[Pdouglaski]

Hello
I am new here and I could use some advice. I am working on my 1955 Stude/Philco car radio and have determined that the power transformer has an open winding in its secondary. The Philco part # is 32-8313-3. I can't find any specs for the transformer.  Does anyone know what they are are where I could find a good one?
Thanks 
Phil 

[Arran]

Just speculating of course, but you could probably find another transformer from another car radio of the same era, preferably a Philco built one. I don't have the schematic in hand so what is the tube lineup? 
Regards
Arran

[radiorich]

Hello Phil,
Welcome aboard what is the model number of that radio ?

Sincerely Richard

[MrFixr55]

Hi Pdouglasti,
Phirst off, welcome to the Philco Phorum, a Phamily Phriendly place phull of phun pholks and all things Philco (see a pattern here?)

Since this is for a 1955 Studebaker, is this a 6 Volt or 12 Volt radio? Most of the US carmakers switched to 12V in 1956, but some models switched over earlier. Most car radios of this vintage (and most AC transformer powered radios of this vintage) developed about 250V at the input of the filter if a permanent magnet dynamic speaker is used. I remember having a self-contained 6V Philco Studebaker radio. It had 2 6AQ5s in push pull along with an RF amp before the convertor tube. I ran these radios off a 6V AC winding of an old TV transformers and it did not seem to mind it at all. The radio had a great sound from the built in 6X9 speaker.

Are you restoring this for a car? If so, you will need to find a transformer from a car radio that runs on the car's voltage and has a similar tube count, particularly whether it uses one or 2 output tubes and the type of rectifier. If the radio has a rectifier such as a 7Y4, 84, 6X5, etc., and has push pull outputs, a transformer that delivers about 450-500V plate to plate (or between 225 and 250V from center tap to either plate) should do. For a radio using a 0Z4 rectifier (more common with Delco radios of this vintage than Philco) needs a minimum of 300V per plate. If there is no rectifier and the set uses a "synchronous" vibrator where both the primary and secondary are switched, yielding a DC output (not common in radios of this vintage), then I don't know.

If you are desiring to run the radio in your shop, you can use a transformer for any AC operated radio that used a PM dynamic speaker and similar tube count. In fact, Philco did this to 2 car radios (one for Ford, one for Chrysler) when US involvement in WWII caused the cessation of the production of cars and radios for civilian use. The radios were converted for AC operation by replacing the vibrator and transformer with AC radio transformers and then added into furniture cabinets.

Please keep us posted and ask any questions. We are happy to help!

[GarySP]

Welcome to the Phorum, Phil! Lots of friendly help here to assist you along the way! Take care, - Gary

[Arran]

I gave a Chrysler/MoPar car radio from 1954, it was made by Philco, and it uses two chassis, one has the power supply and power amplifier, combined with the speaker, it uses two 6AQ5s and a 6X4 rectifier, the other chassis is the tuner with a pretty standard 1950s 7 pin miniature tube lineup, plus an RF amplifier, it is slug tuned. The G.M radios I have used octal types, with either push pull 6V6s or 6K6s, the units are self contained with everything on one chassis, I can't remember whether they used an 0Z4 or a 6X5, the Ford ones I have are newer in that they used 12 volt space charge tubes, and a transistor as a power output,
Some MoPar car radios were made by Philco, others by Motorola, no idea about Stydebaker but all are probably made by one manufacturer. Unlike G.M most car makers didn't try to make their own car radios, most sourced something from Philco, Motorola, Bendix, and occasionally Zenith.
Regards
Arran

[Pdouglaski]

Hello, Richard
the radio is an AC-2687 Studebaker model. The Philco model is S -5323 and the chassis p/n is S-5523

[Arran]

I have some car radio service manuals, Riders I think (not to be confused with the big blue binders), so I may see if one of them has any listing for a Studebaker radio.
Regards
Arran

[Pdouglaski]

Arran,
Thanks for checking you manuals.
I appreciate that. Let me know what you find.
Phil

[Arran]

Phill;
I had a look at my Riders "Specialized" car radio books yesterday, I don't have one that covers Studebaker, one was for G.M Delco radios, the other covered Chrysler MoPar ones, which were made by Philco and Motorola, but I did have a look through those since there may be similarities to the 1955 Studebaker one. I also had a look through the Radio College of Canada books for 1954-55-56 and they only have G.M/Delco listed for those years, occasionally they have listings for Automatic and Motorola car radios but nothing for Philco car radios. This was why I was asking about the tube lineup in the Studebaker unit, does it have one chassis or two?
From what I remember Studebaker came out with all new bodies for 1953 in both sedan, and coupe style, which they facelifted until they closed down in 1965-66. Chrysler car radios were the same from 1951 to 1954, in 1955 they changed their bodies across the car lines, except for the trucks maybe. I'm thinking that if the vibrator transformer is shot that you could probably use one from a Philco car radio with the same tube lineup, Chrysler, some Plymouth, and some Dodge model care radios were also made by Philco. Another thing you might look for are replacement car radio vibrator transformers made by Hammond, how common they are NOS is another question.
First I would confirm that the transformer is actually bad as the vibrator and rectifier tubes are the weakest points in the chain should a filter cap short out. Philco did not make car radios with a synchronous vibrator so you don't have to worry about finding another one of those.
Regards
Arran