[Radioroslyn]

The plot thickens. After doing some troubleshooting I was not getting a clear idea of what is causing the problem. Steps taken, added shrink tubing to the somewhat tattered wires where they exit thru the metal output transformer cover. Was thinking that perhaps there was some sort of arcing but true be told everything back there is at +300vdc or so and there is no ground/B- connection so arcing is a long shot. Yielded no change. Next was the opt, maybe so shorted turns? Wired in a new Hammond 125E. Played ok but didn't solve the mystery. Finally I grabbed a 12" industrial strength spk and no more popping!
At this point the speaker seems to be the problem. I gave Rich a call @ Sound Remedy and described my problem he apologized that what was happening was the voice coil was bottoming out against the bottom of the pole and that's what is causing the popping/buzzing. During the recone he had set the coil too low. He gracefully offered to reset the distances and send it back so I'm very Happy! And would highly recommend Sound Remedy for speaker repairs. Yes it would have been perfect if it didn't have a problem but I've always impressed w/a shop that stands behind their work.
I didn't realize that when he does the recone not only is the paper cone replaced but the voice coil and is converted to an internal spider rather than the old school spider w/the screw in the center. It's all good.
That little 8" speaker gets a real workout when the tone switch is in the mellow position!!!! That cone is MOVING!!

Mystery solved!
Obtw one thing I'll mention in passing since I'm on a speaker tear (little pun) the Hammond transformer works ok BUT the E is a bit bigger physically and may present a little challenge to mount. The other point is the original Philco transformer sounds better (to me) as the Hammond seem to rolloff some of high frequency response. It's not horrible and if you didn't have an original to compare it to you probably woundn't notice, but I do.

[klondike98]

[Radioroslyn]

pls read the edited version.

[Radioroslyn]

Some final thoughts on the 116B receiver.

From the service standpoint it's fairly straightforward but there is a number of stages to service. Taken one by one one at a time makes things easy. Not quick but easy. Chassis is for the most part pretty roomy, access is good and no rf sub chassis to deal with. Had to take a little extra time when servicing the dial drive (lost one of the ball bearings) and mechanically aligning the dial arrows and shadow meter.

Alignment when well and the BCB is within 1/2 a hash mark (5kc) throughout. I wasn't particularly concerned w/the sw bands in terms of osc alignment but would say it's within abt 20kc which isn't too bad for 1935 technology. Sensitivity and selectivity are very good for AM reception.  Wide enough for good frequency response but sharp enough to limit adjacent channel interference. I notice a lot less fading of distant signals w/this set compared many others w/less tubes.

I think the audio output stage develops too much power for the 8"spkr. My H-17 spkr had a worn spider that was causing that buzz. After the spkr was coned the 2nd time it's still has that buzz granted it's less and it's only at high volume levels. I'm thinking that the original spider added some dampening factor when new to the cone thus lessening the bass response. With the new cone/spider setup that isn't the case. It plays fine as long as it's not turned up to deafening levels. The 8" spkr is working hard to deliver all the sound at high levels. Seems like it's going to jump out of the cabinet.

Very pleasant set to listen to and with good dial accurate you set the dial on frequency and the proper station is there. Power transformer does get warm but is quite reasonable and has no 60cy noticeable hum. Have been using a 30" square loop ant and pickup stations from all over. Canada, Ill., Tenn., Ga., and Mo. to name a few. A lot of times I'm up late at night listening for new otr stations. It's kinda unique in as it's the very last of the 16 series tabletop sets and they don't turn up often.

[klondike98]

enjoyed the restoration Terry! Hopefully I will find a replacement audio output transformer and not have to use the Hammond125E on mine but I'm not worrying about that yet. Still working through the chassis.

[rfeenstra]

Terry, rewind that old transformer!  It's a pain but not that hard.

[Radioroslyn]

Methinks you mean Bob. He's got the open opt. Mine's swell!

[rfeenstra]

Right! Sorry  about that.