[Desualt]

    Hi all, 

this Rogers is the second unit I picked up (beside the Philco) and I am wondering if I should recondition it or not, maybe If I can find enough online infos on it. 

When doing a search I saw a superb restoration of a Rogers by Dan Walker from Calgary who did a fantastic job, but not any others.
Does anyone can redirect me to a place where I could find more about these units? 

I attach a couple of pics as is,

thanks!

Robert

[Arran]

Greetings;
  Two issues I can see straight off, the first being the missing knobs, the originals were made out of a plastic called Tennite, which seems to have been too popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s for my liking, it has a reputation for warping, and distorting, if not disintegrating outright. The second issue is that the speaker appears to be missing, which indicates, along with the missing knobs, that someone took the set apart at one point. Maybe you have these in a box or a bag elsewhere, if not see if the previous owner might have them. You need the speaker just to power up the chassis, it has a pair of links in the six pin plug that disconnects the rectifier tube from the filter capacitors so it can't overcharge them, sort of a safety feature. Without the parts I would hold off on working on it for a while till you find the parts, it's a six tube chassis to it isn't especially high end, basically five tubes plus a Magic Eye. At least you have a good solid cabinet and a good dial glass, and no rust.
   If you are wondering about service info, there is no issue there, If I have the model number I can scan the info for you out of my Rogers service manual and email it too you, or you can see if the PacificTV site already has it posted, they have quite a few diagrams for Canadian sets. It looks like chassis number 11RA561
Your set is from the 1940-41 model year I think, and those had a pair of concentric knobs on the left side for a double control, one being the on-off volume, the other for the tone, the knob on the right is for the tuning, and it's made to match the concentric knobs on the right except one is a dummy just for looks (it's a single knob made to look like a double one) the center knob was bar shaped and that was for the band switch. 
Regards
Arran

[Dan Walker]

I do appreciate the compliments.  As Arran said, these knobs are hard to get  in good condition,
and I am always looking for them, in fact I will buy a radio with them JUST for the knobs.
   These radios are not too hard to work on , but as Arran said you will need a speaker, for starters.
     If it is a model 11RA 651 it should have a 6X6 eye tube, which is quite rare , but there are some things you can do to use a 1629 tube  in place of it  using a voltage doubler.
 I have only found two 6X6 tubes with fair brightness in fifteen years.
  I wish you luck in finding the knobs and getting the radio working as  the cabinet looks good.
 Dan in Calgary

[Desualt]

Thank you Arran and Dan, I appreciate your inputs, when some free time show up I will slowly start my search for some missing parts, keeping an eye open. 

cheers

Robert

[PhilcoJohn]

Wow ….I really like your radio. I have not seen one like it. Or it has not been posted here before you did. It must be a rare radio indeed. Does anyone know if there are a lot of these radios amongst collectors. I would hold on to this find if I came across it in my travels! Good luck with it! 

[Desualt]

Hi John, thanks, this one came as a bonus when I purchased the Philco so yes the cabinet is nice and could make a good display and conversation piece when redone, its the first one see for myself, but I have not seen everything :-)

Robert

[Desualt]

Dan, there seems to be alternatives concerning the 6x6 : https://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_6x6.html

[Arran]

I don't know how rare this particular model is, since it has a six tube chassis the chassis itself is probably not that rare since it would have been used in a console model, and probably a horizontal shaped mantle set too. Some radio manufacturers in Canada offered table sets in this sort of vertical layout, Rogers being one of them, but I have seen some RCA sets with a similar layout, probably others. It may have been due to the British influence, or they were simply trying to create an updated version of a tombstone design but with the dial at the top rather then the speaker. Honestly I've seen more unusual designs in U.S built sets, such as AC/DC sets with pushbuttons and a Magic Eye, various chairside and coffee table cabinets, bar radios, steel cabinets, etc. However there were some odd American RCA models that look a lot like this Rogers, if you look through their service manuals you can see a few.
  As for the 6X6 tube, I wouldn't worry about that right now, it isn't necessary to get the radio to work, fortunately the rest of the tubes have industry standard equivalents, metal or GT style tubes work fine as substitutes. For example a 41M is a 6K6, a 75M is a 6Q7, etc., the rectifier is probably an #80, all very common.
Regards
Arran

[tbone]

With a transformer that size, is it a 25Hz model? I can’t quite see the label. Really cool looking set! I am in envy of folks that have ROGERS Radios, especially the consoles.

Good luck with the restoration.

[Arran]

All pre war Rogers sets seem to have 25 cycle power transformers, post war varied on where they were sold. With regard to Rogers console radios, not all had fancy cabinets, by the early 40s the lower end ones were quite plain, and even the higher end ones were still quite conservative. I remember overhauling a 5 tube console for a guy from the same year, and there really wasn't any fancy burls or exotic wood inlays, just plain French walnut with shade laquered trim. Compared to something like a U.S Crosley they were nice, but kind of dull compared to a mid to upper range Philco, U.S or Canada. At least Rogers avoided using Tenite escutcheons for their dials, correct knobs are a problem but those are a lot easier to replicate then an escutcheon.
Regards
Arran