[Bob Andersen]

It's a little more "sparkly" than I'd like. Perhaps it would look alright on the field coil bracket. I used some Rustoleom stainless steel appliance epoxy on the tube shield next to it and like the way it came out.

[Image: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8244/85863...9005_z.jpg]

[Arran]

I've noticed that a lot of older Philco speakers had a sort of flat grey colour to them, I think it may have been some sort of plating or pickled metal treatment. Most speakers generally seem to have had some sort of cadmium or zinc plating, the Philco K series 8'' included, although some like the Stromberg Carlson ones were painted. Seeing stuff in photos is often different then in real life, the grey paint didn't look that bad to me other then being too glossy, but maybe it was too light in colour.
Regards
Arran

[Bob Andersen]

Spring finally sprung around here and it was warm enough to put on a final coat of Nickel paint. I think they look pretty good.
[Image: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8367/86017...2f5e_c.jpg]

[Bob Andersen]

I'm finally done painting these speaker frames! I brushed a coat of black followed by appliance epoxy stainless steel on the field coil parts. That gave them the "dark steel" look I was aiming for

I'll let the paint cure for a couple days then start reassembling them.
[Image: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8108/86116...36f5_z.jpg] [Image: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8239/86154...3505_z.jpg] [Image: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8115/86155...e79b_z.jpg]

[jerryhawthorne]

Bob, that combination of black and stainless steel gave a stunning result. How did you ever come up with that combo. Looks fantastic, can hardly wait for the recone process.
Jerry

[Bob Andersen]

I learned from another restorer that it's best to use a coat of black paint before silver metallic. That was my inspiration to try dabbing metallic paint with a brush over black paint.

Now back to the cones. The holes have been patched in the old originals, but they are still rather brittle. So I fit them in place and applied a diluted solution of Aleene's Tacky Glue and let them dry.

Note the clothespins would have crushed the ribbed surround so I used little brass tubing shims.
[Image: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8119/86226...3953_c.jpg]

They are much more resilient now and ready to be installed. Perhaps I should dab a little back paint over the white patches too.
[Image: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8252/86237...aa06_c.jpg]

[Bob Andersen]

Now you're probably wondering what about the pair of speakers I was restoring ? Well, the cones and voice coils are fine, but the rust has been slowly creeping back and the paint is blistering a bit. I think because the Bondo glazing compound is out gassing. Finally, the output transformer is falling apart.
[Image: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7424/10063...8c39_c.jpg]

So when I saw these on ebay from a 15X, I had to bid on them. I won and they just showed up today
Assuming these work out, I'll keep the original pairs as backup.
[Image: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2806/10062...308b_c.jpg]

No chance of these cones getting torn in during shipping. I wish all sellers took as much care.
[Image: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3671/10063...ab65_c.jpg]

I'm curious about this plug. I think the 15X used an identical chassis to the 15DX but my old speakers were hardwired to the chassis
[Image: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2835/10062...d1ec_c.jpg]

[Ron Ramirez]

If your speakers are hardwired, your model 15 is an early production model. Philco added the odd 5-pin plug later in production, when it became obvious that servicing one of these monsters with hardwired speakers would be rather difficult.

I've owned a couple 15X sets; the first had hardwired speakers, the one I have now has the 5-pin plug.

[Bob Andersen]

Mystery solved The cones are in excellent condition and I hope FC, VC and transformer are too.

[Image: http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5474/10064...bbfa_c.jpg]

[Bob Andersen]

I just did some testing and found that one side of the output transformer primary is open

[Bob Andersen]

If it comes down to it, do you guys think this Hammond 15 W universal PP transformer would be suitable ? This chassis uses push pull 42s for the output. I'm not sure of the speaker impedance.

http://www.tubesandmore.com/products/P-T125E

[Ron Ramirez]

Short answer: Yes. The output impedance will be low, around 1.2 ohms (I think), so try the tap that gives the lowest output impedance first.

Edit: Just looked it up. The original had a 16,000 ohm impedance primary to a 1.25 ohm output load, so I was almost right.

[Bob Andersen]

Excellent. First I'll try to salvage one of the originals, but if I fail it's good to have a backup plan

[Bob Andersen]

OK, I'm finally back working on this radio I confirmed the primary is open then carefully drilled out the rivets and removed it.

Now I just need to replace it with something...
[Image: https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3842/1443...d84e_z.jpg] [Image: https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5538/1443...9181_z.jpg]

[bfrohwein]

Can't wait to see this one Finished, Bob. Glad you're back to working on it.