Philco 15DX restoration project
 

I picked up this Philco 15DX from 1932 recently. It originally sold for $250 and only 1,500 were made so it's fairly rare I think. Here's a little more info.

The veneer is loose, water damaged or missing altogether at the base, top and one side of the tambour doors.

The speakers are really rusted out and need to be re-coned - if they're even any good!

Finally, there's the components. Dog-bone resistors, bakelite blocks, early electrolytics and some odd looking metal boxes.

It's going to be my most challenging project to date.

Here it is just as I got it and highlighting some of the damage.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-01.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-02.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-03.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-04.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-05.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-06.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-07.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-08.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-09.jpg

Here it is after some cleaning and Old English.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-13.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/01-14.jpg

Nice find. It must weigh a ton.

One observation I had is that there seems to be a number of globe shaped tubes in the radio. You might want to try to sell them and replace them with the later ST types. This would help with the cost of restoration.

Here is the schematic:

http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByM...8/M0013138.pdf

Good luck with it.

Thanks!

Yeah, it's pretty heavy - especially with the back on it. That's a heavy wood frame with a shaggy cloth inside that covers the speaker chamber. My friend and I had to carry it up two flights of stairs :drool:

I've been going back and forth about those tubes. I really, really love those early globe tubes and having a full set of '32 vintage Philco tubes would be incredible. However, I've been checking prices on those on eBay and they don't come cheap. So it certainly is tempting to sell them individually :scratch2:

The set was only missing one 39 and an 80 type. I've already tracked down replacements. All the other tubes test good :thmbsp:

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/02-01.jpg

I scored the set a few blocks from the address on the label from 1936!

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/02-02.jpg

Having Philco tubes, especially globe tubes, in a Philco radio of this vintage is a plus and makes it more valuable. I would certainly keep the Philcos and if I needed only one or two more working ones, specify Philcos when ordering. It makes a difference to collectors. This is a pretty high end radio.

Reece

Thanks for the input. Too bad only 4 of 11 tubes are the old globe style.

I've seen Philco 37, 39/44 and 80 globe tubes out there. I'm not sure about the 42s though. Were those globe tubes originally too?

Bob

I just answered my own question by searching eBay. There's one 42 globe out there for $18.

Its similar to my 23x ,which has a phonograph. I would keep all the original tubes in it. What did you use on the cabinet ?

I see I have the 1932 Philco service bulletin for the 15 - I can scan it if you'd like a copy.

First I cleaned with a damp cloth then Old English.

I plan on using Howard's Restore-a-Finish on the areas that are worth saving.
The top is missing a bit of veneer and needs refinishing. The bottom skirt is total trashed and missing a bit of molding. I've tracked down some decent QC and burled veneer. Now I'm experimenting with stains and finishes.

Sure, I'd love a copy. Thanks!

It's been a good week!
 

I've decided to restore the original tubes if possible so I did some searching on eBay and scored 3 today! They're good and I only paid about $5 :)

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/03-01.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/03-04.jpg

7 down 4 to go. That's two 42s one 44 and an 80. The 42s and 80 are going to be pricey I think.

And... I scored some speakers with good cones!
Also purchased some speaker cloth from RadioDaze, but the stripes are running the wrong way :mad: I guess I should have specified that when I placed the order.
Not that most folks would ever notice.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/15DX/03-03.jpg

I'm not sure if they are an exact replacement, but supposedly they came out of a 30's Philco and are made by Wheeler. Anyone heard of Wheeler?

I think I have a couple of NIB Philco 39/44s, but ST shape. I'll look through my used tubes. 80 was common, but it's expensive, since every radio used one and it was one of the first ones to wear out. Globe 42s aren't very common - the 42 came out in late 1932, ST tubes were already in production. The RC-10 manual (1932 or '33) does NOT show the '42 at all, though the '47 is shown as a large globe tube. The '39 is shown as globe and the '57 and '58 are ST. Philco used mainly Sylvania tubes though, so the RCA manual may not help much.

Thanks for the info. I have a few 39/44 STs too. There's one lone 42 globe on eBay for $18. I think I'll wait until I can find a a pair. I can use the J&R and Raytheon ST 42s it came with in the meantime even though they're weak.

Hi Reece,
I almost forgot to thank you for the suggestion! I asked an eBayer who was selling 37s if he had any Philcos and that's how I got the two I needed :)

Your 15DX is a real keeper.....As pointed out, very few were made and they were expensive - You could buy a pretty nice car for $250 in 1932 ! Those early big pan Philco chassis with the four gang tuner are a piece of work. I have a model 112 from 1931...great performer for an early 30s set.

It's easy to see why Philco went from making no radios in 1927, to the number one producer in the country by 1931.....their radios were great !

Good luck with te 15DX, it's well worth the effort.

Yeah, it really doesn't make any difference to the operation of the set, but it's a nice final touch to have all the tubes as original. Right, that the globe 80's and 42's are likely to be pricey.

A couple of years ago at the Kutztown radio meet a guy had a whole big box, like a banana box, chock full of loose 80's. I think they were all ST's. Somebody bought the boxful. Whenever I see an odd 80 of any type not too expensive I'll buy it.

Even if you could only find a dud globe 80 you could always put it in the radio for looks and install silicon diodes under the chassis on the tube socket, but I'll bet you find what you're looking for.

If you're running the radio for longer periods you might want to put some ST's back in it for everyday operation and save the precious globes for show and special occasions, like show and tell!

Reece

That's exactly what I've been thinking. No sense it tracking down an expensive set of tubes just to burn them out!

15X vs 15DX
 

I had been wondering what differences there are between the 15X and 15DX that would account for the $100 difference in the original price.
It never occurring to me it was the physical size until I saw this picture.

My 15DX is 4' tall and comes up to just below my chest (I'm 5'11"). So unless Ron is a giant, the 15X looks to be a little over 3' tall.

Solid state 80
 

I picked up the last #44 I needed, a set of NOS ST style 42s, 3 used 42 globes and a Philco globe 80 :D it took quite a while.

Here's a picture with the original back in place.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/...a99e4ba0_z.jpg

I managed to patch in some new quarter cut veneer on the top and refinish it. I think it turned out alright :)

I carefully stripped of the old finish with out harming the surrounding trim.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2158/...2f1568b4fc.jpg

Then, I trimmed it back until I had a clean, straight edge to work with. I also used wood filler to patch up the base wood.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2583/...776b0b4169.jpg

Here's the new QC veneer.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/...39552ac3b1.jpg

I picked a section with similar grain and carefully cut out a patch. I glued it down with cold press veneer glue.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2724/...406b62ea36.jpg

Next, I carefully trimmed up the overhang and sanded down the top.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/...f5de9b7398.jpg

I filled in the grain with this water based Behlen stuff.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/...71ca29e737.jpg

Finally, I use Mohawk "Perfect Brown" toning lacquer followed by Deft clear gloss lacquer. It had a tad more red than I expected, but it's good enough for me.
"Medium Walnut" might have been a better match.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/...9379a524cb.jpg

I still need to rub it down with some pumice and rottenstine.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/...5055d66e5d.jpg


I recently discovered there are at least two other 15DXs out there including this one on ebay.
They got one bid at $1,000 - it didn't meet the reserve though :scratch2:

Nice.. real Nice!

Buzz...

After a loooooong hiatus, I finally got around to recapping this set and firing it up.

Lots of bakelite blocks to restuff including one with a wire resistor.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8027/7...530027c3_z.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7075/7...279376d2_z.jpg

Some metal box caps too.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5200/7...739bc767_z.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7089/7...5a4b9c53_z.jpg

One big multi-section box cap too. All I had on hand were caps with stubby leads so I did what I could.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5346/7...aa9edb34_z.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7086/7...9cb29c2a_z.jpg

I also repaint the transformer shells and scored some copper caps I'll restuff for the filter caps.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8011/7...04d68f1d_z.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7218/7...6081820f_z.jpg

I tested out the original speakers and found one was seized up with rust so went with my backup up pair. They have some surface rust too, but work fine.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7260/7...dde409c1_z.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7252/7...12c811a1_z.jpg

So after all that does it actually work ? Yes, yes it does :music:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8355/8...acdb7882_z.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8081/8...ac1c1655_z.jpg

Lots of cosmetic work left to do, but now that it's working I'm more motivated :)

Nice radio & nice restoration job!

Great job on quite a radio. I watched your YouTube video of the first fireup of this set. I'm betting a check of voltages, any resistor changes etc. required, and an alignment will help. Did you get the shadow meter ironed out? One thing I might try on that, once the set is aligned, would be to replace the 1000 ohm resistor with a 5K or so pot hooked up rheostat style, and try different settings to see what would get the meter to "close" almost all the way on your strongest local. Then you could measure the pot and replace with a fixed resistor. 1000 ohms might not be what this set wants any more?

Thanks. The shadow meter is sorta working, but it still doesn't close quite as much as I'd like. I've been considering tinkering with the resistor value but am a little afraid about burning out the coil.

I'm not happy with the performance of the replacement Wheeler speakers. So I've spent the week slowly patching together the original speakers and removing the worst
of the rust from them. I used GC service cement and coffee filter patches on the cones. I've managed to get the voice coils moving fairly well too :)

Soon I hope to fire them up. If they do work alright, I'll probably get them reconed properly.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8356/8...aa698f09_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8185/8...48266a3c_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8471/8...06dc81c6_c.jpg

I decided those old cones were going to have to come out. The voice coils are rubbing on rusty poles that I just can't get at. The larger was fairly easy. I just had to remove a few screws and carefully pry it out. The smaller required acetone to soften the old glue.

I think I can reuse the larger cone, but the smaller is pretty beat up.

Does anyone have an opinion as to what replacement cone to use ? I measure about 7.5" O.D. I'm contemplating an 8" from MAT Electronics but am not sure if it will fit properly.

http://matelectronics.com/prestashop...ccessories?p=3

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8080/8...3e8458b4_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8215/8...9ffee9cc_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8371/8...90c7dc18_c.jpg

You also have to match up the height of the cone also. I could not find that info from that site you posted.

Getting the rust and dust out of the gap will be fun. I'd think hold the speaker face down and blow out the gap, then double a piece of sandpaper and go around in the gap again, blow out again. Flush out with electronic cleaner.

I went ahead and ordered some cones and other various speaker supplies. If the cones don't fit, I'm sure I can find another use for them.

I'm making good progress with Rustoleum liquid rust stripper and sandpaper.

After you get the rust out of the gap, be sure to check the gap width all the way around. If the pole piece is not centered it could still scrape on the voice coil. Centering the cone in the gap should not be a problem since the spider is part of the cone, and has to bolt to the pole piece. In a modern speaker you use shims to center the voice coil then after it is glued up you remove the shims and glue the dust cap on. The glue used on the cone for the voice coil, spider, and dust cap is a cyanacrilate (AKP?) with an activator so that it sets instantly. Like a super glue that when you spray on the activator it dries even faster as in instantly. The edge of the cone is attached with the AKP glue to the frame, but since you cant use the activator you have to hold it in place. To hold it in place I use a flat ring and clamps. Once glue is applied you use a flat ring and clamps to hold the edge while it dries. A more flexiable glue (it looks like elmers glue, and dries clear) is used on top of the cone at the edge for any gaskets, and along the edge slightly down the cone for the flexiable cloth part of the cone, if there is one. I havn't rebuilt a speaker in years, but I still have a complete set of the flat rings and a little turntable to make the job easier. Look closely at how much of the voice coil can be seen above the pole piece this is critical in determining how deep the cone should be. On a modern speaker it was 1/4 inch I think. The idea was to center the voice coil vertically with the pole piece to provide equal travel in and out of the cone. Good luck.

Thanks for all the tips :yes:

After three days of rust stripper, the speakers are finally rust free :)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8218/8...257f7d44_c.jpg

Next up, de-rusting the output transformer.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8471/8...49fd76e5_c.jpg

Hi All;
Bob, before long you are going to have this radio performing and looking better than when it came off of the factory floor.. You do Great work !!!!!!
THANK YOU marty

HI Bob
I think I have a globe 80 and a globe 45, I will look to see if I still have them if you still need them
Joe

Hi. Thanks for the offer. This set uses 42s rather than 45s though. I think they had just come out before this set was introduced. The type 15 chassis was pretty cutting edge in 1932 in that it used all 6.3 VAC filaments wired in parallel.

I've picked up a good 80 and a few 42 Philco globes, but could use a good 39/44 and 37 globe as I've found mine are weak.

I took a little time off from TVs to finish off this radio. Since the last installment I managed to scored a very nice set of original Philco 15 speakers off ebay. Unfortunately, one side of the primary is open :(

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3842/...ee72d84e_z.jpg

I decided to pursue two possibly replacements. One - a modern universal Hammond transformer. Two - transfer the good windings from the original output transformer that was so rusty it fell apart onto a good core salvaged from the new speakers.

First up the 125d Hammond which sounds just great :) Only downside is that it doesn't have spare lugs for the field coil connections.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2904/...d5db6b60_z.jpg https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3887/...eb9e62d4_z.jpg

Now for plan 'B'
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3886/...3132523b_c.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5559/...8d0bbbc3_c.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/...a884423c_c.jpg

The operation appears to be a success but will it work ?
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/...79515619_c.jpg

Yes, yes it does :) I figure I'll stick with this one and save the Hammond for a backup or other projects.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/...c38cd1d0_c.jpg

You may have noticed in the earlier photos, I also rebuilt some nifty copper caps.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2906/...cb2d7c99_c.jpg

I used three 2.2uF @ 630 volt poly caps in parallel to replace the original wet mershon type 6.0 uF caps. They fit nicely inside and should last forever.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/...894df316_c.jpg

After one last polish, I spray the cans with lacquer to prevent tarnishing.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/...eee37d4a_c.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5590/...fd37e14f_c.jpg

Finally I broke out my complete set of period correct Philco branded globe tubes for a listen. It sounds great but definitely has some microphonics
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3903/...f5bb3a18_c.jpg