[Jeffbo1]

I just acquired a Philco 52-542-1 and upon initial inspection, the chassis is clean, no rust...the tubes all test very good, none are at all weak...the original caps, resistors and electrolytic cap look new....when i plug it in, not even the dial lamp illuminates and the bulb is good and works independently...not even the tubes warm up.....no sound, nothing, everything is cold......the power cord is in good shape, no breaks or cracks and is fully intact underneath.......any thoughts would be appreciated as to where I should start.......not even having the dial light come on, let alone everything else, is a curiosity....I suspect I need a new volume pot which is part number 33-5566-4 or equivalent at 500,000 ohm

[Chas]

Confirm your suspicions, check the continuity of the on/off switch. Try a non-flammable contact cleaner inside the switch and turn on-off many times, this may restore continuity.

Chas

[David]

       
Looks like a nice AC/DC set.

[morzh]

A 1952 radio, young it be compared to 1930-s sets, still requires recap, especially electrolytics which dry up no matter the looks.
Before you do this, I strongly discourage you to power it up.
The radio being AC/DC set, the lamp and tubes not glowing means there might be a tube with open filament. Check the tubes. Also if there are loctals, their pins oxidize - need to be scratched.

[David]

May I ask what is the number of the dial lamp? David

[Paul Philco322]

Kind of a neat looker. The recap is a must.

Paul

[NostalgiaRadioTime]

Most of these sets use a #47 dial lamp bulb

Here's the schematic pages from Nostalgia Air, which includes the parts list:

http://www.nostalgiaair.org/pagesbymodel...013741.pdf

[35Z5]

Only a simple ohm test of switch in on & off positions is necessary to verify continuity.

Assuming only one dial lamp, bayonet base bulb should always be #47 or #51. If mfgr used something of higher current, they are outside the original design of 35Z5. This is not to say one can't fudge a bit.

BTW there are many later type bulbs that are 6.3v@150ma. Numbers #130, 755 & 1847 come to mind, any of these could be used.

[David]

The reason I asked the question about the number of the dial lamp I have found some very creative work when folks did not have the correct bulb. One set had a appliance bulb installed at the back of the set but with a 15 watts bulb you could see the dial, even when the set was turned off, radio and night light combo.