[Guest]

I recently purchased a Philco 40-180 cabinet style radio. The cabinet is in surprisingly good shape and the majority of the problems with the chassis was cleaning and lubing. The volume pot is bad, though. I cannot find a replacement for this ANYwhere (well, except Play Things of Past, and they require a $20 minimum). It is a 2 meg pot with a 1 meg tap. The shaft is ¼" D-shaft. Does anyone have or know where I can obtain this component?


Also, the wires on the large antenna form have been cut and replaced, so the color codes are long gone. The schematic shows the measurements for each coil, but the values are so low (.25 ohm and .1 ohm) that there is no way I am going to be able to ohm those out. Any other (easy) way to figure this out?

Oh, and a service manual would be really helpful!

Thanks...

[DeckApe]

Our own Chuck Schwark is an excellent source for a schematic pack for the 40-180. I have a 40-190 that I'm hoping to start work on myself soon and Mr. Schwark's info pack was very helpful.

I can't help you with the volume pot replacement, unfortunately, but I do have to ask if you've cleaned it. Many of our more senior members would be able to tell you how to do that (I'm a newbie myself).

And when I get that far, I will be happy to clue you in on the wires for the antenna--our radios are one tube and circuit away from being identical, down to using the same antenna and speaker.

[Guest]

Yeah, I cleaned the pot, short of opening it up. That will be my next step since it isn't working anyway. The control isn't scratchy, it's one low volume for about ¼ turn, then complete signal drop for a small turn followed by full signal the rest of the way. I think the trace in the control is broken or at least has bad spots.

As for the antenna help, that would be great.

Thanks...

[Texasrocker]

Hello, to open-up the old volume control is easy. Carefully pry-up all the front control housing tabs, flatten with small pliers, and remove front shaft & wiper assembly from the housing. Then, you can visually inspect the carbon trace for broken intermittent operation. If you dont see any visual probs, blow off the dust & debris, and relube the wiper assembly with a shot or 2 of WD-40. Rotate the moving parts in the wiper till shaft is also lubed and rotating easily as well. Make sure the on-off switch section is properly aligned and relubed as well. Wipe off excess lubricant carefully, then reassemble control and bend orig mount tabs back to orig secure positions.
I haved saved many vintage controls in the past using that method! The old-timers used to use a #2 lead writing pencil to fill in worn carbon traces on the wiper. Ive never had much luck trying that idea as most vintage controls are now too worn.
For vintage radio controls replacements if needed, http://www.RadioDaze.com has a nice selection of both audio-taper, & linear taper modern replacements with new on-off switches assemblies also in various ohms ratings with long round 1/4"shafts. The shafts can be modified to your needs by using a dremmel tool to grind the shaft on one side, and/or, cut the shaft off your old control and add it to the new control using a 1/4" to 1/4" shaft-coupling which they sell also. Check their "components" section of their website. Best of luck on your restoration!