Philco 53A s console radio ;^)
 

Picked up a very nice example of a 1940-1 ? made in Canada Philco 53A s radio at a garage sale yesterday. Don't see many radios this era with the cabinets in such good condition. At least ones that are for garage sale prices . Expected to see a field coil speaker but there is actually a rather large 12" speaker that looks like a Jensen. All the tubes are present but I haven't been able to track down a schematic yet.

Will need some TLC for sure.

Here's the tube compliment from left to right:

6J8E, 78, 6J5, 617FG, 6C5, 2 - 48s.

Yesterday was a good day. Actually picked up some nice vinyl for free as well. :D

Cheers

Lar

That out board speaker transformer makes me think that this set originally had a speaker with the transformer mounted on it, and when that died they put the present speaker in and convienently mounted the new transformer for it next to the chassis.

That is my impression.

Tom C.

I was thinking the same thing :yes:

Very odd tube lineup 48's are battery type tubes.
Terry

Could be someone did a switcherooney on the tubes. When I track down a schematic I'll find out for sure. :yes:

Not uncommon for a vendor to just stick whatever tubes in empty sockets to sell a set.

Ditto on the posts above about the speaker probably being a replacement. The cord hanging down with the plug on the end would have gone to the original speaker that had a field coil. Wonder how they tackled the lack of the field coil in the circuit? Choke or big resistor under the chassis? Looks like only two primary wires going to the output transformer. Does that radio have push-pull output? If so should be three wires. Circuit may have been "modified."

It looks like the speaker replacement was done by someone who knew what they were doing. The wires to the transformer as well as the plug do look like a mouse chewed on them.

Will be nice to get a schematic to see what's up with the tube compliment, also to see what's been done with it to compensate for the missing field coil..

Lar

Here is a good source of free schematics if you are having troubles finding schematics www.nostalgiaair.org/.

Tom C.

Justradios doesn't have the schematic, yikes :sigh:

Are you sure 53A is the model # ? I would have thought it would have the first two digit year follow by the model like 40-81 or 41-22 .

Model 53 (no A) is around 1930, IIRC, nowhere near this radio. Did they use a different numbering system on Canadian sets?

I've been a Philco fanatic for many years. I know just about every Philco set there is. I have NEVER seen this set, nor anything close to it. Just wow.

I'd peg it as a 1942 model, given the cabinet style and glass, but I have no idea beyond that. We really need some more info here :)

I may have a schematic from a Canadian data CD that is stored at my other
location. Will be there by this coming Sunday.

Wrong tubes may be plugged in as someone else mentioned. Your list does
not seem to include a rectifier!

You never know it might use selenium rectifiers.

Tom C.

More info would be nice :yes:

Struck out with Justradios so not sure where to look next. :scratch2:

Cheers

Lar

According to the Philco Radio page:

"By June 1938, the radios produced in Canada began to look very different from USA Philcos. The company also adopted its own model numbering scheme, which results in confusion today among radio collectors, since many later Canadian Philcos used the same model numbers as older USA Philco sets."

http://www.philcoradio.com/world/canada.htm

The 53X in the picture is the same as mine.

Cheers

Lar

Hello again,

Here is the closest I could come up with. I found a model 53 (not 53A) but the
tube complement for this one looks more similar. It is very unlikely that this radio
had anything other than a 80 as the rectifier. Will get back to you later.
Regards.

P.S. It would be useful to have a close-up view of the data plate, and
to determine whether the output stage is actually single-ended or
push-pull.

That radio looks like a 32 volt DC set, with those output tubes. You really need the exact schematic. I don't think Philco made that many 32 volt sets in the U.S. You have to consult Radio College of Canada.

Investigating that chunk of iron bolted to the chassis would narrow it down some... If it has only 2 leads, a choke, it could well be a DC set, If it has a bunch of leads (like 9) you're looking at a power transformer, which would also point out where the rectifier would go..

Thanks for the tip. Found the Canadian Vintage Radio Society:

http://www.canadianvintageradio.com/index.shtml

Apparently once you join you can access Radio College of Canada schematics from 1927 to 1980.

BTW the radio has an AC cord. :scratch2:

Lar

They did have a regular A.C. power cord and plug. The homes were wired in anticipation to the coming of the high lines. Many of those sets have the plates and screens running off 32 volts D.C. as well. You really need the schematic to see what you have there.

Some had regular-looking AC plugs as dieseljeep noted but were farm sets made to run on 32 volts. Many got fried later when unknowingly plugged into 120V.

I just looked the 48 tubes in the tube manual. They have 30 volt dc filaments. So it's a strong possibility that it is a 32 volt dc receiver. It should be interesting to see what you really have there.

Never knew about the AC plug 32 volt thing. Good to know :yes:.

Will had to pull the chassis out and take a look see.

Cheers

Lar

1942 Model 53X
 

I have this same model. It took awhile to find the year and model and I have yet to find even a ball-park value. Do either of you have any idea what they are worth today?

Hopefully all previous owners didn't do that... The 6V tubes were likely wired in series, along with a dropping resistor off the 32V supply (they all draw the same 300ma heater current). If someone did apply 120V, possibly only one of those tubes would go open. Tube heaters can take over-voltage, as part of the manufacturing process tube heaters are run extra hot to boil off and/or activate the cathode. But not for real long.

Output tubes don't make much audio power off 32V, so running a pair push pull is done to get something listenable.

Hmmm.. IIRC alocal antique shop has an identical one for $40...