[Elijah]

Recently I purchased a Philco Model 49-504 from RadioAttic and the description read that it "receives stations loud and clear across the dial, electronically restored." I was looking for a simple radio I didn't have to work on since I have my fair share of those and this little jewel fit the bill.

I received it today and was sorely disappointed. When I first turned it on there as popping and cracking going from station to station and beyond around 100-1050 there were no stations at all picked up. The volume would fluctuate on a couple of local stations and some were lower than on other AM radios I have on the same station. There was a grey wire bunched up inside the chassis with a connector on the end and the other end tied to chassis ground. I don't kow what that was for.

Curiosity got the best of me and I took the one screw off the bottom and pulled the chassis out. There were some 6-8 old wax capacitors and a filter cap that holds three caps that obviously had never been replaced nor could I detect any resistors that had been replaced. the tubes were suspect at this point as well.

Electronically restored to me means most if not all paper caps are replaced and at a minimum resistors as well if they're out of range along with any suspect tubes.

This is not my radio but it's just a carbon copy of what I saw under the chassis...pictures toward the bottom of the link as you open it up. Does this look electronically restored? Most disappointing. The fellow I got it from was more than willing to make amends as he took a friends word that it had been restored without checking himself. Next time I do this I'm going to ask for a pic of the underside of the chassis.

http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/view...=1&t=73738

[Arran]

While I can't say this for certain in this case there are several dealers or former dealers on that site that like to boast about having their "tech go through" it, which vaguely implies that the set was electrically restored. Some may even claim that a set was "restored" when all that was done was to put a new cord on and replace just enough parts to get it working, sometimes connecting new parts across the old ones. The bottom line is that I don't recommend buying from that site, even though there are some bargains to be had much of what's there are no better then "garage sale specials" with premium prices. You would be better off buying an unrestored radio and then taking it to someone you trust for an electrical rebuild, then at least you don't have to pay to do things twice.
Regards
Arran

[Elijah]

I sort of feel sorry for the seller as he was told it had been restored and he didn't look since the other guy was an old trusted friend who had been a radio/tv repair person. I can't fault him but in a way I do since he didn't look to see what he had done and advertised it as restored. I took have seen the description about how "my tech has completely..." but it looked like junk to me with someone spraying lacquer thick on the wood cabinet. Lessons learned.

this is what "restored" looks like...

[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x220/...F4766a.jpg]

[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x220/...F4767a.jpg]

[Phlogiston]

Actually that is what restored looks like when I get done with one. But, I restuff the caps and use period correct resistors. I'll bet that is not the case for that radio.

The wad of wire is your antenna. Does the radio have a back cover? With an antenna?

[Elijah]

It does have a back but the antenna is actually glued to the inside of the bakelite cabinet and goes all around from side to side and top to bottom. That's why I couldn't figure what the grey wire was for.

[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x220/...F4768a.jpg]

[TA Forbes]

At least you caught it right away.

The description was misleading. I would think that one would VERIFY the condition before posting it with that description.

Personally, I am dubious of the seller's explanation.

My advice to ANYONE buying a "restored" set from anyone or any site is to immediately take the set out of the cabinet and VERIFY!!!

If you run into a situation like the one above bring it to the attention of the seller.

AND posting it here is a good idea, to warn others about possible shysters.

[Elijah]

I was looking at the yellow can than contains the three filter caps and the values were 80, 40 and 20 mfd at 150v but the schematic shows two 30's and a 25 mfd. I wonder why the discrepancy? Very unusual is they were all good and within 10% of the stated value. I thought for sure they'd be open or very high. I'm also wondering how I can get into that can without destroying it to replace those caps since they may break down under load and being old I may as well replace them.

Well, it's getting late and I'll look into that tomorrow so, I'll just say a Merry Christmas to all and enjoy your families. Me and my Corgi will probably have a TV dinner tomorrow.

[TA Forbes]

The large multi-section cap appears to be a replacement. You may have better results replacing the values with modern electolytics and terminal strips.

[Elijah]

The large multi-section cap appears to be a replacement. You may have better results replacing the values with modern electolytics and terminal strips.

Yep, getting new ones tomorrow.

A couple of questions about parts for this one. Does the crack in the oscillator coil indicate impending doom for it? Actually, the primary and secondary is right on the money according to schematic resistance figures.

[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x220/...F4780a.jpg]

Also, the small 47 pf cap, it shows as a short(OL) on my Fluke meter. I didn't think these sort of caps ever failed.

[Image: http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x220/...F4783a.jpg]

[TA Forbes]

Make sure the cap is not in parallel with a winding in the coil or something else.

If coil is good recommend re-seal with glue. Not super glue.

[Arran]

I would just heat the wax on that coil up with a heat gun or a hair dryer, it should melt and fill in the crack. It doesn't look to me like the paper caps were restuffed, I've restuffed old caps before and the wax coating on those looks old, dirty, and untouched, along with the leads. I don't understand the excuse for not overhauling this set myself, you could replace every capacitor and resistor on that chassis and it wouldn't cost $10 in parts.
Regards
Arran

[Elijah]

Today I stopped by the electronics store and bought the six caps needed to replace the paper jobbies in the set plus three electrolytics needed. The schematic called for 30 and a 25 and 20uf caps at 150v. I couldn't find those so I got a 47uf at 160v and two 30uf at the same voltage...ready to go for tonight.

Right after supper, my dog waited patiently in the computer room while I was out in the garage(attached to house) working on the radio. I replaced quite a few of the caps and then started replacing the ones in the can. I took it out, added a terminal block and tied all negative leads(I thought) to the terminal block and the the positive leads to their respective places. Once I got all that done I powered it up and got the loudest hum I had ever heard. I unplugged it and rechecked my wiring for shorts and all was fine there. I found even though I had tied the negatives to the terminal block, I failed to take another wire from there to B-. Turned it on again and after a few seconds the dial light got real bright and then went out and nothing came out of the radio. I unplugged it, looked over things again and discovered two of the electrolytics were indeed tied to each others negative but the larger 47uf cap had it's positive tied to what I thought was the negative of the other two!!.

I now have a dead radio, no sound at all. I checked the electrolytics and all three read around 112uf. I decided nothing to loose so turned it on and measured the voltage across them and zero. so was the voltage across the rectifier.

This is what happens when you're in a hurry and not paying enough attention to what you're doing and I was feeling guilty about neglecting my buddy in the next room and rushed too much. Have I just blown the electrolytics or those and all the tubes as well? Lessons learned the hard way-DON'T GET IN A HURRY!

[FXpert]

Sorry about your trouble. Yes its amazing how those old radios "know" when something isn't connected properly.
This appears to be an AC/DC set (no transformer). I would check all the electrolytes to be sure they are alright, you probably let the smoke out of the one with the reversed polarity. Make sure you disconnected the old caps. You don't have to remove from chassis but they need to be disconnected. I would then check or replace all tubes if no tube checker or other radio to do so, at least check across the heaters for continuity. Look for a resistor that got to hot.

I did the same thing once on a transformer set and smoked the transformer.
On your set it probably got a tube or resistor as well as the original problem, the cap you connected wrong.
Do some voltage checks starting with the rectifier tube. You will need a schematic if you don't already have one. Take the dog for a walk before starting and turn your phone off. Always reconnect what ever you've disconnected before leaving your work and returning. Draw pictures and take notes. They will help out later. Believe me I am talking from experience. If you feel as if your not making any headway leave the radio and come back later. There are others here with more experience then I. They will chime in. GOOD LUCK!

[Ron Ramirez]

Since we're now discussing the electronic restoration of a Philco, I have moved this thread to Philco Electronic Restoration.

[Elijah]

I got a new electrolytic cap today-the one I reversed along with a new #47 lamp I smoked and while all seemed well I'm not getting any stations. There's little more than one or two very faint ones and they're garbled. I replaced the one tube I figured I had smoked, the 35Z5 rectifier and that didn't help. I found another 14B6 and replaced that one but still nothing. I can't replace the others as I'm fresh out of tubes for this model. I'll have to do more investigating.