[Pear]

Someone brought me an early version of this radio/phono. It does not have the release buttons to open the lid.How do i open ity? I need to service the radio and phono.At a loss here.
Pear

[MrFixr55]

Edited 07/28/2025 by MrFixr to add info and correct typos:

Here is a link to one disassembled, on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165464266344?ch...5f67bee48d

Here is a link to a You Tube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWhE4iH8XRA

I'm sorry, I don't own one of these and haven't fixed one, but it appears that opening the door causes the phonograph turntable to lower the spindle and move the tone arm to receive a record slid in. Therefore if the grease on the turntable mechanism dried up, this may be what prevents opening.

Try to take the back off the radio, turn it upside down and separate the turntable / base from the case / radio. You should be able to separate these parts with the door in the up position. It appears that the front door does not attach to the top or sides of the case; it appears to be hinged at the bottom. You will see a linkage between the cover and the "mechanism" on the turntable that lowers the spindle and raises the arm so the record can be slid in. Once you separate the "2 halves" of the case, resolution to the door should hopefully become obvious.

Below is a link to the service documentation from the Phorum's Philco Library:
https://philcoradio.com/library/download...6-1947.pdf

This is an interesting radio. It uses a full wave voltage doubler, but I expected a little more plate voltage than what this one gives. The theoretical output of one of these doublers is over 160V but this one is 120V. The remainder is likely eaten up by the field coil on the loudspeaker. Later Philco Radio - Phonos that used the voltage doubler had higher outputs because by about 1949 or so, the industry switched from field coils to AlNiCo permanent magnet for speaker fields.

Generally, you don't find voltage doublers on radios without phonos. A voltage doubling rectifier requires AC to generate the desired product DC voltage. Since almost all phonos use AC indction motors, Philco took advantage of the AC only requirement of the phono to use a full wave voltage doubling rectifier. This increases output power and RF gain of the radio. The downside is that no matter which way one puts the plug in and no matter if the power switch is on or off, the chassis is "warm" (coupled by a capacitor to a voltage above neutral - ground level).

As a kid, I fixed one of the table versions, likely a 50-1718; this set had a full wave voltage doubler, 8" PM Dynamic Speaker and 3 watts of output. A good sounding radio-phono.

Good luck with the radio, it is unique, and a relatively good performer.
Hope this helps.

[NostalgiaRadioTime]

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsG237Jnbg4]Hi Pear,

I restored and sold one of these recently. I had to ship it to it's new owner and made a video for him on how to open it. It's easier for you to watch the video than to try to explain it so here's the link.

[MrFixr55]

Hi Greg,

Pear likely needs to know, but for my own edification, does opening the door release any sort of latch that holds the case together? His problem is that he can't open the door; something is holding it closed.

[NostalgiaRadioTime]

No, opening the door simply lowers the spindle and raises the tone arm. He'd probably have to take the bottom cover off and see what is jammed. Possible the door pull mechanism is rusted tight and now allowing the door to pull open.

[Arran]

The one I have is of the more common construction, with the buttons behind the record player door. I think I may have parted out some earlier production sets years ago, they had a wooden base on them as opposed to the steel one used on the one I have now.
Regards
Arran