[wkloradio]

Gentlemen, I had someone to ask if I would look at their radio, and I said yes. While I havn't been actively involved in radios lately, I decided to give it a look. I found a fairly decent Philco 37-116,nice cabinent for its age, dirty chassis and missing two knobs BUT it powered up with just a little static and the tubes, at least those that I could see lighting up. I found the tuner would not move, so upon closer examination it appears that the tuning mechanism is stuck.
What type of tuning system does the owner have for this radio? Any and all thoughts appreciated.

Lloyd Spivey

[Ron Ramirez]

Hi Lloyd

The dial drive mechanism is a ball bearing drive using concentric tuning shafts - the outer for fast tuning, the inner for slow speed tuning/fine tuning.

Plus, there are two versions of the 37-116 - the "Standard," which does not have the automatic tuning mechanism, and the "De Luxe," with the automatic tuning mechanism.

See them both:

Standard - http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1937a.htm#o
De Luxe - http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1937a.htm#p

Both dial drives use a coupling between the tuning condenser shaft and the dial drive assembly. This coupling has two pieces of thick leather incorporated into the coupling, and once this leather dries out and breaks, no more coupling.

There could also be (and more likely is) a mechanical problem with the tuning mechanism in which the coupling is OK, but something is preventing the dial drive from turning the tuning condenser. Collapsed rubber mounts on the RF deck could cause binding. Bent tuning condenser plates could also cause binding.

Also, if it is a De Luxe model, one of the automatic tuning presets could be stuck, in which case the tuning condenser would not move.

As you know, it could be one of several different possibilities.

[wkloradio]

Thanks for the response Ron. It's the deluxe model that you posted. I found an original schematic from my files for the radio. Interesting notes on dis-assembly as well as assembly.