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Electrola RE-57: First look and some pictures
So, my brother-in-law and I drove out to bring home my "new" RE-57. That thing is HEAVY. I pulled the tubes and packed them in a tube carrier for the trip home, Removed the radio chassis to lighten the weight a tad, and wedged the tone-arm in place with a small soft pillow. Everything arrived intact. The tubes all test good (so its already worth more than it cost). Here are a couple pictures and then a few more questions.
It was nicely refinished by a previous owner. Front with doors closed DSC_0124.jpg Front with doors open DSC_0125.jpg Turntable and tone-arm DSC_0126.jpg The felt is a little ratty around the edges. Tuner chassis. The round thing in the middle is the contraption that simultaneously tunes all the trf sections. DSC_0128.jpg Amplifier and power supply chassis DSC_0129.jpg Tag riveted to the amplifier. Anybody know what the SUV means? This thing is heavy enough to be a sport utility vehicle, but I doubt that it is. DSC_0130.jpg Now on to the questions: This is the oldest thing I have undertaken (16 years older than I am) and I feel somewhat daunted. I. To recap or not to recap the filter caps. I have not yet powered this thing up, but the previous owner tells me that while the radio does not work, the phono has been in regular and recent use. I've read a fair bit on some other boards and with respect to Victors of this era there seem to be three different points of view. a) "Fuse it and use it," the idea being that the paper caps from this era are particularly rugged so just make sure the 80 and the transformer are protected by fusing the 80's plates and keep your fingers crossed. b) Hide some 600V caps (electrolytics or, better, polys) under the chassis, disconnect the old cap box and just let it sit there looking pretty. c) Melt the tar, clean out the old cap box and hide modern caps inside it. If, in fact my filter caps are in decent condition, I lean towards option b) for for two reasons... it does no damage to anything original, and it feels safer than a) Anyone following me can undo what I have done and the original caps are still there. But, I would like to hear others' points of view. II. I have the Riders (thanks BANDERSEN) schematic. It lists C-10 (a part of the tuned circuit connecting the 2nd RF amp to the 3rd RF amp) as 10 uF. Surely this is a misprint. Is it, perhaps 10 uuF (pF)? III. The wooden volume, tone, and tuning knobs are not original. Does anyone make repros of these? IV. The power switch is new. What should the original look like? V. Just a matter of curiosity - when (why) did condensers become capacitors? Thanks as always for your expertise. I'll try to keep you informed of my progress. Paul |
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