Tropic 53-960 restoration
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I bought it almost exactly 2 years ago, April 2016.
Eventually I thought of it...and put it on the bench.
The radio is not in the worst of shape, in fact it is in pretty decent one, structurally good. The dial has a crack but Ron gave me a good one so I'm ok in this department.
Pulling out was easy after the loop antenna removal. For about 2 minutes I could not understand why it wasn't coming out, then realized I did not remove the knobs.
That's what one Guinness can to even a fairly experienced person.
Initial photos.
As can be seen, some caps are those "black beauties / bumblebees", and I wonder - are those original or were those results of a repair(s)?
Well, I will start on the recap tomorrow.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
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My 53-960 initially had all paper caps save for a few Bumblebee/Black Beauty caps here and there, including the AC line bypass caps.
http://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=10978
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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https://imgur.com/7KXyyVG
Never used this site so I hope the picture comes through.
Mike.
Here is a pic of my 53-960 I restored last year.
This is what it looked like underneath before I started on it.
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Mike, Ron,
Thanks. So it appears the Black Beauties are original.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
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It would appear so.
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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Noticed this what appears to be a coil and a gray large cap that aren't on the diagram. P!us some other parts.
Traced it to this:
Methinks it is an added phono input. The parts (a black Cornell Dubilier cap and such) tell me the mod is also 50s or early 60s.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
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Upon checking the two caps (grey 0.033uT and a black beauty 0.005uF) they are right on the money.
So the change is probably 60s. Leaving them in. Then again, I don't intend to use phono input.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
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Mike;
Those aftermarket phono jacks are often troublesome, with few exceptions the people that put them in were weekend mechanic types who knew barely enough where to connect them. I usually remove them since I really have no use for the jack, or the crappy soldering they used to install them, I have enough radios that came with them from the factory with the proper wire dress and shielding if I want to play records, or tapes, through a old radio.
Regards
Arran
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Probably a good idea.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
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I have undone all of that mod. I'm not even sure what it was. The center pin of the connector connected to one of the output tube's anode via a resistor and then some caps and inductor followed. I fgured I won't need it so why adulterate the schematic.
I have almost done the tube caps replacement, just the 4pcs of 6nF ones remain since I don't have any. Have to order. I have non-tube type but I want to restuff the current ones.
I tried restuffing the black beauties, all 47nF. I took Dremel with small cut disk and cut the ends off. Well, the backelite, or whatever that is, goes too deep and the innards won't come out. It has to be drilled out. So I cheated: I took Philco tubulas I have in stash and used them instead.
Now I have to take care of the electrolytics. Two twist-locks.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
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Anyone has experience removing a twistlock cap from its cardboard shell? This one is a Philco 3-section cap in a silver paper shell which I'd like to preserve. But the aluminum case is glued inside. I tried a ftting size wooden peg to knock it out, it dented the top of the alum shell but the cap inside the cardboard tube won't budge.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
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Mike;
Sometimes you can get the cardboard sleeves to come off with a little heat, they are often held on with a blob of tar in the top. About 5-10 minutes in a toaster oven at around 200 degrees Fahrenheit should do it, a heat gun might work too but the risk of scorching the cardboard is higher. If that doesn't work then you may have to soak the cardboard in lacquer thinner to dissolve whatever alternate cement they used that won't let go with heat, the cement they used to hold tube bases on the glass is like this.
Regards
Arran
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^^ What Arran said. The sleeve is held onto the electrolytic with tar, sometimes on top, sometimes on one side.
I used a heat gun to remove the cardboard sleeve on my 53-960 and did not scorch it. I had a second 53-960 parts chassis so I also removed the sleeve from the electrolytic on the parts chassis, cut the bodies of the electrolytics off leaving only the bases, drilled holes in the bases for the new electrolytics and installed them. When finished, I used the sleeves to cover up both, leaving an original appearance. Reference post #5 in the link I posted above.
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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The sleeve is open on top, so no tar there. Gotta be on the walls of the cylinder.
Hest gun didn't work.
Toaster oven then. 200 degrees. Before I soak it.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
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Just did that experiment with the oven.
I have just fnished baking some puff pastry and put the cap in. After 10 minutes...no, it won't come out. Something is oozing out of the cap but the glue won't melt.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
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