This AK84 was bought, I think, last fall.
For a whopping $100.
It has been, according to the seller, restored.
As I go through radios no matter what the seller tells me, and due to the other project (H-speaker coil restoration) going on the back burner, I decided it is time for that patient to be seen.
This is the radio. The condition is rather nice.
The chassis is clean, as often is the case with AK.
The under-chassis is nice too. Clearly some work has been done.
Also the cord is new.
The tubes are good except one 24A tube. It takes a couple of minutes or more to start moving the indicator needle on my 600A Hickok, and slowly, over 2-3 minutes, it gets to 500. Others within a minute of warm-up get above 1000. This gets changed.
The electrolytic caps have been restuffed, which is obvious.
The capacitor can assemblies have been touched, but I am not sure if they were rebuilt. The fact they were touched is betrayed by nice brass screws holding them instead of the rivets.
But the bottom looks nice and so I am not sure if it has new caps inside.
I will unsolder the wires and check the values.
The tuning is a bit tight and rough; the roller that moves the sprocket of the tuner received some plastic piece over it, and this is perhaps why it is.
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.
The wires were desoldered from the can, and the capacitors checked. All checked at 0.102 uF, which is correct.
So the can was rebuilt.
I will assume the 3 other cans were rebuilt also.
I do not know what type of electrolytic caps the previous owner used to rebuild the old aluminum cans, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and will limit myself to verify the value only.
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.
Hello mike,
What nice looking radio I have one AK in my collection it's a console I have not started restoring it yet .
Was that chassis that clean when you got because it sure is in nice shape and well worth $100. in my book .
there was a AK model Superhetrodyne #944 today at the auction thou.
yes, this is the way I got it. I have just put it on the table and took it apart.
I suspect it even might work, especially when I replace that weak 24A.
I will attempt some power-up 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.
Hi Mike, that 84 sure looks great. You don’t often see these antique radios with a fuse like yours has. I usually install a fuse in any radio that I do if it has a power transformer. I will be following your thread as I have an 84 myself that I hope to start on next winter. If you remember, you were very instrumental in me getting this set back in October of 2023. You were able to supply me with a phone number. If I remember, I think I paid $50 for mine!
You have an extensive collection of Philcos, Mike! I’m always excited to see each new one. Agreed on the power supply fuse—it’s a nice safety feature and can be concealed easily because they look natural in any chassis. I’m adding one to my 46-480 because it has a power transformer.
I forgot, but when you said "phone number", I remembered, caus I usually remember how I act when I need to dig info. A guy in upper PA.
BTW, some of his ads are still in Craigslist.
I am afraid there will be not too much to follow, if the radio was restored properly. Which is what it looks like.
You could look the 82 thread from, I think, 2022. It is very similar, but there will be tons of action as this radio was unmolested.
As for the fuses, yes both these models do have the fuse. Indeed a nice feature. I only have seen in in these two: in the 808A (console) I did not see any fuse.
Well, I have just had my Turkish coffee, now I am fulfilling my morning quota of on-line participation and then I will go down the dungeon to try to check the transformer and perhaps power up the 84.
(reminds me, need to check the speaker).
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.
Hello Mike,
I have not checked to see if my console has a fuse or not and far as sets go I have early 30s General Motors Console that came factory with a fuse holder .
Well, powering it up would be too good to be true, and I had that feeling.
Before I did, I decided to check the coils, and the 1st detector filter choke, this one
showed open. I was hoping I did not put good contacts on the leads, but no, I did.
I took the resistor on top of it off,
And then took the coil off. After I looked at it, it looked like a wire was broken.
But, as I later found out, it was not the wire. The wire came to the leads, and there was no broken part on top. I separated both wires (one came from under the winding), cleaned it, and saw no continuity.
So I started unwinding. After about 100 turns it broke, then I found the end and took another 77 turns before it broke again.
Since I cannot operate without magnifying light, I will take it to work tomorrow to find that loose end.
I will probably have to rewind it.
177 turns at th is point, 0.08mm wire (40 AWG).
When I unwind the whole thing, I might just calculate the inductance and use an axial one instead. (AK same as most everyone show the inductances in Ohms DC resistance. I guess for service they did not need anything else).
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.
Mike when I got to the guy’s house to pick up the set, he gave me a tour of his home and garage. Wow, his living room consisted of multiple consoles, many beautifully restored Zeniths and an easy chair! His garage had many projects in waiting. He was a heck of a nice guy to talk with. On my way home, I got to thinking and said to my wife, hmm, this guy obviously knows his way around restoring antique radios so why would he buy this AK84 to only turn around and resell it so cheap? I’m wondering did he dive into it and find it needs something that’s unobtanium or really expensive so decided to just unload it? I guess I will find out!
and then I will go down the dungeon to try to check the transformer and perhaps power up the 84.![[-]](https://philcoradio.com/phorum/images/bootbb/collapse.png "[-]")
