1946 Silvertone 6002 Midget

[omegaman]

The smallest tube radio I have ever seen

I got this in a Antique/Thrift store in Humboldt, AZ where I have a modest country home.

The lady turned it on in the store and it works but it had a HUM which I expected.

In complete original condition.

I got the schematic

I pulled it apart and cleaned it up, then ordered the 8 capacitors to bring it back alive and safe

You can see in the 2nd picture that it wasn't as clean as it is now

I can get the correct cream colored knob from AES, right down the road


12SA7 - Converter
12SQ7 - 2nd Det. 1st AF
50L6GT - Power output
35Z5GT - Rectification

[jr_tech]

Nice!
I have a couple of these that were made a little later, perhaps 1948 or so. By that time, they dropped the Silvertone logo across the top and eliminated the back. I think my parents paid under 10$ for my Blue one in 1948. Lots of good childhood memories...still works great!
jr

[Reece]

Cute little radios. Betcha they were made by Arvin for Sears. If the model number has 132 in it they were. Q: how do they drop the last 12 volts in the heater string? Big resistor underneath?

[Sandy G]

Yeah, it looks like a double-first cousin to a couple of Arvins I have. Neat little sets. Won't outperform an R-390A, but they still do OK for what they are. I even have the prewar 2 & 3 tube versions.

[omegaman]

I got it because it was tiny, tube and in great cosmetic condition

Since I usually get hugh honkin stereo consoles, the wife allowed this small purchase well...she didn't complain too much

[omegaman]

Here is the schematic

[Sandy G]

Having the "War Dept." approve of one's hobbies is ALWAYS a Good Thing...(grin) And it helps if the item in question you wanted is small & cute like this l'il guy is...

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Reece

Cute little radios. Betcha they were made by Arvin for Sears. If the model number has 132 in it they were. Q: how do they drop the last 12 volts in the heater string? Big resistor underneath?

They definately were made by Arvin. IIRC, the heater dropper resister was a 47 ohm@ 2watt. The metal four tube Airline TRF was made by Kingston.

[compucat]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

Nice!
I have a couple of these that were made a little later, perhaps 1948 or so. By that time, they dropped the Silvertone logo across the top and eliminated the back. I think my parents paid under 10$ for my Blue one in 1948. Lots of good childhood memories...still works great!
jr

I have one of those little blue Silvertone radios for many years. Mine was an Ebay purchase that after a recap has performed great. I really like these metal midget sets for their simplicity and rugged construction. There is very little to go wrong once they are fixed up. That said, I am currently restoring a Model 1 that I believe has a bad antenna coil.

[omegaman]

I got the new caps and did the recap job. The radio sounds great for a non Hi-Fi AM radio. All hum is gone. Tubes are nice and strong and the controls are now quiet

It does heat up the metal case pretty good since the tubes are like 1/2 inch from the metal cover, but hey that's tubes

PROBLEM:

There is an issue with the tuning, the radio only picks up half the dial. The upper half

When I move to the lower end of the dial scale I can hear the vanes intercept and no stations. They touch and I can hear them like grinding?

Any idea what to do?

Should I try to separate the vanes?

I will get some NON-RESIDUAL ELECTRICAL Contact cleaner and clean the vanes

Then just a potent jot of fader lube in the vane shaft

But it feels GOOD to spend 1 hour and 8 bucks to bring a HUMMING radio back to Earth in time for the end of the world on Saturday

[7"estatdef]

Yes you will have to carefully bend the bent plate back into position so there not rubbing. Most of the time it's just first outside plate. Wouldn't worry with cleaning just dust off with a paint brush.
Terry

[omegaman]

Originally Posted by 7"estatdef

Yes you will have to carefully bend the bent plate back into position so there not rubbing. Most of the time it's just first outside plate. Wouldn't worry with cleaning just dust off with a paint brush.
Terry

You were absolutely correct

I used an x-acto knife and just carefully worked the vanes until I could see separation

No more grinding and I now get reception on the full scale

I think I will still get the cleaner and use it

Thank you for increasing my knowledge base

[Reece]

A good electronic cleaner for blasting out dirt is CRC Electronic Cleaner, widely available at auto parts stores.

[omegaman]

Here is a picture after I recapped the radio

I use to take the effort to pull the old caps out completely but on this radio I just clipped the leads and pig tailed the new cap onto the old lead

I also repared a small tear in the speaker

[peverett]

One thing to note about metal cased radios of this vintage. Sometimes the case is connected to one side of the line, so can be at 120 VAC potential, depending on how it is plugged in. One of our radio club members got a good shock by standing in a pool of water(at a local festival where we were displaying radios) and touching the metal case of a radio.

Be careful! Safety rules were not as strict as now.