Opened up this Philco, and what the.....??

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

Actually, it's a 15X. Couldn't remember the model. Ended up just replacing the caps (sans bulbs), and it's working nicely......

I didn't think, Philco used that style chassis, that late. I seems to be, quite a set.. Eleven tubes, multi speakers. Must've been TOTL, that year.
Are you planning to re-stuff the bakelite block caps?

[DavGoodlin]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

I didn't think, Philco used that style chassis, that late. I seems to be, quite a set.. Eleven tubes, multi speakers. Must've been TOTL, that year.
Are you planning to re-stuff the bakelite block caps?

There are lots of those condenser blocks in a model 15 from looking at the Riders. I never saw a set from that era with two speakers either.
I recently restored a Philco 38-3 that had 8 blocks, 27 wax caps, 4 electrolytics, more than a few way-off resistors, yet only one 6K7 of the 9 tubes was weak.

Restoring a Philco radio is a ton of work, so I wonder what we should be charging for it too little $$$ and the customer thinks that's all its worth, too much and you unknowingly sold a service agreement so everytime something is not quite right, you're put on the spot.

[Kamakiri]

Originally Posted by DavGoodlin

Restoring a Philco radio is a ton of work, so I wonder what we should be charging for it too little $$$ and the customer thinks that's all its worth, too much and you unknowingly sold a service agreement so everytime something is not quite right, you're put on the spot.

No kidding, and Philcos are quite plentiful here as I'm sure they are there. They still used one or two in the early 40s consoles, but that 38-3 you had....I had one of those and I never restored the sucker.

It was probably 15-20 years ago when I had it....back before I got heavy into TVs I had a basement packed with Philco consoles. Sold them all in one lot to Radio Daze, and shifted to TVs after that.

[Kamakiri]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

I didn't think, Philco used that style chassis, that late. I seems to be, quite a set.. Eleven tubes, multi speakers. Must've been TOTL, that year.
Are you planning to re-stuff the bakelite block caps?

Oh HELL no!!!

This one was a freebie for a friend. I don't think I'd un-tar one of those caps if you paid me. At worst, I'd just use the terminals on the block to mount components externally. Done it before and even managed to make it look really good.

In this case it didn't seem to be needed. Just did the filters and sorted out a few wiring issues. Slow power up and ran it at around 80V for an hour before amping the voltage up. Played fine at full voltage for an hour and everything ran cool, so it went home. I'll take it step at a time....if it needs the blocks done I'll do them, but I really don't want to.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

Oh HELL no!!!

This one was a freebie for a friend. I don't think I'd un-tar one of those caps if you paid me. At worst, I'd just use the terminals on the block to mount components externally. Done it before and even managed to make it look really good.

In this case it didn't seem to be needed. Just did the filters and sorted out a few wiring issues. Slow power up and ran it at around 80V for an hour before amping the voltage up. Played fine at full voltage for an hour and everything ran cool, so it went home. I'll take it step at a time....if it needs the blocks done I'll do them, but I really don't want to.

A few years back, I was in an old radio TV shop. There was an earlier 30's Philco radio in for repair. I asked the owner if the bakelite block capacitors were replaced. He said no, they never go bad. I replied that, there would a lot of collectors that would disagree with you.
I read that those caps were vacuum impregnated. Having some experience with that process, I would almost have to agree.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

A few years back, I was in an old radio TV shop. There was an earlier 30's Philco radio in for repair. I asked the owner if the bakelite block capacitors were replaced. He said no, they never go bad. I replied that, there would a lot of collectors that would disagree with you.
I read that those caps were vacuum impregnated. Having some experience with that process, I would almost have to agree.

~80 years time is enough for almost anything to go bad.
I have a 1932 Philco cathedral (the model escapes me), that essentially worked as found. It had no hum, but the audio/reception was weak and VERY distorted. Restuffing the block caps returned it to working like new.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

~80 years time is enough for almost anything to go bad.
I have a 1932 Philco cathedral (the model escapes me), that essentially worked as found. It had no hum, but the audio/reception was weak and VERY distorted. Restuffing the block caps returned it to working like new.

The term I used was ALMOST. The paper dielectric would deteriorate due to the chemicals used in the process of paper making. VPI, probably extended their lives by 20 years.
The last Philco, I restored, I restuffed the bakelite caps. It turned out real great. I used a heat gun to heat them. I looks like tar, but it is a high temp potting. It came out as a chunk, instead of being a liquid form.

[rca2000]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

~80 years time is enough for almost anything to go bad.

Except for TUBES. Since they are TOTALLY isolated from the world....they don't really "age"......thank goodness.