[Davetalife]

I have a philco floor model radio. It says code 221 chassis 90? I get a loud hum when it turn it on?

[jontz]

You'll need more than one part for that radio, I guarantee. If it is all original then at a minimum it needs to have all of the capacitors replaced along with any out of tolerance resistors. There is a lot of information on this site that can help you out. I'd also recommend reading through this site:

http://antiqueradio.org/welcome.htm

If you aren't sure about what you are doing ask questions. If you really aren't sure about what you are doing then stop where you are and find someone who does. Antique radios can be VERY dangerous unless you have some idea about what is going on inside of one.

I hope this helps! Who knows, you may catch the restoration bug and end up as crazy as the rest of us

[morzh]

Dave

1. Do NOT, and I repeat, do NOT turn it on by plugging it in the Mains if you had not make sure by now you can do that.
2. I strongly recommend you fully recap the radio, but as a minimum you should change EVERYTHING capacitive in the rectifier filter section.
3. First use a Variac to bring it up, use voltmeter and see if the voltages make sense, even if they are not 100% the same as the charts show.
4. Do the smoke test - bring it up very quick, with the voltmeter on the rectifier output, make sure the voltage rise is not impeded and it goes where it should, bring it back to Zero.
5. Take a breather, let the heartbeat go back to 70 beats per minute, then repeat the experiment and wait for a minute or so, waiting for the smoke to appear. if nothing smokes - you have passed the smoke test.
6. Now you can do the troubleshooting.

Start from here.

PS. Before you start - check your cord for cracks, check the radio with the Power Switch in "ON" position with the Ohmmeter across the Mains plug for a dead short. Turn it Off, see if the continuity disappears.

It does not hurt to check the continuity of the transformer for every winding. If you are really anal, desolder every winding and see if there is a short across the load.
I do not do this but I have enough experience to react quickly if something happens, and I kinda know what bad things one could expect.

In short: This is a TUBE radio, there are high voltages, it is powered from Mains and there can be consequences to your health and property if the due respect is not paid.
Be safe.

[jerryhawthorne]

Dave, heed the advise above. Particularly that about NOT plugging it in again and turning it on. It's kind of like not getting a 1930s car that has been stored in a garage for the last 80 years and putting in a new battery and firing it up. No telling what damage you can do without a good inspection. This stuff is not rocket science and the forum can guide you through preparing it to accept a little power. The steps are easy and require a little test equipment. Let us know what your experience is, so we know how to guide you. Once it is singing, you like most of us, will be looking for another.
Be safe, Jerry PS: Welcome to the Phorum

[Davetalife]

Thanks for all the help. Well Jerry, my experience level is nothing past being able to turn on the power. I don't know s**t. I bought this off an old man ( cheap) he said all the tubes checked out and all it needed was a vibrator?

[jerryhawthorne]

Dave, if it has a power plug on it, it doesn't need a vibrator, nor does it have one. Radios that needed one of those ran off basically car batteries. You need to send us some pictures of the radio and more specifically of the chassis. Schematics are available from Chuck on his forum here. If you can read a road map, you can learn to read them. You will need to learn how to solder (easy) and be willing to learn some new stuff. Most of us started like you. It's a blast.
Jerry

[Davetalife]

I took pics on my phone but they won't upload. It's says the to big. Thanks for all your help. I need it.

[jontz]

Dave,

Here's some instructions for how to post pictures:

http://www.philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=29
http://www.philcoradio.com/phorum/showth...p?tid=4371

I'd highly recommend opening up a photobucket account. It's easy to do, free, and will automatically resize pictures to a forum friendly size. I hope this helps!

[Davetalife]

Ok here's my photo bucket. Home you can help. Or tell me what kind of philco I have. http://s564.beta.photobucket.com/user/da...e/library/

[DKinYORKpa]

How far are you from York?

[klondike98]

From your pictures it looks like the cabinet you have is a Model 91L based on the photos in this Phorum's gallery. See: http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1932b.htm

The chassis is a Model 91 with a version code of 221. See: http://www.philcorepairbench.com/tips/svctip35.htm for an explanation.

[Keith]

I scanned the Philco Service Bulletin for the 91 Series radios it is on my Skydrive.
Go to this link: http://sdrv.ms/YuOngj Select Philco and download the Philco 91 Service Bulletin PDF.

It has the Schematic and all the parts information for the 91 series radios.

[Ron Ramirez]

Pertinent photos from Dave's Photobucket site:

[Image: http://i564.photobucket.com/albums/ss87/.../image.jpg]

[Image: http://i564.photobucket.com/albums/ss87/...mage-1.jpg]

[Image: http://i564.photobucket.com/albums/ss87/...mage-2.jpg]

Looks like someone collects bottles. Debbie collected bottles for a while.

Lots of help available here.

[jerryhawthorne]

Dave, do you know how lucky you are? You have "hum". Basically that is saying that all the iron transformers are working. I pray for hum on a new radio purchase. From there on, things are going to be cheap for replacements. Good power transformer, good field coil, good speaker, good interstage transformer (if it uses one). Be happy!
Jerry

[Davetalife]

Thanks so much for the help everyone. And I live 2.5 hours from York.