[Guest]

Philco
MODEL 1885W
SET NO. 814
SERIAL NUMBER 57.3814
PHILCO CORPORATION OF CANADA LIMITED
DON MILLS, ONTARIO

Now here is the question.
With all this why can't I find any real information on this unit or any refrence to something even close to it?
What year it was made?
(I know it was after 1961 because on the owners manual it say philco a susidary of ford motor company but before 1965 because the name has not been changed to philco-ford).
Can I get a scematic or repair guide?
Is it rare enough or worth enough to keep it all original?
(I would like to re-finish the cabinet, replace the speaker covers with somthing newer, and add some digital components).

would love to hear any info or thoughts. I am very new to this and have tried to do some reaserch before posting this, I have not found anything on this model.
Thanks
WWS
pictures attached

Note from site admin: Sorry, but the photos which were attached to this post are no longer available.

[Ron Ramirez]

Hi

Some thoughts. What you have is not considered a collectible item. Oh, maybe it will be 50 years hence, but somehow I doubt it because of the sheer size of those old console stereos. Nobody wants them. They go begging at thrift stores. People who mistakenly think they are worth a fortune because they are more than 20 years old are usually disappointed to find that no one will pay any price for them.

Further, your unit was made in Canada, and we Americans do not have much in the way of information on any Canadian-built radio, stereo, TV or whatever. For this, you must seek help from one of our fine neighbors to the north - in Canada.

There are a number of radio collectors in your country. However, they may not be able to help you because, again, there is basically zero interest in console stereos, whether they are in the USA or Canada.

Here, we have SAMS Photofacts which is an excellent source of schematics and service information. However, I don't think they covered Canadian-built products?

In my opinion: Go ahead, refinish the cabinet, change the speaker cloth, add digital components. I doubt if anyone will mind. Personally, I would rather see something like this that has no collector value converted into a computer or whatever, than to see old collectible radios be turned into computer/MP3 stations.

So there are my thoughts. Perhaps others will weigh in with theirs?

[Carl Travis]

You might try contacting Just Radios to see if they have a schematic available:
http://www.justradios.com/schematics.html

[Guest]

Thanks Ron and Carl,
I was sure that my new aquisition was not going to lead to a speedy retierment . Just wanted to know that I would not be commiting some vintage radio sin by modifying it (I am a car guy and I have seen many vintage car sins commited). The speakers sound great, radio...check, and the turn table stillspins around in perfect little circles. No reason to pull any of that stuff out just going to add a few hidden 21 century toys.
I will continue to look around for a bit longer to make sure.

WWS