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Philco 40-180 Transformer Question
#2

OK.

1. Welcome. 40-180 is not teh champion but will sound well enough once done.
2. I recently made a point of skipping reading results immediately after seeing someone plugged an unrecapped radio in, coupled with dim bulb tester and proceeding right to the end. The first is a bad thing to do, the second is ... I would compare it with using some dry raspberries to drop thefever and observe, after the antibiotics became available.


So.

1. Ditch the youtube. Go to a forum (OK, you have just done it), read the "101" and ask questions.
2. What you measured was NOT an impedance. It was DC resistance (as one EE to another). There's a difference, and DC resistance in transformers and chokes, while somewhat informative, is not necessarily what you want to know.
3. If you are bent on using that dimwit tester (this is what I call them) and you do not have a variac and agood DMM, here's what you could do.

- Make sure you are absolutely sure BOTH the secondary windings are disconnected. The rectifier tube is removed.
Also, the filament winding goes to Chassis; disconnect it also (unsolder). "cause, you know, you never know.

- Then measure the DC resistance across your power plug, it should be tens or a couple of hundreds of Ohms. NOT a short.
- If shorted, make sure it is not your power cord/power plug, and it is not cracked/shorted.
- Make sure your power switch is still a switch.
- In case switch/cord are bad, cut off and use wires.

- Then connect that dimwit lighbulb thing in series with the power wires, plug into AC (make sure you can pull the plug very quickly...in case of any eventuality) and see if the bulb is bright. If it is, your transformer is a gonner. If not, start the restoration.

A 40-180 with a bad transformer, to me, is not worth the effort spent.

I am sure there will be some different opinions.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.


Messages In This Thread
Philco 40-180 Transformer Question - by tfonzart - 04-12-2026, 12:00 PM
RE: Philco 40-180 Transformer Question - by morzh - 04-12-2026, 12:19 PM
RE: Philco 40-180 Transformer Question - by RodB - 04-12-2026, 12:32 PM
RE: Philco 40-180 Transformer Question - by morzh - 04-12-2026, 02:34 PM
RE: Philco 40-180 Transformer Question - by morzh - 04-12-2026, 05:14 PM
RE: Philco 40-180 Transformer Question - by RodB - 04-12-2026, 06:21 PM
RE: Philco 40-180 Transformer Question - by morzh - 04-13-2026, 07:59 AM
RE: Philco 40-180 Transformer Question - by morzh - 04-13-2026, 07:02 PM



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