|
One more thing I forgot to mention. On your five tube radio, make sure that the pilot lamp is good (if it uses one). If it burns out, then the rectifier tube will be run too hard, and burn out more quickly. The rectifier tube actually has a tapped filament, so that a pilot lamp can be connected to it without needing a dropping resistor. The way some sets are wired, the plate of the rectifier is connected to the lamp tap as well - this makes the light brighter, but if the light burns out, then the rectifier filament at this tap has to bear the extra load of the B+ current. It'll burn out faster. So replace the pilot lamp if it's burned out, or rewire the set so that this isn't going to happen.
Doesn't apply to all radios. But it applies to many.
-Ian
|