[Guest]

I JUST startedto restore a philco42-390 radio it needs a transformer which i located how much can i expect to spend on getting a old radio to work.would all rsistors normally need replacing .can someone tell me about there experiance. all restoration cost are cost differant the wiring looks good. hwhite19@juno.com harold w

[Ron Ramirez]

Not counting the power transformer and any necessary tubes, maybe $20 or so in capacitors and resistors. But it does take a lot of time to properly restore an old radio. Especially one like yours with that old rubber-covered wiring.

You say it's good, but for how long? It will dry out and flake off. If not now, then later.

Tubes are usually still good. Not always, but more often than not, they are good. It is a waste of money to automatically buy a set of NOS tubes. Plus, this practice depletes the remaining stock of tubes for the rest of us. And then you have the dummies who think it is perfectly fine to plug in an old radio just pulled out of a barn or basement before it has been checked for signs of trouble and had, at the very least, its electrolytics replaced. When the 80, 5Y3, or 35Z5 rectifier dies because of a shorted electrolytic...this practice is causing the price of rectifier tubes to increase.