[Stall-U-Rated]

So here finally is the 16b ive been talking about, paid $25 for it and decided to open it up and poke around.
Looks like its been previously molested a bit.  Its the 121 chassis, hard wired speaker, 80 rectifier and the shields are missing....

More soon...

[Stall-U-Rated]

Upon further inspection i can see why the previous owner removed the plug. Looks like it was previously ran and overheated...  Power trans looks a bit waxy, A dime size drop of wax was on the cabinet bottom, and caps 86 and 68 look like they didnt appreciate the experience... Not smelling any burnt windings from the power trans...

At this point i figured i had nothing to lose, so i pulled the #80 rectifier, added some safety fuses, and......Gave her some juice.. The bulbs light, and the tube heaters all lit up as well.... Decided to press my luck, Inserted the 80 tube for a few seconds  long enough to hear a hum from whats left of the speaker and shut it down without incident....(smoke, fire, etc..)

And thats as far as i go with power applied from here on till re-capped...

[morzh]

Clean chassis, not messed with too much except that electrolytic cap which is typical of most radios to have.

The piece of cloth-covered cord that is inside the chassis (from the power switch to the AC filter caps) is shielded, don't discard it.
Wires having wax/tar deposits on them is also popular thing, not bad in itself.

In mine many smaller resistors were not too far gone, so I kept them.

[bikenepa]

Nice find for $25,  I could be so lucky.  Looks pretty much original,  a nice restore project.  10 tubes!

[morzh]

11 .

[bikenepa]

11 .

I only see 10 in the picture!

[morzh]

5Z3 rectifier is lurking behind the tuning cap in front of the filter choke.
16B is a 11-tuber.

[bikenepa]

5Z3 rectifier is lurking behind the tuning cap in front of the filter choke.
16B is a 11-tuber.

I was not doubting you..  I looked it up after you pointed that out.  The radio museum has a good picture of the top of the radio.  That is a boat load of tubes,  I guess I did not realize the tombstone radios had quite that many.

[morzh]

And this one is not even a tombstone

16B is probably the best table-top they made. 11 tubes ain't there for nothing. I think, from the full size tabletops, the 16 (in all incarnations) is the most sought after radios. Judging by what it goes for.

[KCMike]

Good looking candidate for restoration and the price you paid for it {almost free}   I have the tombstone version that I restored last year. They are good sounding radios and like morzh, only had to change a few resistors but the caps took a lot of time since I rebuilt all of them.

[Chris h]

Congratulations on your find, especially at that price! I just went thru mine. It's a fun project, and they sound good when finished. I am missing most of the tube shields too. I have not had any luck finding any, so far. I did replace the tuning dial with one from Radio Daze. It looks good, but be very careful with them, as the printed lettering is susceptible to damage. Good luck with your project.

[Stall-U-Rated]

Thanks all....

I have had 2 encounters with this radio in my life.... The first was when me and my gal would go to a local diner for breakfast... It was sitting on a table and being used as decoration for the diner. I often wondered if customers kids may have had something to do with the speaker damage....

2 years later, after the diner had closed, there was a small town nearby having a huge bunch of yard sales throughout the town. I spotted this radio amongst the many yard sales we visited that day.. I later realized this was the same radio as was in the diner due to the fact this isnt an original finish on the cabinet, and the speaker looked just as bad as it did then..

Ive been reading the prior 16b threads around here and learned some dos and donts of restoration, and even purchased the bakelite book and schematics from the recommended sites listed... But have some questions still.

1.. With your prior knowledge of these radios and have seen the pics of the boiled bakelite blocks and the waxy transformer lines, do you think the transformer will be okay? (it functions as posted earlier)

2..  Does anybody still have their cap shopping list handy? I cant afford to buy bulk these days, and was gonna do an order specific to this radio. Including subs for outdated mfd values?

3.. Will the lack of tubeshields make a big difference? I work at a place that has metal and aluminum sheets and can MAY have a couple rolled into shields if equipment allows..

4.. I believe from earlier post that the speaker is ok minus the lack of cone, any recommendations? so far i havent heard back from the place in Oregon and considering the bad weather some states are having, i dont know who is still in business....

Your input is truly appreciated and thanks again..

[morzh]

Sound Remedy, NJ for the reconing.
Tube shields need to be there. Will affect operation.

[Radioroslyn]

> I did replace the tuning dial with one from Radio Daze. It looks good, but be very careful with them, as the printed lettering is susceptible to damage.

You can clean it but do not use water or soap! Ink is water base and will vanish if not cleaned with mineral spirits. Tread lightly with a Q tip. This is if it is dirty have seen some that are badly faded or worn. In this case replacement is the only way to restore it's lettering.

<1.. With your prior knowledge of these radios and have seen the pics of the boiled bakelite blocks and the waxy transformer lines, do you think the transformer will be okay? (it functions as posted earlier)

Once you replace the caps inside the bakelite blocks your good to go. The pt showing a little wax is common nothing to get worked up about. When new there ran warm and with aging caps to load in down this can cause it to run hotter.

>Does anybody still have their cap shopping list handy? I cant afford to buy bulk these days, and was gonna do an order specific to this radio. Including subs for outdated mfd values?

It's simple enough to make one yourself. MFD and UF are equivalent so there is no conversion necessary. Same with MMFD and PF. For now just concern your self with the mfd sized caps. These are going to be the paper/wax style and the electrolytic caps in your set.

<3.. Will the lack of tube shields make a big difference? I work at a place that has metal and aluminum sheets and can MAY have a couple rolled into shields if equipment allows..

As Mike said but it may be easier to find something that is suitable like a energy drink can or small soda can. Can be easily cut with with scissors for length and for the hole in the top. just be sure to clean off the coating where you attach the grd wire for a good connection.

GL w/it!

[Stall-U-Rated]

Not sure if im gonna replace the dialscale just yet, light shines through it and the print doesnt seem damaged. Will the print smear with soap on this one or is that caution for a NEW one??

Never thought to use soda cans for the shields, thought they had to be tin only..

Ive restored a few radios prior to this one, and was thinking of orange drops for replacing the paper/wax caps and the bakelite innards with... However, i may need help with a list for #values that will require subs due to lack of exact replacement number values.. 

I do feel better about the power trans now that ive discussed it here though..