[David]

Please get the fish paper. If the gasket material is exposed to moisture could be big trouble. Stay Safe David

[jrblasde]

Ah, moisture is another consideration to which I was completely blind. I agree with David, it's certainly always best to use material which was designed for the application.

[morzh]

Speaking of moisture, Fish Paper is also somewhat hydroscopic, but I guess the electrical grade (what is called vulcanized fiber) should be ok.
At least I've not seen problems with it.

[GarySP]

My opinion is, if you go through all the tests to determine if another material MIGHT be an alternative, just buy the fish paper! Usually under $10.00 for enough for numerous projects. -Gary

[jrblasde]

I just bought some off of Amazon last week. It was delivered on Tuesday. I paid about $11.00 for it, and there's enough fish paper for multiple IF cans. At least 15 of them.

[jrblasde]

Back to the 46-480 restoration, I did make another observation. I had previously commented that R305 was an 18 Ω resistor when I removed it from my chassis. According to both the Philco schematic and parts list, as well as the Rider's schematic, it was supposed to be a 150 Ω resistor. At the time I decided I would keep with the 18 Ω resistor, since that was what was physically installed. However, I now believe that this resistor isn't original to the radio. For one thing, take a look at it (the resistor on top). 

   

It's much shinier than some of the other typical resistors I removed. Now that I've discovered the AM-only Meissner IF can in place of the AM/FM Philco part, I am starting to picture that there was likely some sort of failure which prompted these replacements. I'm willing to bet that the serviceman who installed the 18 Ω resistor did so either out of error or to increase the gain of the signal being fed to the Meissner IF can since it is a double-tuned circuit compared to the unusual AM circuit in the Philco 32-4074 IF can. Thus, I now believe that I will match the 150 Ω value seen in the Philco documentation.

[Arran]

I will have to find that roll, which I got from a NAPA dealer years ago. It's not like the normal gasket paper in that it's the variety which would resist gasoline, or other fuels, for use in carburetor and fuel pump gaskets, which is what I used it for. it looks almost identical to fish paper, so I doubt whether ordinary moisture would be a problem. The reason I ask is that I took apart some IF cans in a Stewart Warner vibrator radio, and they had a cloth with a sticky varnish type substance on it rather then the typical fish paper, or varnished paper like your Philco had, and it made it difficult to get the covers off of the IF cans. Needless to say I removed them to get them back together, as I did not unmount the cans from the chassis. I'm curious about the electrical specs, if it has any at all, it's not a problem getting something else but I have basically a lifetime supply of the stuff. I may have to make a test rig, another trick to limit current is to connect a light bulb in series with the primary, though that will reduce the output voltage under load.
The B+ in the Stewart Warner is only about 180 volts as they used battery tubes rather then AC tubes like a Philco or Brand Z set would use. It was in a similar condition to your poor 46-480 rust wise, but the reason I started fixing it is that you could power one of these sets from a single 6 volt SLA battery so they are almost practical to use as a modern solid state radio. I also felt sorry for it, it was literally sitting on a junk pile, but it was also almost complete, only missing a single knob.
Regards
Arran

[jrblasde]

My PCBs were delivered for the multi-section capacitor replacements! The dimensions are just perfect. The elongated PCB lines up perfectly with the rivet holes, and the mounts for the four QC connectors on the circular disk align with the slots on the chassis for the original twist-lock lugs. Clearances look perfect (remember that the neutral pins, which are equipotential with the chassis) are the through holes which are closest to the edges.

I finished verifying all of the passive components yesterday, so I’ll get an order together on Mouser this evening. I’ll include the QC connectors and solder lugs for these two PCBs. Can’t wait to see them assembled and installed on the chassis!

   

   

   

[morzh]

Nice!

[jrblasde]

I’ve gotten the parts in the mail, and so I now have the custom multi-section capacitors assembled and installed onto the chassis! I will say that the QC connectors were a bit thicker than I imagined, so they didn’t really want to twist. Not to worry, as I was able to bend them outward and then apply a small bead of solder to hold the assembly on the chassis.

   

   

   

   

[jrblasde]

I haven't posted the schematic in a long time. At long last, I am done with it. I've got two versions I will upload. The first version I've called Rev 0. In this revision, all I have done is digitize the original Philco schematic and make the necessary edits to reflect production run 9 (since that's the production run I have). This is also the final production run, so it's probably a good version of the schematic to upload for others to use, so that they can start from here. 

The second version of the file I've called Rev 1. In this revision, I've added a polarized plug, moved the on-off switch to the live side of the 117 VAC primary circuit, and inserted a 1A fuse. I've also updated the values of a few of the capacitors to reflect the closest replacement values I could get (0.47 μF for C102 instead of 0.5 μF, as an example).

I've denoted the revision in the file name, as well as in the title block of the drawing. I also added revision blocks, to keep a running list of all updates to the drawing.

One final detail which I included was the wafer switch detail. I had to recreate it from scratch since this detail was blurry on the original Philco schematic.

[jrblasde]

Good evening, folks! I guess I’ll provide an update on this week’s progress. I am awaiting one last order from Mouser, with ground lugs, new inductors, a 15 Megaohm resistor (couldn’t get one of this value from WJOE), and a bit of other miscellaneous hardware. After that I will have everything I need to put this radio back together. This weekend I was able to rivet some fresh loctal and octal tube sockets into the chassis, as well as some new terminal strips. I am awaiting a ground lug before I place the rivet towards the back of the 6H6GT socket, but the others are installed.

   

   

I also made it to Office Depot this afternoon to print out my schematic on a full size E sheet of paper. I can pin this to the wall in my garage to trace along as I reconstruct the circuit.

As for the third IF transformer, I’m still on the hunt. I spoke over email and telephone with Mark Oppat this week. He has found a Philco 32-4174 IF transformer in a 1950 chassis. This isn’t an exact substitute, but it will work with only minor modification. Even so, he felt certain that we could broaden our search and find the 32-4074 that I’m needing. He suggested that I create a wanted ad here on this forum, as well as creating an ad on the Antique Radio Forum. I created an account and posted an ad. I heard from a guy in Little Rock (just a short swim down the Arkansas river from Tulsa ) who thought he had one but turned out not to. Other than that, not much has turned up. But Mark also referred me to a guy named Jonathan (Hardick?) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I called him on Friday, and he was a friendly guy. I understand that he has a large inventory of parts. He asked for me to give him some time to look, but he took my name and number to call me back.

If all of my searches turn up empty, Mark did say that he’d be happy to sell me the 32-4174.

[radiorich]

Hello Joseph,
You have been really busy on this set it really puts me to shame !!
Great job so far I finished up my 1950s Ge clock radio except for adding dial lights I am going to use LED since it never had any .

Sincerely Richard

[jrblasde]

Ooh, backlighting will be a nice addition! I’ve got a 70’s model GE clock (not the kind with the numerals on cards that flip, but rather the “odometer” style where the numerals are on rotating wheels. It lacks a backlight, but it makes for a nice clock on my desk at work.