08-29-2026, 11:49 PM
Joe;
I though that it may have been put in there by the factory because that was the era in which they were starting to replace small value caps with ceramic, because it was cheaper then mica, and in non critical circuits it didn't really matter even if they were not C0G/NP0. There were some that look like "dogbone" resistors but are hollow, that style started turning up in sets back in the early 40s. As it turns out they may be more reliable then mica, I have had issues with some Aerovox mica caps from that era, assuming they are actually mica, the colour was sort of a caramel rather then dark brown like they usually are. Anyhow I started finding bad ones, in the 47 mmf/pf range in a Viking (Electrohome) built radio, one went bad in the antenna circuit, which was odd since there is no appreciable voltage there. Since then I have found bad ones in at least two other AC/DC sets from the late 40s-early 50s, it's quite possible that they were war surplus that was rejected by the military.
Regards
Arran
I though that it may have been put in there by the factory because that was the era in which they were starting to replace small value caps with ceramic, because it was cheaper then mica, and in non critical circuits it didn't really matter even if they were not C0G/NP0. There were some that look like "dogbone" resistors but are hollow, that style started turning up in sets back in the early 40s. As it turns out they may be more reliable then mica, I have had issues with some Aerovox mica caps from that era, assuming they are actually mica, the colour was sort of a caramel rather then dark brown like they usually are. Anyhow I started finding bad ones, in the 47 mmf/pf range in a Viking (Electrohome) built radio, one went bad in the antenna circuit, which was odd since there is no appreciable voltage there. Since then I have found bad ones in at least two other AC/DC sets from the late 40s-early 50s, it's quite possible that they were war surplus that was rejected by the military.
Regards
Arran




