1957 Philco Transitone Restored!
 

Well, after two years, (on and off of course), I finally finished this neat little Philco Transitone set.

Special thanks to Eric H, Phil Nelson, and others who helped me get this set going again!

Here's a link to my first post about the set and what I did to it...
http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=255743

After recapping, and changing a few resistors, there was still a bad buzz coming through the sound, and the picture was also distorted as a result.

Just this week, I decided I would double check all the tubes for shorts,
and did find two bad ones. Changed them both, a 5AT8, and a 12AX4 damper tube. I also decided to replace the 7.5 ohm large sandbar resistor at the selenium rectifier, which was reading 45 ohms.

Not sure which was the culprit, but I finally got a nice picture, and clear sound!
The CRT is super bright, which I have not had on any other set so far.
I bought this set as non working, so I really didn't know what I was getting.

The original color was a not so appealing brown, so I repainted the cabinet in a two tone, of orange/white, and painted the inside white as well.
It just feels nice to put a finished chassis inside a freshly painted clean cabinet!
I do have the back panel, I just need to put a new ac cord in it, since someone cut the old one. Most of the brass, as well as the knobs were in very good condition, the leather carry handle is still like new, and the built in antenna just gives it a great look.

The set looks like new now, and plays just as well, with the exception of the sound fading out every now and then... If I turn the fine tuner back and forth, the sound will pop back in, so I'm not sure what that is.

Here's a fun clip of the transitone working if you want to see it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=176tLeRGqPU&feature=youtu.be

Thanks again for everyone's help!
Magnavox300






http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=255743

Here's a few more shots...

Very nice restore! Those knobs on the side look a lot like the knobs on a predicta pedestal. Also the HV cage looks really similar.

Looking good! Persistence pays off.

Incidentally, I see a big orange selenium rectifier in your final photo. These can fail, and when they do, they make a horrid stink.

You may hear different opinions about replacing these rectifiers.

Some people say, leave 'em in and see what happens.

Other people replace them with a type 1N4007 silicon diode (costs less than a buck). If you do that, take the old rectifier completely out of the circuit; don't wire the diode in parallel with it. You can also measure the B+ voltage and add a small power resistor in series with the diode if it is too high.

I don't like reopening projects that I had considered finished, so I usually replace the seleniums. But in a few cases, I have left them alone, and the world didn't end. I believe this is a series-string set and if the rectifier fails, it won't seriously damage other components.

Phil Nelson

Very nice job indeed. I too wouldn't let the threat of the honking sel-rectifier spoil the show (if it is currently active/in use) down the road. There should be some available real estate under the chassis to replace it with a silicon rectifier with even a nice Dale aluminum heat sunk dropping resistor.

Tom (PK)

Thanks, I was wondering if i should have replaced that rectifier with a diode...
I do have some 1n4007's, so I will probably change it.
I thought I needed something larger, that's why I left it in;
it's hard to believe those tiny diodes will replace that large rectifier!

The link I added for a video of this set working doesn't show up in "blue", so you can't click on it...
does anyone know what I may have done wrong?

Love that cigarette commercial!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=176t...ature=youtu.be

Strange! I just did a copy and paste on the link and it shows up fine. :scratch2:

Nice set!
jr

Excellent restoration! It looks like new. The colors are very authentic looking too. Some people get very turned-off when one of these metal sets have a rough cabinet. They can easily be repainted and come out great. After years of collecting pre-1950 sets I've been really into late '50's sets myself!

WOW That is a really beautiful set ! ! !

I really love the small B&W metal cabinet sets...

I have two metal 14" 1958 Emerson sets I will restore one day, and while they have
good paint, that white on the inside is interesting....

If you do replace the rectifier, I would leave the orange one in place, and wire around it.
It's really part of the display in your case to have that bright orange part in there
against the white cabinet.....

Heck, the way that inside looks, you might just want to make yerself a clear plastic
reproduction back, and put it on for display...... I'm not sure it would hold up to daily use
though.... Maybe even put lights on the plastic back. Too nice to cover up....

I'm nominating your set for Metal Cabinet B&W Restore of the decade !

Great job....

.

Great looking set. I love the metal cabinet sets myself and have one of the little 8 inch RCA portables. It looks like there are two screws missing from the bezel of your set. I love the painted inside of the cabinet. It really gives the set a new unused look.

Thanks for all the nice compliments,
I couldn't have done it without everyones help!

I thought those were just punched holes in the bezels design for appearance... I had a few screws left over, now I know why!

That really looks showroom fresh. Great job!

Thanks Reece...