[MrFixr55]

Hi Cody,

From the State with Wall Street to the State with "Y'All Street, Welcome to the Phorum!!! We are glad that you are here.

I echo what others have recommended but want to add 3 caveats:

With this type of set, the most damage from powering up without recapping could be blowing out the rectifier. Since the set has no power transformer, there is no power transformer to fry due to shorted filter caps.

The bigger issue is that this is either a "Hot Chassis" set or a "Warm Chassis set, meaning that the "low end" of the heater string and B- are connected to the chassis, either directly or through a cap or cap and resistor. If the set is plugged in in such a manner that this point is at "hot" potential, the chassis becomes dangerous to touch. If this point is connected to the neutral leg of the source of power, it becomes safer WHILE THE POWER SWITCH IS ON. You see, what makes this even more of an issue is that from the dawn of these AC-DC transformer-less sets to the end of the vacuum tube era (and even some transistor sets) is that the manufacturers had the habit of placing the power switch between the AC Line and this Low end og the heater string and B- connection point. This means that one way or another, the chassis can be warm or hot. For example, the plug is inserted with the B- / Low end of the string connecting through the power switch to the "neutral" leg of the power outlet (Neutral is at ground potential). With the switch on, the chassis is at "ground" potential and the danger of shock when touching the chassis is nil. Now, turn the power switch (in the neutral leg) OFF. Even at operating temperatures, the heater string resistance is rather low, say 800 ohms baser on 0.15A heater string and 120V supply). So now, through the heater string, the chassis is hot. This is still enough to wreck the hearts of us old guys in quite a few cases. However, when tubes are cold, their resistance is much less than 800 Ohms, therefore much more current is available, wrecking more hearts. This is usually bad for the person getting shocked. Therefore I always rewire my transformerless sets so that the low end / B- connects directly to the neutral conductor of a polarized power cord and I move the power switch to the hot end of the power line and to the high end of the heater string and to the input of the rectifier. This may cause a slightly higher amount of hum but makes for a safer set.

Finally, having a "peri-WWII set means that you have rubber wire. There are 2 ways of dealing with this. One way is to cut one end of the cable, clean off the rubber and reinsulate either with "spaghetti" (varnished cloth straw-like insulating tubing) or heat shrink tubing. The alternative is to replace the failing wiring with type AWM 22 gauge solid or stranded wire with a minimal rating of 300V.

It's a little cramped in there but these are rather simple sets.

Hope this helps. Good luck. Keep posting! Glyphmon says that he is new, but I think he is on his 4th radio already. I have almost 100 radios, TVs, HiFi sets, etc. but I'm a little sick and, being 71 years old, I have had time to collect this much.