04-17-2025, 07:37 AM
Hi Pdouglasti,
Phirst off, welcome to the Philco Phorum, a Phamily Phriendly place phull of phun pholks and all things Philco (see a pattern here?)
Since this is for a 1955 Studebaker, is this a 6 Volt or 12 Volt radio? Most of the US carmakers switched to 12V in 1956, but some models switched over earlier. Most car radios of this vintage (and most AC transformer powered radios of this vintage) developed about 250V at the input of the filter if a permanent magnet dynamic speaker is used. I remember having a self-contained 6V Philco Studebaker radio. It had 2 6AQ5s in push pull along with an RF amp before the convertor tube. I ran these radios off a 6V AC winding of an old TV transformers and it did not seem to mind it at all. The radio had a great sound from the built in 6X9 speaker.
Are you restoring this for a car? If so, you will need to find a transformer from a car radio that runs on the car's voltage and has a similar tube count, particularly whether it uses one or 2 output tubes and the type of rectifier. If the radio has a rectifier such as a 7Y4, 84, 6X5, etc., and has push pull outputs, a transformer that delivers about 450-500V plate to plate (or between 225 and 250V from center tap to either plate) should do. For a radio using a 0Z4 rectifier (more common with Delco radios of this vintage than Philco) needs a minimum of 300V per plate. If there is no rectifier and the set uses a "synchronous" vibrator where both the primary and secondary are switched, yielding a DC output (not common in radios of this vintage), then I don't know.
If you are desiring to run the radio in your shop, you can use a transformer for any AC operated radio that used a PM dynamic speaker and similar tube count. In fact, Philco did this to 2 car radios (one for Ford, one for Chrysler) when US involvement in WWII caused the cessation of the production of cars and radios for civilian use. The radios were converted for AC operation by replacing the vibrator and transformer with AC radio transformers and then added into furniture cabinets.
Please keep us posted and ask any questions. We are happy to help!
Phirst off, welcome to the Philco Phorum, a Phamily Phriendly place phull of phun pholks and all things Philco (see a pattern here?)
Since this is for a 1955 Studebaker, is this a 6 Volt or 12 Volt radio? Most of the US carmakers switched to 12V in 1956, but some models switched over earlier. Most car radios of this vintage (and most AC transformer powered radios of this vintage) developed about 250V at the input of the filter if a permanent magnet dynamic speaker is used. I remember having a self-contained 6V Philco Studebaker radio. It had 2 6AQ5s in push pull along with an RF amp before the convertor tube. I ran these radios off a 6V AC winding of an old TV transformers and it did not seem to mind it at all. The radio had a great sound from the built in 6X9 speaker.
Are you restoring this for a car? If so, you will need to find a transformer from a car radio that runs on the car's voltage and has a similar tube count, particularly whether it uses one or 2 output tubes and the type of rectifier. If the radio has a rectifier such as a 7Y4, 84, 6X5, etc., and has push pull outputs, a transformer that delivers about 450-500V plate to plate (or between 225 and 250V from center tap to either plate) should do. For a radio using a 0Z4 rectifier (more common with Delco radios of this vintage than Philco) needs a minimum of 300V per plate. If there is no rectifier and the set uses a "synchronous" vibrator where both the primary and secondary are switched, yielding a DC output (not common in radios of this vintage), then I don't know.
If you are desiring to run the radio in your shop, you can use a transformer for any AC operated radio that used a PM dynamic speaker and similar tube count. In fact, Philco did this to 2 car radios (one for Ford, one for Chrysler) when US involvement in WWII caused the cessation of the production of cars and radios for civilian use. The radios were converted for AC operation by replacing the vibrator and transformer with AC radio transformers and then added into furniture cabinets.
Please keep us posted and ask any questions. We are happy to help!
"Do Justly, love Mercy and walk humbly with your God"- Micah 6:8
"Let us begin to do good"- St. Francis
Best Regards,
MrFixr55
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