Jackson Bell Vintage Radio repair suggestions?

[Reece]

First order of business is to get the Mrs. fixed up. I hope everything goes OK with that and she gets relief. My thoughts are with you.

Tubes are generally not the problem with old radios: most of the old sets I get have all the tubes good or maybe one bad. If you have an ohmmeter (Harbor Freight: digital multimeter, about $4.00) put the leads on the fat pins of each tube. If you get continuity, it means the filament is still good, and that usually means the tube is, also. If you get continuity on those, I'd just fill any empty sockets, for now.

As to tube sources, I have generally placed a "wanted" post in the Radio Classified section of Antique Radio Forums and got several good responses, and I have bought from various individuals. Many of our fellow enthusiasts have extensive collections of tubes and sell them at very fair prices as they don't have any overhead to speak of to maintain. You could also post here in the Classifieds, I just have never done that yet.

[stoutblock]

Originally Posted by Reece

First order of business is to get the Mrs. fixed up. I hope everything goes OK with that and she gets relief. My thoughts are with you.

Tubes are generally not the problem with old radios: most of the old sets I get have all the tubes good or maybe one bad. If you have an ohmmeter (Harbor Freight: digital multimeter, about $4.00) put the leads on the fat pins of each tube. If you get continuity, it means the filament is still good, and that usually means the tube is, also. If you get continuity on those, I'd just fill any empty sockets, for now.

As to tube sources, I have generally placed a "wanted" post in the Radio Classified section of Antique Radio Forums and got several good responses, and I have bought from various individuals. Many of our fellow enthusiasts have extensive collections of tubes and sell them at very fair prices as they don't have any overhead to speak of to maintain. You could also post here in the Classifieds, I just have never done that yet.

Thanks for the kind words. Surgery is next week so it is just pain between now and then.

Two of the Sylvania 24A tubes may be good, one has the cap fitting loose, and one tube is missing. I will need at least two 24A (224) tubes and one each for the 280 (80) slot and 245 (45) slot.

I have a tube tester (Hickock 230) and it has a cap wire but it's manual does not have test settings for the 24A or 224 tubes so I will try the ohm meter method.

[Reece]

If the top cap is still connected but loose, some super glue will fix. If the cap is off, scrape the existing wire sticking out all around to make it bright, take a thin copper wire and wrap a couple turns around it, touch it FAST with soldering iron & solder. Being quick avoids breaking the tube. Heat the separated cap so that the hole in the top opens. Glue it back on with the wire sticking out, and solder the wire FAST. Usually can fix them this way.

The 80 will be kind of pricey, and the 45 really so. If it's too much, there are ways to substitute other tubes using an adapter, which is much less money, but not so "pretty."

[electroking]

Originally Posted by Reece

If the top cap is still connected but loose, some super glue will fix. If the cap is off, scrape the existing wire sticking out all around to make it bright, take a thin copper wire and wrap a couple turns around it, touch it FAST with soldering iron & solder. Being quick avoids breaking the tube. Heat the separated cap so that the hole in the top opens. Glue it back on with the wire sticking out, and solder the wire FAST. Usually can fix them this way.

The 80 will be kind of pricey, and the 45 really so. If it's too much, there are ways to substitute other tubes using an adapter, which is much less money, but not so "pretty."

A really nice 80 with balloon shape is indeed expensive, but late production
80s (5Y3GTs with the correct 4-pin base) were not that expensive a
few years ago, and I guess plenty of people have a few they would let
go for little money. Good luck.

[stoutblock]

Originally Posted by electroking

A really nice 80 with balloon shape is indeed expensive, but late production
80s (5Y3GTs with the correct 4-pin base) were not that expensive a
few years ago, and I guess plenty of people have a few they would let
go for little money. Good luck.

would a 4 pin 5Z3 work as I have one?

[electroking]

Originally Posted by stoutblock

would a 4 pin 5Z3 work as I have one?

No, unless the filament winding in the power transformer is overdesigned.
The 80 has a 2-A filament current, while the 5Z3 needs 3-A, so it would
most likely overload the transformer. You can grab the 4-pin base from
the old 80, add an octal socket with 4 pieces of wire and make an
adapter to use a 5Y3GT. I think this is the best possible thing next
to an actual 80. Good luck.

[stoutblock]

Dad says he wants to keep the radio stock rather than modify. He says he can listen to another radio...

Since this radio is totally original, I can see his point. Looks cool on the shelf!

[electroking]

Replacement of worn parts is normal in the life of a radio. I don't think anybody
advocated modifying the radio, plugging in a tube substitute is just a cost saving
measure. But it's your dad's radio...

P.S.: if the radio was totally original, it wouldn't be missing tubes. Good night.

[Zenith]

That's probably the correct speaker for your Swan. I've seen them with Lansing, Magnavox, Rola and others. They seemed to use what was at hand. They also had a couple different types of chassis as they made the swan for 2 years.
I have one with a Rola speaker and I just finished the chassis a couple weeks back (here's a photo). My cabinet needs work and the speaker needs a recone.


You have a very nice radio. Good luck with the restoration.