i just tore this tired relic apart,and did a cursory visual inspection. all or most of the wax paper caps appear to rated at 1000 v. it seems rather excessive and out of the norm of what i run into. is it absolutely necessary to replace them with such a high voltage rating??? it appears to be unmolested. but looks can be deceiving
Looking at the schematic I didn't see any voltage above 300v on the tube plates. I would think for paper caps 630v replacement should be fine. Hopefully, someone who has restored one can help you out with a better answer.
“We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”
―Letters to an American Lady, C.S. Lewis
I restored one of these radios years ago. It was, in fact, how I came to find this site, looking for information on it. I do not remember the voltage of any of the condensers being that high. I used the yellow, 630 volt poly condensers for replacement of the paper condensers and they worked just fine. https://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=10134
They used what they had in stock.
the sole capacitor that may potentially need this rating is the one in parallel to the audio xfmr primary (if it is even present there) in acses when the speaker gets unplugged hot.
But this is not really a necessity, and more bad things could happen if you do that so the cap might become the least of your worries.
630V seems to be a sufficient rating across these radios.
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.
1. It is OK to turn it on without the speaker and without rectifier tube.
2. It is OK to turn it without the speaker and the output tube. If this is done, make sure the caps are discharged before you touch stuff after turn-off.
3. It is OK to turn it on with all tubes in and no speaker BUT: a) see #2 about the turn-off and b) NEVER plug in the speaker hot, c) Keep the volume pot all the way to the left, d) Don't do it
By the same token do not unplug the speaker hot.
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.
(This post was last modified: 02-10-2021, 12:51 AM by morzh.)
thanks morzh. by any chance you know anyone that makes the poplar base strips that with the plywood form the floor of the set? this cabinet set on a wet floor for a long time but otherwise is still reasonable. i ran across a website of a guy who did a few years back but cant find it now.
im in the process of recapping this set cleaning and so forth and i noticed the bass control has NEVER had anything more than a 33k resistor and a cap on ONE terminal.the other terminals have NEVER been soldered and a wire that would allow it to work is missing. its just there to fill the hole and does nothing. due to the small speaker that was used in such a huge cabinet i assume that bass wouldnt be such a great idea. it also suggests that the chassis was used in console. would that be the case???
You assume wrong. The bass on the 48-482 is actually quite good, especially for a table model. I am quite surprised by hearing your description. Close up pictures would be nice. I must say yours is not the only instance of sloppy assembly found on a Philco receiver. I just found something similar on the 38-10 I restored, the two 100pf condensers that should have been in the 2nd IF can had never been installed ! As for the speaker, the original is not that small, it is a 4" x 6" electrodynamic speaker, which has a response much better than permanent magnet speakers, especially from that period. When you get this radio straightened out, I am sure you will be pleased, I certainly am with mine.