[wiccadwitch]

Hi!! I'm new and recently brought a philco 46-1209 into the house from the barn. We moved in a couple of weeks ago and I'd been meaning to bring it in, clean it up and see if it still worked.  Anyway I have a list of questions. Some of them are probably going to seem very obvious to those of you with some skill in regard to these things so please bear with me...
First it does power on when plugged in but only 2 tubes light up and get warm they are the 2 side by side 6v6 tubes. There are also 2 missing tubes the 5y3gt and the 7x7.  Can I assume this means all of the rest need replaced? Or do some not light up if there are missing tubes? 
Next the phonograph button sticks a bit and won't always pop back out as the rest do is this just a lubrication issue or could there be another problem?
Also the turntable will start to turn and stutter a bit  then stop and kinda start again. I can hear the motor and the gears are all free and turn as they should so is it the motor just isn't putting out enough juice ? 
In regard to the phonograph there is a wire that goes from the underside of the phonograph to a small box on the lower edge of the cabinet. The wire is severed about 2 inches from where it enters the box. Not sure what it does and therefore what it might be affecting.  There is another thicker white cloth covered wire that comes out of that box and it has a metal connection section about 6 inches out. In case that helps with identifying said part.
There is no sound from the speaker at all. Nothing. The wires from the speaker are all intact. I'm guessing the lack  of sound is most likely because of missing tubes? 
So to summarize the console has power. The Radio display lights and the phonograph tries to turn but there are missing and seemingly defunct tubes which are likely at least partially to blame for the total lack of sound from the speaker.  All knobs and switches move freely except for the previously mentioned phono button that when pushes in does not want to pop out again properly after another button is depressed.  
Any info that might help me resurrect this old beast would be lovely 
Thanks!

[klondike98]

Welcome to the Phorum!


First things first. 
Don't power it on again until you have at least replaced the electrolytic capacitors C101 and C102. Eventually all the paper capacitors should be replaced and any of the resistors that are more than 20% off their spec value as well.

If you are new to working on vintage electronics like this and you want to do the restoration/repair yourself you will need to do a lot of reading to learn about the restoration process.  Read through some of the restorations that folks have done on this site in older threads.  We have service tips and information in our Library as well.  That is at: https://philcoradio.com/library/
A good beginners read is from Phil Nelson's site: https://www.antiqueradio.org/begin.htm  If you want someone else to work on it there are folks who do that. A 46-1209 schematic is found at: https://philcoradio.com/library/download...6-1947.pdf 

You will need a digital volt/ohm meter and a soldering iron at a minimum and a signal generator to properly align the set.
It will not work if there are missing vacuum tubes.  Even if the filaments are glowing, the tube may not be working correctly.  A tube tester can help diagnose bad tubes.  If you decide to restore the set, go slowly, take a LOT of photographs of the wiring and components as you disconnect things and resolder and reconnect.  The photos help you put it all back together.  There are many folks here on the Phorum far more skilled than I who can help you through this.  Ask questions in this thread as you go along and folks will respond.  There will even be some folks that have worked on a 46-1209.  Adding pictures sometimes also helps.

[mikethedruid]

Welcome to the forum WDW. Let me second all that Bob said. Don't try to power that radio / phono on again until it has been gone through and certain parts replaced. This is important since when these parts fail they put a severe strain on the rest of the circuit, some parts of which are very difficult to find and expensive either to repair or replace, like the power transformer. You can do the needed refurbishment yourself, or have it done for you. If you decide to do it yourself, you will need some basic tools. First, a soldering iron. I recommend you get a Weller soldering gun of 100/150 watt rating, the kind with replaceable heavy copper wire tips.
[Image: https://stevenjohnson.com/soldering/pics...-8200n.jpg]
I recommend one like this, with the screw in nuts to hold the replacement tips, rather than the new ones which use set screws. The old ones can be found on eBay cheaper than the new ones, and are better.

You will also need some hand tools. A pair of small needle nose pliers or two even better. A small crescent wrench. Several screw drivers from very small to medium size. On these sets they will mostly be straight blade not Philips, although you may encounter small hex key screws used for set screws, so a cheap SAE set of those would be useful.

The most important piece of test equipment you will need is a good multi-meter. These days one can buy a good digital multi-meter quite reasonably either from eBay or from a Harbor Freight store near you or their online site. This will be used for checking resistances, continuity, and voltages. Some models can even do a basic test of condensers (capacitors) but that test is not truly reliable since it is not done under the high voltages which one finds in these old sets.

With just these you can do the needed work, but there are some things which you would still need someone with more test equipment to do. First, you will need to test the tubes. There was a time when every town had some place, often a drug store, where they had a tube tester where you could test tubes and buy replacements for many common types. Today you will either need to know someone who has such a tester, or buy one for yourself. (I have 4, LOL !) You can find a suitable one on eBay at a reasonable price. Their circuits are very simple. The most you will need to do to them is replace a condenser (capacitor) or two, sometimes a tube.

To align the set you will need an RF signal generator. I prefer the older tube models to the new solid state ones, they seem more robust and forgiving, in my experience. Both the old and modern ones can be found on eBay. If you get an old one, have its calibration checked by a good electronics repair shop, or check it yourself against a modern digital readout short wave radio. Any of the old Heathkit models will be fine, and can be found on eBay reasonably.
[Image: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/OOkAAOSwA...s-l300.jpg]

I hope all this does not deter you from refurbishing your old set. It is not as difficult as it might sound, and the satisfaction one feels when one hears an old radio or phonograph one has restored playing must be felt to be understood. Again, welcome to the forum. Feel free to ask any question you have. The only stupid question is the important one you DIDN'T ask.

[RodB]

Hi and welcome to the Phorum. That wire running from the changer to the little box is the audio signal cable from the cartridge. Inside the box is a transformer that matches the cartridge to the amplifier. If you have to replace the cartridge, the original was probably a magnetic cartridge so it's important to know the characteristics of the new one in order to keep the transformer happy. The info on the set of schematics at Nostalgia Air shows what you need. Just take your time and enjoy.

[wiccadwitch]

Thank you! You all are so informative. It does sound daunting but I'm not easily deterred. It will probably take me a while but I'll eventually get there.