a fada - jerryhawthorne - 09-29-2013

Jayce, I have not looked at the speaker much other than blowing off years of dust. The cone itself shows some warping something to look in to in the future. Perhaps a little light spray of water on it might have it relax a bit? Hard to see in the picture of it. A fairly rigid spider on it so hopefully the voice coil is well centered. Time will tell after I solve the tuner problem.
It has had repeated applications of pbblaster and a few light taps, no joy yet. I will be patient.
Jerry

PS: This radio came down through the Fulco family. A family of 6 all of which are musically very talented. There house was filled with recording gear. To bad the radio wasn't a Philco or I could have obtained the Fulco's Philco!
Link to the family:
http://www.meetthefulcos.com/Videos.html

RE: Brought home a fada - Raymanretro - 09-29-2013

Thats a beauty!

RE: Brought home a fada - Arran - 09-30-2013

Perhaps price is not really a concern but the last thing you want is to have a lot of money tied up in a set that may need major repairs. Now the reason the tuning condenser is stuck may be nothing major caused by hard grease or whatever, but then again it may be due to swollen or warped pot metal This is why I hope for the best but anticipate the worst when it comes to radio shopping.
Regards
Arran

RE: Brought home a fada - morzh - 09-30-2013

Jerry

Have you tried to see if the frozen part is in tuning cap or the gear that drives it? From the pictures (and they do not have fine details) I cannot see the space for a really complex pot metal box there, so hopefully the ole liquid wrench will do the trick, but of course Arran is right and you do want to do first things first and make sure you are not spending time and money on something that will not be easily restoreable.

RE: Brought home a fada - TA Forbes - 09-30-2013

Spray the heck out of it with de-oxit. Or even WD-40.

RE: Brought home a fada - jerryhawthorne - 09-30-2013

Well, looks like there are 3 bearings involved in the mechanism. Two supporting the variable cap itself, one on each end and one holding the knob shaft. I do believe this is going to be a fun project and will require complete removal and teardown . Yes, it will take a considerable amount of time. It seems all three bearings will need to be cleaned. Here is a link to work being done on the same chassis and should prove helpful. All parts now rotate but require extreme effort.
Regards, Jerry

http://www3.telus.net/radiomuseum/projects/Fada42/index.html

RE: Brought home a fada - jerryhawthorne - 09-30-2013

Just an update: I finally with good light and my reading glasses saw a very small c-clip on the shaft of the tuning knob! Removed it without it flying in the air as most do and with some light heating and careful taping from a little hammer, got the dang shaft out. Didn't take long to ream out the pot metal bearing to being round and all is well. Well, other than that, I still can't get that blasted casting out. Yes the pot metal has expanded to such that it will not come out. Looks like some careful dremmel work coming up to cut 1/32 off of one side of the chassis opening to allow removal. Not brain surgery but should be fun. I need to get that removed to get to the tuner bearings which looks like removal of the rotating wipers and pulling the whole shaft out to get to the bearings. Hope you smart guys and gals are sticking with me. This should be fun. More fun getting the V/C back together and aligned.
Jerry

RE: Brought home a fada - jerryhawthorne - 10-02-2013

I will continue to work on this radio but seems unfair and cumbersome to have threads on two forums. It will continue on the "alternate" forum as to a larger audience and some people who have worked on this chassis. It is too confusing to all when answers are coming in on different venues. I most respect all of you here and am always looking to help when I can (seldom). If anyone wishes to follow my trials and tribulations, here is a thread to it. I will always be on this, the Philco Phorum and watching.
Regards, Jerry
http://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=232656&p=1949236#p1949236