[morzh]

Paul

I hope you are right because yours is a console. With possibly a bigger speaker not bolted to the chassis and a large sound box. 45C is not huge. And the speaker is smaller. Plus The cone has been repaired (I will have to see if it is justified to spend extra $40+shipping to do a full re-coning).
This said, 42-based output seems to do very nice in small Zeniths (the previously restored by myself radio) which have smaller cabinets and smaller speakers. They sound fantastic for their size. So, maybe this will be the same case here. Despite the speaker bolted to the chassis.

Mike

[rfeenstra]

I've mostly completed the electronic restoration of my 45C.  It sounds surprisingly good!  And, the radio performs with very good sensitivity and selectivity.  I'm fairly impressed and I think you will be as well, morzh (at least I hope so).  My volume control is definitely a problem and I will be looking for a replacement.  The cabinet needs a bit of TLC and I will probably refinish it sometime.

My restoration used most of the old wire except for the high voltage lines.  All tubular capacitors were re-stuffed as were the electrolytics.  All dog bone resistors remain in circuit with an added hidden parallel resistor for those that were way high in value.  I avoided bending the PT wires and coated them with a couple of coats of clear "corona dope" acrylic plastic from GC electronics in the hope that it will add a tiny bit of insulation value.  I need to find a couple of tube shields.

This radio also has the 50K resistor that morzh talked about earlier in this thread.  Mine measures 35K so I added a 15K in series.  This resistor drops the voltage by only about 5 volts so I'm not sure of what its purpose is.  Perhaps to slightly increase field current???  Removing the 15K drops the voltage by another volt or so.  I may just leave it out.

Morzh, do you still need a dial cord diagram?  I could take a couple of pics.  It is quite straight forward.

Here's a few of pics:

               

[morzh]

Beatiful and very clean. Mine is not so clean. Some grime solidified. I was able to remove most of it with mineral spirits and some elbow grease but some remains.

Yes I still need the cord diagram.

A couple of question about the grommets:
1. Someone clearly removed and replaced them under the tuning cap. But it wobbles quite a bit, I wonder if it is ok or the grommets are just too soft?
2. Is there anything between the speaker and the chassis? I had old hard thick rubber washer underneath and nothing on top. Should the speaker sit metal to metal and only with a rubber washer underneath ? (I fail to see how this is a good idea).

[rfeenstra]

I'll see if I can get a couple of closeup pics of the dial cord that may help.

My tuning cap is  movable for vibration but is very stable.  I used, as I said, the typical rubber grommets from Renovated Radio.  However, the  bushings are longer than the thickness of the grommets. So, I used 2 1/4" aircraft washers between the tuning cap and the top of the grommet.  These fit over the bushing and take up the slack, forcing slight compression of the grommets to stabilize the tuning cap.  Seems to work good.

Yes, the speaker is isolated from the chassis with 3 rubber grommets.  Again, I used the same rubber grommets.  In this case, the bushings are not too long.   2 are on the edge of the speaker attached to the front surface of the chassis (these use a little different bushing arraignment). One is under the field coil portion of the speaker.  The speaker is steady, but there is enough movement to absorb some vibration.

I'll see if I can get some closeups of the various areas you are questioning.

[rfeenstra]

Okay.  Here you go over 2 posts with several pics.

First, the dial string setup.  it's quite straight forward.

               

[morzh]

Oh yeah, now I see the front speaker grommets. I didn't notice before cause they were concealed under the speaker's felt band. These are all hard.
I use Lowes grommets.

[rfeenstra]

And then the cap and speaker mounting.  You can see the 2 washers stacked around the center bushing.  I probably could have gotten by with 1 or maybe 2 with one of them being the thin aircraft washer rather than 2 thick washers.  I needed to raise the tuner a bit to get the cabinet hole to line up better, so I kept the 2 washers there.  Let me know if you would like some aircraft washers for your project.  They seem to work good.

And the speaker is just the standard Philco tuner grommet.  Renovated Radio item t04.  Perhaps the ch20 would have worked for the tuner support but I didn't have 4 to try.

           

[rfeenstra]

What was the original finish of the cabinet on a 45C?  Mine was refinished in ebony.  I noticed that the ones in the gallery are dark but dark brown or reddish.  Morzh, is your's original finish? Is it black or very dark toner?  I kind of like the ebony but I want it to be original.

[Ron Ramirez]

The original was Extra Dark Walnut. Definitely not ebony.

[morzh]

Ron is our reference so I won't be adding anything to his info other than I am a 100% illiterate in everything that is concerned with cabinetry including the names and colors of the finishes. For me Ebony and Extra Dark Walnut mean about as much as Morning Glory and Wet Asphalt mix #4. Or Jabberwocky.



Thanks for the pics, good reference as to what goes where. I will do the usual Lowes shopping, so far they have always met my demands.
And the cord diagram will also be superhelpful.

PS. I do like Ed's products, it's just right now Lowes is closer and I dont want to wait. If I knew what to buy as a supply item, I would stock up on his stuff.

PPS. I wonder why grommets and all rubber stuff is that expensive, Ed or Lowes.

[morzh]

Went to Lowes. Some grommets plus rubber washers plus metal washers should do the trick.

[rfeenstra]

Thanks Ron.  I was contemplating not refinishing it.  But with that info, I will.

Morzh, hope to hear soon that yours is playing.  I think mine sounds great for a small radio.  I hope you agree.  That little speaker needs to be in the cabinet before you form an opinion!

[morzh]

It is playing. Five minutes ago it had started playing.

I went to Lowe's in the morning, bought some grommets, rubber washers for padding and metal ones to add a bit.
Also added one tube shield - was missing. Luckily a year ago I bought a few in Kutztown, a guy was selling them inexpensively.
Changed those for the speaker, inserted tubes, set the variac to first see the pilot light glow, then set it to 80V, pulled my local station, increased it to 120V.
Seems ok.

I still need to buy some rubber cement for the speaker (forgot in Lowe's), then to restuff electrolytics so could use them instead of the axials, clean the dial....oh....the tone control!

Alignment of course.
Still work to do.

[morzh]

I took the tuning cap off.
First, I needed o take off the dial for cleaning and it won't come off without raising the cap.
Then the cap was just too wobbly. The grommets are two halves type and are made of super soft silicone. I will either order new from Ed or get some from Lowes.

Now that it is off, I am washing it by soaking and brushing.


Second, I bought the contact cement I use for remedying cones and brushed it upon the weak spots of the speaker.

'Tsit for tonight.

[morzh]

Trying to figure the cord. The routing is obvious, but I wonder,

1. Is there 1 or 2 loops around the dial drum,
2. Is there a tensioning element somewhere and
3. Where does the knot go?