02-18-2022, 01:18 PM
This is a timely thread for me. I have had a Philco 38-116 in various homes for over 50 years. My wife liked the cabinet, and nostalgia look however it was never even plugged in to power. I am now retired and looking at the console one day, I thought perhaps I will take a look at it and see what it might take to fire it up. I mentioned it to my wife and she was overjoyed with the prospect of it actually working, so now I am committed.
I thought this was an unmolested radio as it has been in my custody for so long. Not so! Back panel is missing, there has been an RCA type phono jack and switch added to the back of the chassis, and the capacitors under discussion in this thread are missing. Underneath I find a dual 8ufd tubular under the chassis which is wired in using electrical tape! I can not see the working voltage on it, and the end cap is blown as expected. The cans that were the original caps are no longer there. I have the schematic and see that these were originally two 8ufd in parallel.
So I am in the first phase of restoring this radio, and restore is too generous, as I really just want to make it work, and do so in a workmanship like manner. I am sure most other Ecaps will need to be replaced. Not sure this is a sustainable hobby for me but want to take a crack at this one and have been surfing the net for guidance, and rather enjoying it. I am trainable and have some electronic knowledge so any guidance or pitfalls with this particular chassis would be greatly appreciated.
I thought this was an unmolested radio as it has been in my custody for so long. Not so! Back panel is missing, there has been an RCA type phono jack and switch added to the back of the chassis, and the capacitors under discussion in this thread are missing. Underneath I find a dual 8ufd tubular under the chassis which is wired in using electrical tape! I can not see the working voltage on it, and the end cap is blown as expected. The cans that were the original caps are no longer there. I have the schematic and see that these were originally two 8ufd in parallel.
So I am in the first phase of restoring this radio, and restore is too generous, as I really just want to make it work, and do so in a workmanship like manner. I am sure most other Ecaps will need to be replaced. Not sure this is a sustainable hobby for me but want to take a crack at this one and have been surfing the net for guidance, and rather enjoying it. I am trainable and have some electronic knowledge so any guidance or pitfalls with this particular chassis would be greatly appreciated.