07-15-2017, 10:31 PM
...Speaking of gray... And to revive this old thread:
<In my best Jerry Seinfeld voice> "What's the deal with all this Mershon Madness?"
Admittedly, I'm new to the classic Cathedrals, having just refurbished my first 70 after doing the 1940's Bakelites for a while before hitting the "hard stuff".
Yes, I restuffed the Bakelite capacitor blocks, but no, I didn't fill them with anything to replace the tar. Yet, there are my electrolytics dangling under the original caps, because I didn't restuff the originals.
Back to Mershon capacitors: I see just as many if not more Philcos (70s and 90s in particular) with plain aluminum or nickel plated Sprague capacitors, and I believe they were built that way originally. Are people pulling out the original capacitors, condemning them as "replacements" or "fakes" and not only driving up the cost of Mershons but also getting rid of the original Spragues that some of us would gladly accept for our "castrated" chassis?
How many of us think the only "correct" capacitor in a Philco Cathedral is a bright copper Mershon? (I've seen a pair of Mershons on eBay asking more than I paid for a whole 70 chassis and speaker wrapped in the tattered plywood that used to be the cabinet! But it had Spragues not Mershons, and I'll keep the Spragues, thank you very much.)
As for me, yes I'm glad when I acquire a Philco with Mershons (The one I just got working), but if it comes with Spragues, I leave them in, and would rather have that than Mershons that came from another radio, or another build of the same model. How many people look in the back of a playing radio to see if it has Mershons?
I wonder how many people out there just think every Philco 70 or 90 or whatever should come with the copper Mershon capacitors, not knowing that those Spragues are original. Maybe for a joke, the next Hippo I find, I'll stick a little Mershon cap in there to drive people crazy. ("Actually only the earliest 1946 Code 121 had Mershons. You're lucky to find this baby!")
Oh: and I left my Mershons with all the patina of a well circulated penny because you can clean them up any time, but the patina is only original once!
Anyway, I know this was a rant (hopefully a little humorous), but the point is, let's not pull out perfectly original Spragues just because we want those copper Mershons in there. If you do pull Spragues, at least save them for those of us who need to fill holes left in the 40s and 50s by well meaning radio techs. Put them on eBay for cheap ($5 to $10 each is probably plenty fair), so someone who spent all his money on a 70 with one Sprague and one hole (or two holes) can fill the hole with something correct.
Livin' on Zenith, Atwater Kent and Philco
All a friend can say is "Ain't it a shame"
<In my best Jerry Seinfeld voice> "What's the deal with all this Mershon Madness?"
Admittedly, I'm new to the classic Cathedrals, having just refurbished my first 70 after doing the 1940's Bakelites for a while before hitting the "hard stuff".
Yes, I restuffed the Bakelite capacitor blocks, but no, I didn't fill them with anything to replace the tar. Yet, there are my electrolytics dangling under the original caps, because I didn't restuff the originals.
Back to Mershon capacitors: I see just as many if not more Philcos (70s and 90s in particular) with plain aluminum or nickel plated Sprague capacitors, and I believe they were built that way originally. Are people pulling out the original capacitors, condemning them as "replacements" or "fakes" and not only driving up the cost of Mershons but also getting rid of the original Spragues that some of us would gladly accept for our "castrated" chassis?
How many of us think the only "correct" capacitor in a Philco Cathedral is a bright copper Mershon? (I've seen a pair of Mershons on eBay asking more than I paid for a whole 70 chassis and speaker wrapped in the tattered plywood that used to be the cabinet! But it had Spragues not Mershons, and I'll keep the Spragues, thank you very much.)
As for me, yes I'm glad when I acquire a Philco with Mershons (The one I just got working), but if it comes with Spragues, I leave them in, and would rather have that than Mershons that came from another radio, or another build of the same model. How many people look in the back of a playing radio to see if it has Mershons?
I wonder how many people out there just think every Philco 70 or 90 or whatever should come with the copper Mershon capacitors, not knowing that those Spragues are original. Maybe for a joke, the next Hippo I find, I'll stick a little Mershon cap in there to drive people crazy. ("Actually only the earliest 1946 Code 121 had Mershons. You're lucky to find this baby!")
Oh: and I left my Mershons with all the patina of a well circulated penny because you can clean them up any time, but the patina is only original once!
Anyway, I know this was a rant (hopefully a little humorous), but the point is, let's not pull out perfectly original Spragues just because we want those copper Mershons in there. If you do pull Spragues, at least save them for those of us who need to fill holes left in the 40s and 50s by well meaning radio techs. Put them on eBay for cheap ($5 to $10 each is probably plenty fair), so someone who spent all his money on a 70 with one Sprague and one hole (or two holes) can fill the hole with something correct.
Livin' on Zenith, Atwater Kent and Philco
All a friend can say is "Ain't it a shame"
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