Just found a old raido

Hello iam chris i been here 2 days iam never saw a sight like this ,, i was driving 2 days a go .and i saw in the trash was a old raido it has tubes in it it had a messed up cord so i did not plug it in , i spliced a new cord still does not go on . the name on it is Medco . any info is great . ill get rid of it. if its worth it to me .

[Nick_the_'Nole]

First of all dude, not to be mean or anything, but slow down a bit. I had to read your post several times to figure out what you were trying to say. Proper punctuation and sentences don't take that much time to do.

Anyhoo, I can give you some general info, but we need a little bit better description of the radio to know a whole lot about it. What I can say now, though, is that Medco is short for "Moss Electronics Distributing Co." and it's probably from the late '50s. Most small consumer sets were pretty similar in that era, so it'll prolly be a decent little set if you can get it working. And it's great for the price you paid.

Just patching on a new cord isn't a good idea, an old radio, especially one that's been thrown away, is likely gonna need new capacitors and maybe some new tubes. If you're feeling courageous enough, open it up and see if there's anything obviously burnt or broken. That's the first place to start. I don't know how much experience you have with electronics, but the folks here can help you through fixing it if you want to. And welcome to the forums, BTW.

Hey Nick. I got ya .I'am Allways in a rush. I love to try to fix it . I had it opened allready to get the inch of dust out . But I really dont know about this stuff . To fix it anyway.If you would explane some stuff i can do. I will put it on a nice sheet of plywood and take my time with it ,, And follow all the advise i get. I'am good with my hands. I just never worked on a raido. I found a ton of amps .And found out that they were tossed cause a fuse was bad. Ok thanks a lot nick. Chris And can send or post pictures .once i learn how to here .

[Nick_the_'Nole]

For posting pics, just scroll down when you're making a post and click the "Manage Attachments" button, and you can select what picture you want to attach. Just make sure you resize it down so it's not too huge.

So you plugged it in and turned it on, and nothing happened? There are really so many variables on what could be wrong, that it's hard to tell without a little better description of what it's doing/not doing. A word of warning, though, be careful with these small radios, they usually have a hot chassis, meaning if you touch the chassis while it's plugged in you'll get a pretty nasty zap.

[Sandy G]

Yeah, Chris PUH-LEEZE be careful !! You can get KILLED fooling around w/these old things if you don't know what you're doing. My advice would be to find somebody in yr town who works on these things to see if it is fixable & how much, or there are several AKers who work on old radios who I'm sure would be more than happy to help you, for a modest fee. But if you must work on this old set by y6rself, you at the very least should study a radio repair text. A good one I've found is Ed Romney's "Fixing up Nice Old Radios" it pre-supposes you know nothing about radio theory, etc. & goes from there. I'm sure there are many others-that's just the one i'm familiar with. But I REALLY think you would be better off letting somebody who knows what they're doing handle this one. No offense, podner-just trying to look out fer ya !-Sandy G.

[Jeffhs]

Chris,

I agree with Sandy. If you don't know what you're doing, don't even take the back off that radio. There are high voltages present, even with the set unplugged. There are components known as electrolytic capacitors inside which can store enough voltage to produce a lethal electric shock, even if the equipment in which they are installed hasn't been used for awhile (these parts can hold electric charges for months or even years). The proper way to begin a repair job on a defective radio or TV set is to unplug the unit first, then discharge the electrolytic capacitors to ground, which relieves these components of their charges (if any). Then and only then is it safe to work under the chassis.

I offer these safety tips for the same reason Sandy wrote what he wrote in his reply to your post--I too don't want to see anything bad happen to you. In the year or so I have been an AK member, I have found everyone here to be very helpful when I have had problems with my own small collection of antique radios (I have two, both Zeniths, not to mention a bunch of vintage transistor radios and some ham radio gear) and I also enjoy just reading these posts, both in the TV/radio forums and the audio-related ones (the latter as well as the TV forums, BTW, are much, much better than what I've read in the AudioAsylum forum--of which I am not a member at this time, and don't intend to be). The more I read them, the more helpful tips and hints I get.

I've been working with electronics, mainly as a hobby, since I was eight years old (I am now 48). I am also a ham radio operator (my callsign appears after my name in my profile signature), so I've been around electronics quite a bit and know my way around tube-type equipment fairly well. (Solid state, however, is another matter; I leave servicing of my TV, stereo, VCR, and ham radio gear, all of which are solid state, to the pros. I wouldn't feel comfortable working on modern PC boards with narrow traces, surface-mount components, etc.)

I moved to an apartment about five years ago and left most of my tools back at my former home, which means I've had to rebuild my toolbox here; however, that project is almost complete except for a couple things I have to get yet, such as a digital voltmeter and a soldering iron. I am hoping to do that very soon, as quite frankly I miss working on old gear, as I did in the basement of my former home in a Cleveland suburb (I now live in a small town just about ten miles east of the last true suburb of the city). I was able to get my ham radio installation going after a fashion (still have to work on that a bit, but the installation itself is in place in my bedroom and seems to be working), but I still would like to be able to return to electronic servicing, even if it is only on my own equipment.

I also agree with the person (Nick the 'Nole, IIRC--if I remember correctly) who recommended that you watch your spelling, punctuation, etc. when you post messages here, or in any other Internet message forum for that matter. It's not that difficult; as the other poster said, it makes it easier to read (and looks better in print).

I would also recommend, as did Sandy, that you at least study a radio repair manual before delving into your radio. Bear in mind, however, that just reading a manual won't make you an expert. If you feel the least bit uncomfortable working under the chassis of your set, please, let someone who knows what they are doing look at it and make repairs as may be necessary (I'd have that old line cord replaced, for starters; it's a shock and fire hazard).

As Nick also mentioned, any radio that's found in the trash can and should be suspected of having problems (especially if it's 30 or more years old), although many times people will discard perfectly good radios, TV sets, and the like just because they purchased a new one, because the cabinet doesn't match their living/family room/den decor, etc. (Some perfectly good TVs and radios, believe it or not, get pitched just because of bad tubes or blown fuses! I've seen this more times than I can count. Go figure. ) However, with old gear such as your "Medco" radio, I would go very slowly. Replace or have replaced the power cord, as it is no good in its present condition (see my note in the preceding paragraph), as a start; then, replace the filter capacitors (electrolytics), as these will deteriorate with age and become useless after a few decades of service. The controls will need a good cleaning, especially if the unit has been sitting unused for some time; I personally use Radio Shack's brand of tuner and control cleaner for this (works for me, to paraphrase the title character in the late-'80s TV series "Hunter"), although other AKers will tell you to use an aerosol cleaner known as DeOxit to remove corrosion, dirt, etc. from potentiometers (pots) and switches.

I agree with Nick as well that you should give us more information as to what your radio is or is not doing. Just saying "it won't turn on" doesn't give us (or any repair person) much to go on.

If this radio's tubes are wired in what is known as a series filament string, one tube with an open filament will render the set inoperative. The solution, of course, is to replace the defective tube. If you have access to a tube tester, it will not only tell you the condition (cathode emission, et al.) of your set's tubes; it will also confirm that the tube filaments are intact. You can tell if the filament in a tube is good if the tube lights up after you set the tube tester for that particular tube (these settings are found in a tube chart, usually--almost always, in fact--supplied with the tester), and plug the tube into the proper socket on the tester.

I would check the tubes as well as replacing electrolytics, as a radio as old as yours could have weak, burned out, shorted or even broken tubes. If you see a white spot on the glass envelope of one or more tubes, the tube is defective as the envelope is cracked, allowing air to enter the tube (many of us AKers refer to a tube to which this has occurred as having "gone to air", meaning, of course, for whatever reason, air has gotten into the tube and rendered it useless).

The foregoing should be enough information to get you started working on your "Medco" antique radio. If you get stuck, remember, there are many helpful folks here, some actually in the business of electronic servicing, who will be glad to help you. The ladies and gentlemen here are a grand bunch of folks, as I have found in my short time as an AK member--and you will as well, the longer you are a member. I'm glad you're here. Welcome to AK. Hope to see more of your posts from now on.

And of course, please keep us posted how you're doing as far as restoring that radio goes. I know, from personal experience, what a kick it is to get these old sets working again, especially after they have been put in the trash or on a curb (this often happens with old TVs as well), stored in a garage, basement, attic, etc., and given up for dead, so to speak. Always remember, a radio, TV or other electronic device that has worked will work again (unless it is so far gone by virtue of having been allowed to rust, corrode, etc. that to repair it would be impractical), though it may take some work to get some sets with elusive problems, such as intermittents or other frustrating maladies, to play again as they did when they were new. Believe me, however, it is worth it when you turn on your repaired set for the first time and it works, maybe even better than it did when new.

Good luck and very kind regards,

[asynchronousman]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

But if you must work on this old set by y6rself, you at the very least should study a radio repair text. A good one I've found is Ed Romney's "Fixing up Nice Old Radios" it pre-supposes you know nothing about radio theory, etc. & goes from there. I'm sure there are many others-that's just the one i'm familiar with.

Where is this book available at?

[Sandy G]

Where did I get that book?!? Oh yeah-pretty sure I got it from Antique Electronic Supply in Tempe Arizona. My copy is pretty dog-eared now. Like I said, it assumes you know nothing & goes from there. Not a lot of math or confusing theory, just what you need to get started on yr treasured finds. Plus, its a good read by itself-the guy's pretty interesting. Full of case histories on his experiences. -Sandy G.

I really appreciate the concern. If you say dont open i will not ,, ill just keep it on the shelf for looks , I dont know know nothing about it ,, i wont play with ,, thanks people ,,

[Sandy G]

Well,Chris, don't give up on it !! What is it made of? If it's wood, a little Murphy's Oil Soap, followed by a judicious use of Old English can/will work wonders. If it's plastic/bakelite, some elbow grease & a couple coats of car wax may do the trick. Cleaning the insides can be tricky. Be careful NOT to destroy any labels or diagrams-they will prove invaluable when you decide to restore it electronically. And you WILL want to do that. Trust me. How many tubes has it got? Is it just broadcast band-standard AM or does it have shortwave, too? Does it have FM? If so, then it's probly from the 50s or 60s. Yeah, you can have just a bookshelf sitter, nice 'n' purty, but eventually, you'll wanna get the old gal "talking" again....-Sandy G.

[kdlsoft]

Universal Radio says they have Romney's "Fixing Up Nice Old Radios".

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/books/2244.html

[jt1stcav]

I assume you live in NY...my dad lives in CT and does radio restoration part time. Maybe you could e-mail him and give a detailed description of your radio and its condition. His rates are reasonable, and turnaround time is fast; best of all he's reliable and will get your radio playing once again!

http://home.comcast.net/~gwtidwell/

[RetroHacker]

Chris - welcome to AudioKarma! As others have posted, you should definitely do some reading on radios before undertaking a repair. Also, you should familiarize yourself with the components found in old electronics - they don't look very much like their modern counterparts, and there are some that you just plain _won't_ see in modern stuff - selenium rectifiers come to mind.

But, don't give up, a little reading goes a long way, and with a some patience and dedication, you can learn how to work on these electronics. I'd suggest getting a book out of your library on basic electronic theory, get familliar with what capacitors, resistors and diodes do. A book specifically geared toward vintage radio repair is also a very good start. I'd also suggest reading www.antiqueradio.org - Phil's got a TON of very helpful information there, as well as his repair stories, and pictures of his sets as he's rebuilt them. It's a great place to go to read about radio, and he's even got a beginner's section. I would check out his beginner's section, and read through some of the articles there - especially "How to Replace Capacitors". I'd also suggest reading through some of the "Radio Wrinkles", where he shows some of the sets in his collection, and documentation of how he repaired them. Also, definitely read the "How to check out a radio before playing" in the beginner's section, and I'd suggest building a dim bulb tester, as described in that section. A dim bulb tester is an extremely simple device that can be constructed from common electrical parts, available at any home improvement store. It basically consists of a light bulb in series with a power socket - allowing you to run a radio on reduced voltage, as well as check for hazardous short circuits.

All in all, it's important to have fun, as well as keep from zapping the living daylights out of yourself. Do some research, and you can learn a lot. It's extremely useful knowledge to have, and understanding radio will help you understand the innerworkings of other electronics too. Even if you don't plan on fixing your radio right away, I'd suggest doing some reading on it, learn what you can - it'll probably help you down the road. Or maybe not. But at least you'll know what a capacitor is!

-Ian