12-11-2009, 09:46 PM
Where are you physically located? there may be a radio/electronics club or member of this forum in your area, and people there would have tube testers and other things you would not want to buy just to work on one radio.
You may be tempted to just replace the power cord and "try it," but avoid doing so unless you also want to buy a new power transformer and fix other damage which could result. You might get lucky, but you need to replace the electrolytic and wax-coated paper capacitors. If you had a dim-bulb set-up (the radio powered in SERIES with a light bulb), you might be able to catch the high current draw a sharted capacitor would cause before you damage something(s), but the capacitors need to be changed anyway, so you may as well go ahead and do it. People here will be gald to help you.
Dave at Just Radios will be glad to send you the capacitors you need.
When changing them, you also need to check for bad (open, or out of tolerance) resistors.
The power cord simply needs to be #18 wire. If you are just buying one cord, they are available many places. If this radio is the start of a hobby, I have found good ones for $1.11 each in quantities of 10 or more.
You may find this site with photos, original selling prices, and production numbers interesting:
http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1940a.htm
Some Philcos have old rubber wiring inside the chassis, and the insulation has been come hard and is crumbling off. It takes a long time to change it, but that is what you have to do to have a reliable and safe refurbished radio.
You may be tempted to just replace the power cord and "try it," but avoid doing so unless you also want to buy a new power transformer and fix other damage which could result. You might get lucky, but you need to replace the electrolytic and wax-coated paper capacitors. If you had a dim-bulb set-up (the radio powered in SERIES with a light bulb), you might be able to catch the high current draw a sharted capacitor would cause before you damage something(s), but the capacitors need to be changed anyway, so you may as well go ahead and do it. People here will be gald to help you.
Dave at Just Radios will be glad to send you the capacitors you need.
When changing them, you also need to check for bad (open, or out of tolerance) resistors.
The power cord simply needs to be #18 wire. If you are just buying one cord, they are available many places. If this radio is the start of a hobby, I have found good ones for $1.11 each in quantities of 10 or more.
You may find this site with photos, original selling prices, and production numbers interesting:
http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1940a.htm
Some Philcos have old rubber wiring inside the chassis, and the insulation has been come hard and is crumbling off. It takes a long time to change it, but that is what you have to do to have a reliable and safe refurbished radio.
Web site: http://www.masekconsulting.net
Radio Photos: http://www.photobucket.com - album id FStephenMasek
