[BDM]

Philco RMS yearbooks are awesome sources of reference.

Unfortunately, it also proves that someone's been stuffing tubes into my radio.

Someone "subbed" a 7B8 pentagrid converter for my 1232 triple grid amplifier, and a 7H7 semi-remote cutoff amplifier (whatever that is) for my 7J7 triode hexode converter (whatever THAT is). I suppose with all that, it's no wonder by 84/6Z4 tested out badly.

Guess I'll flush out that 40-180 chassis--except, of course, that it's one of the later units that had the 6J8G variation for the 7J7. Feh.

I'll be over at Ron's Bar & Grill if anyone needs me.

Those tubes are common and easy to come by. You'll be alright

[DeckApe]

Hokay! I have acquired another speaker (36-1514-4) for the radio; the only problem (aside from a couple of small tears in the cone) is that one of the glued-in voice coil wires has pulled out. Any suggestions about what kind of glue works best to fix this?

Also, ONE tear is about 1-1/2" long, heading straight from the edge to the center. Any suggestions on repairing this? Would this be a candidate for the coffee filter reinforcement?

[DeckApe]

Can anybody clue me in on the proper channel size for the dial glass on a 40-190? I'm looking at Antique Electronic Supply (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tubesandmore.com">http://www.tubesandmore.com</a><!-- m -->) and finding three different sizes:

Small: 5/32"W x 3/16"H. .090" internal gap
Large: 7/32"W x 3/16"H. .080" internal gap
U-Channel: 7/32"W x 1/8"H. .100" internal gap

The U-channel looks to be the closest to what is already present; can anybody offer me a hint? I'm ordering up 4 tubes (two for my 40-190, two for my 40-180 chassis that I'm going to use as a "practice" refurb before I tear into the chassis that goes with my cabinet) and am attending a few other miscellaneous issues while I'm at it.

This winter I'm really hoping to finish the necessary work in my garage to make it hospitable for work on old radios... the 40-190 is shamefully dusty.

But at least I have all the pieces except the lower antenna strut, and I can fabricate that.

Oh! What dial lamp do I need? Might as well get a couple of those, just in case.

[Raleigh]

I used #44 bulbs in my 40-150. They use 250mA. I tried #47 type that use 150mA, but they didn't seem bright enough. I'm pretty sure the #44 type were in my radio when I got it, and also in the similar 41-280, 41-250, and 41-255. You'll probably need the brighter bulbs to shine through those push buttons.

My dial glass used U-channel, though I didn't know where to find a replacement until I had already put it back together with a piece of bicycle inner tube as a substitute. The original U-channel was hardened and was stuck pretty firmly to the glass. When I removed it it took some chips out of the edge of the glass. It would have been smarter, I think, to cut it loose very carefully with an exacto blade rather than trying to pull it off by hand. You can't soak it with water because of the decal, and I don't know what else to try to get it loose.

I just measured the dial glass, and it is just over .100" thick. The .100" U-channel is probably what you need.

Don't try to wash the dial glass with water. It's OK on the glass side if you are careful not to get any on the decal side, but almost any amount of water on the decal side will damage the decal, at least a little bit. (I thought I could get away with just a little water on the decal side on another Philco, but it put little pin holes in the decal here and there. Not fatal, but a little noticeable.) It seems to me I cleaned the 40-150 dial by just breathing on the decal side to make a little mist, and then wiped carefully with a soft cloth. I've heard of some people using mineral spirits on some older Philco dials that are printed with water-soluble ink, but I wouldn't try it on the decal.

[DeckApe]

Thank you very much for the advice, sir. For some odd reason the dial glass on my 40-190 is immaculately clean, so no worries there. I'll try a gentle bit of razor blade to persuade the U-channel to let go... and since your pilot lamp in the 40-150 (a beautiful tabletopper, IMHO) is the same #34-2210 as my 190, I'll give the #44 a go. I'll order a couple to go in the tube shipment (without guilt, since I know #44s are still in production ).

Regards,
Brandon

[Raleigh]

The bulbs are also easily available at Radio Shack, if you have one nearby.

[Arran]

Fudd--close. I'm a Chief Mate in the Merchant Marine. (Washington State Ferries to be exact.)

Now, the speaker:

[Image: http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii66/...CF0004.jpg]

There's clearly something missing from the central bit of the speaker, that the other two wires probably connected to. d**n it. Anyone able to help me on this? (I'm really starting to sour on eBay shopping... gota ferret out some local sources.)

Are you certain that the speaker isn't a PM dynamic of some sort? Sometimes the electrodynamic and PM dynamics were almost identical aside from the field and hum bucking coils. I have a chassis and speaker from a Philco 40-180 (or the Canadian equivalent I think) but it has a pin cushion shaped basket/frame not a round frame. You could always substitute a PM dynamic from an older cabinet stereo and add a choke. On the other hand the unit that came with the radio could be made to work. If you really want an original type speaker I would place an ad on the Antique Radio Forums classified forum as well as the one on here, something will turn up.
Best Regards
Arran

[Arran]

So!

I've mentioned my recent acquisition of a Philco 40-190 art deco skyscraper in another thread. Here it is, fore and aft:

[Image: http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii66/...before.jpg] [Image: http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii66/...before.jpg]

As you can see, the cabinet's in fundamentally decent shape, after having been refinished (not by myself, but that's okay). The speaker cloth has been replaced, but by all accounts (looking at a couple other 40-190 restoration jobs) the fabric is the right pattern. The speaker is still down at the in-laws, after having been found. It's reported that the metal is lightly rusted, but the paper's pretty harsh (so it's re-coning time, I suspect). I'm also aware that there is a support missing from the interior of the cabinet, used to hold up the lower end of the loop antenna (I'm just glad I have the antenna).

My first steps are to find a decent book on How To Restore the goodies in the chassis (which you may also discern is rusty on the top face...rumor has it this radio lived in a barn for a couple of decades) and to finish up the cosmetic work. This means stripping and repainting the escutcheon (which is black), replacing the decals (the sunburn on the cabinet clues me in that I need the 5/16" Philco label as well as the dial labels, which I have found on-line), and repacing the push-buttons (also readily available). Miracle of miracles, the tuner string is intact and beautifully functional!

My intentions (at least with this first radio) are to restore it to 'functionality.' I'm quite taken with the external appearance of the cabinet, but only you folk and myself are going to know I slipped contemporary parts in. (I may yet hold on to any original capacitors etc. that I remove in case I want to improve my work at a later date, or just have a couple of crash-test capacitors to practice re-stuffing.)

So, y'all, a couple of questions.

The finish looks typical of a D.I.Y job, although it doesn't look too bad like many refinish jobs whoever did the cabinet obliterated all of the shading on the solid wood parts as well as the decals. Most old radios used veneer on the panels and less expensive woods like maple, ash, poplar, alder, elm, etc., on the structural portions and for the moldings, they then coated over them with shaded lacquers to make them blend in with the higher quality wood veneers used on the panels. Some inexpensive sets only used good veneers on the front panels and used cheap stuff on the top and sides using faux wood graining and shaded lacquer over the rest, some of the cheap sets had nothing but faux wood grain and shaded lacquer over the entire cabinet.
Best Regards
Arran

[DeckApe]

I've actually obtained another 36-1479-4 speaker as well as the mounting board to which it was attached, thus saving me a hellacious amount of work. What had happened to the one pictured above was that someone had slaved it to another speaker for whatever reason, at least what I recall of the photos from Fleabay.

The finish was redone by my mother-in-law, who stripped the original off (it had lived for twenty years in a barn and the finish was destroyed, according to her) and rubbed in many coats of tung oil. I'm not going to re-do it as it looks quite pretty. I have the replacement decals ready to be installed. As listed elsewhere in the thread, I've also stripped and repainted the faceplate in the correct color instead of the gloss black that someone though looked sharp. I've never seen any photos that indicated the presence of any multi-tone lacquering on the 40-190... has anyone else found otherwise?

I'm hoping to get the garage wiring done this winter so I can actually set up a decent workbench to get started on the electrical work.

[Ron Ramirez]

I've never seen a 40-190 that wasn't toned Medium Walnut overall (in other words, the color of your set).

A garage workbench would be a very good thing...as long as it has some sort of heat in the winter!

[DeckApe]

Ron--I have one of those six-inch, six-pound heaters which does the trick reasonably well, but the wiring in my house is so mousy (100A overall service, and spread thin at that) that every time the heat element shuts off, it trips the breaker for the one outlet in my garage. Which also knocks the lights out in three rooms and the outlets in two. I'll be having that panel upgraded, outlets added in the garage (six at four feet off the deck, one in the ceiling for the garage door opener, and two for the exterior), and the one outlet which is on the same circuit as almost half the house will be removed altogether. Oh, and better lighting.

Then will come the fun part of finish out the garage to a useful workbench etc. Fun, eh? No wonder I haven't gotten as far as actually starting on the electronic bits in my mighty 190!

[codefox1]

Don't forget the rubber mat. Damp concrete is a wonderful conducter of electricity, as well as cold to your feet. And rig some good old tungsten bulbs for when you want the radio to play; flourescents and halogens will not bode well for AM. I also recommend an isolated variac for benchwork in any environment. Now if I ever get my brother's boat out of my garage, I might just do the same thing for my long unused woodworking shop tools.

[DeckApe]

Codefox--thanks for the reminder about the fluorescents... one of those little "pocket-fluff" details that are too easy to forget! I also already have a "fatigue mat" but it is dense foam rather than rubber. Fortunately my garage stays dry all year, but a proper rubber mat wouldn't go amiss in front of the old workbench. I guess that means the stool upon which I eventually sit had better be wooden as well!

[DeckApe]

Heavy sigh.... the speaker I got is in wonderful condition, but I had hoped to be able to skip a step... the mounting board it is attached to is smaller than the screw-holes in the cabinet where it is supposed to attach. I suspect that it was originally removed from a 40-180 or 40-185. I can make a new mounting board for the speaker, but I'd hoped for a clue (from existing holes) of the dimensions for the missing antenna brace. Fooey.

Fortunately a friend suggested to me that I pop up to the local radio museum (American Museum of Radio & Electricity in Bellingham WA) and see if they had a 40-190 so I could measure the missing piece.

[Guest]

I've got a 40-190 complete with lower antenna brace and original speaker mounting board. Can I provide you dimensions or photos to help out?
BTW, am I supposed to sign this reply, or does it happen automatically ? It's been a long time since I posted anything here.
Jim (KB4WD)