[Guest]

Hello all,
After a year or so of becoming interested in acquiring a Philco, I've purchased a 1929 model 86. The cabinet is in very very good condition considering the age of the radio. So far just the story of the radio alone has been enjoyable. I purchased the radio from a gentleman whose father bought it new in 1929. The stories of how the kids were not allowed near it and nobody touched the radio except the owner were all good to hear. The gentleman I bought it from was very sad to part with it since it had been in the family for so long. I assured him that I would continue to take care of it. I told him that I would invite him over or at the very least call him so he could hear the radio again in the near future.

I have only been able to identify it by photos on the internet. They knew it was bought new in 1929 so that made it fairly easy to nail down. I was wondering if there was originally some sort of label on the radio somewhere that listed the model number and other important info? It appears that there may have been some sort of label on the back. There seems to be an area where a 3 inch square label may have been at one time. I have a fairly basic knowledge of electrical components (ie I can use a volt meter etc...), I am debating whether to turn it over to a repair shop and have them give me a price to fix it or try to acquire tubes to replace and check the power supply and speaker? I'm not sure how delicate of an item i have here. I would tend to believe that like all things built in the day that they are fairly durable.

I do need some speaker cloth to replace the current one that has a large tear. Did these things come with a manual or instructions of some sort? I would like to have even a repro one if possible. I've search and searched and have found schematics but nothing that references an owners manual of any sort.

I see what you folks have been enjoying. Now the problem is not getting carried away!!!

Thanks
Matt

[Ron Ramirez]

Hello, and welcome aboard!

Very interesting story. Many of the radios we find have no stories to go with them; that is, we don't always know the history of each individual radio. That is neat to know that you are only the third owner of your 86.

The 86 should have a decal in the back of the radio's chassis, located on one of the large coil shields, and it will be placed sideways if I recall correctly. The decal is gold with black lettering.

Owner's manuals were given to the original owner of the radio, and most did not survive. So it is not always possible to find an owner's manual these days.

Somewhere around here I think I have a copy of the service manual for the 86, but I have no owner's manual for it. The 1928-29 Philco radio service manuals went into great detail, unlike the Service Bulletins which came out later.

[Guest]

Ron,
I found the label exactly where you stated it wold be. Your site is awesome and a wonderful resource for all things Philco. I searched Ebay for owner's manuals in general and see what you mean by non-existent. I hope to remove the chasis in a few days and clean the 1/4" thick dust off. I was told the radio had not been plugged in for 40+ years.

Thanks
Matt

[Ron Ramirez]

Matt

Don't be in a hurry to plug it in - read these pages first:

http://www.philcoradio.com/tech/plugin.htm

http://www.antiqueradio.org/powerup.htm

[Guest]

Thanks. I was just reading the antiqueradio.org site. Lots of good info.

[Guest]

I put together the Dim-bulb tester as described on antiqueradio.org. I started with a 40 watt bulb. The bulb glowed fairly bright. I stopped there assuming there was a short. I also tried the test with no tubes as suggested further in the article. When I performed this test the bulb did not light at all. It was stated that a good transformer will cause the bulb to glow after a few moments. I waited until a slow count to 15 did not produce a glow. While the bulb did not glow at all it did get warm. I guess I need to start from the transformer and find out what the output voltage should be and see what I am actually getting.

Matt

[exray]

With the tubes pulled the dim bulb tester shouldn't glow at all.

[Guest]

Ok. I was going by the following instructions from antiqueradio.org

"A dim-bulb tester can be used to diagnose some basic power supply problems. Here is a handy procedure which I found in an old radio service book. It is used to check the transformer and input filter capacitor in a transformer-type power supply. (This will not work with an "AC/DC" type power supply, which lacks a power transformer.)

Remove all tubes from the radio. Make a note of where each tube belongs, so you can later replace it in the correct socket.
Place a 25-watt or 40-watt bulb in the dim-bulb tester and plug the radio into the tester.
A good transformer will cause the lamp to glow dimly after a few moments. If the lamp glows brightly, you have a short circuit; the transformer should then be disconnected and checked.
If the transformer is OK, put in the rectifier tube, put a 100-watt bulb in the dim-bulb tester, and try again. If the rectifier tube lights up and the lamp glows brightly, you have a short-circuit in the filter capacitor of the power supply."

[codefox1]

I'd have to agree with Xray. There is no load on the transformer when the tubes are pulled. It should not get warm at all. If it does, there are shorted windings, or problems with connections. Take the bells off, and see if there is any evidence of arcing or shorted leads. Measure the AC voltage on all windings and see if they are correct.

[Jim Berg]

I would say if the bulb did not glow the transformer is OK. Sounds like a nice radio. It should have the recap and check the other parts also. You might try an ad in the Wanted section and see if anyone has a copy of the manual they could copy for you.

[Guest]

Can anyone suggest a source for the 3242 push - pull input transformer for the radio? One of the windings are are stuck open. The 26 tube is the driver and 2 - 71A tubes are the output. Doesn't have to be vintage, just compatible. I search google briefly and will continue to search for places to buy something. Hoping someone has a source or direction to save some time.

Thanks
Matt

[Ron Ramirez]

I checked Play Things of Past - they do not have one listed.

http://www.oldradioparts.com/

You might ask Mark Oppat if he has one. Tell him I sent you.

http://www.oldradioparts.net/

(notice the difference, the PTOP site ends in dot com and Mark's site ends in dot net)

[Guest]

Ron,
I just sent Mark an e-mail. Thanks for the help.

Matt