Canadian Admiral 20x146

[Tony F]

I managed to pick up a Canadian Admiral 20x146 set. It is a 25 cycle set, with a 12" crt that tests strong. I did notice that it differs from the American sets in that it does not have the thick basket weave grill. Instead, it has a gold colored mesh over top of the grill cloth. Also, the burl wood behind the knobs isn't photo finish, but real wood.
Tony

[Kevin Kuehn]

That looks really nice. So I suppose it has a huge stack of iron of a power transformer?

[Tony F]

I'm not sure how the size of the Transformer compares with the U.S. versions. You can't tell by looking at the top, but underneath, the transformer goes to the very bottom of the sheet metal chassis with no room to spare. Comparing this to the split chassis Bakelite 1949 Admirals, (the capacitor cans on those are dated 8-49). The cans on this set are dated 1-50. Making this an early 1950 set. Also the serial number is higher. The crt is a 12LP4A, the chassis shows no signs of repair. Although the chassis is stamped 5U4G for the transformer, there is a 5V4 there and cabinet decal shows a 5V4 on the chassis picture. Everything had a thick layer of dust, also NO signs of small furry visitors, which is a nice bonus.

[Electronic M]

Nice admiral!

At least those are easy sets to fix mouse damage on...I had a Dumont RA103 that had a basketball sized nest in it... they ate the bunbled wiring harnesses, and I could have recapped it in just the time it took to replace all the wires with new ones that that had insulation. The thing still smelled even after the garden hose treatment...

[Tube TV]

That's a nice score. When I read that it was 25 cycle my thoughs were the same a Kevin's. I was waiting to see a massive transformer. If I recall correctly I seen pictures of a Admiral bakelite set that was a maybe a year earlier that had a separate power chassis and the transformer was far bigger that what's in your set.
I wonder if you will have any issues operating at 60 cycles?

[old_coot88]

That's the first factory 25 cycle set I've seen. All i'd ever seen 'in person' were conversions with separate power chassis and BIG xfmrs. That was back in the day when Roosevelt, AZ was still 25 cycle from the nearby hydro dam.

Interesting side note - 25 cycle power xfmrs running back-to-back make excellent modulation xfmrs for plate modulation in transmitters. Audio is pretty flat, then rolls off abruptly above 5 khz.

[bandersen]

Here's a US version. The main power transformer looks to be the same size, but the Canadian version has several more transformers scattered around including a big one in the middle. I wonder if those are filter chokes ?

Maybe that big one in the middle is for the lower B+ rail ? It's pulled from the cathode of the class A audio output tube in the US version.

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by Tony F

I'm not sure how the size of the Transformer compares with the U.S. versions. You can't tell by looking at the top, but underneath, the transformer goes to the very bottom of the sheet metal chassis with no room to spare.

The transformer on my 12x12 looks identical. The whole set, for that matter. I don't think mine is a 25 cycle set, but it doesn't say.

Also, the transformer weighs a ton.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by MadMan

The transformer on my 12x12 looks identical. The whole set, for that matter. I don't think mine is a 25 cycle set, but it doesn't say.

Also, the transformer weighs a ton.

Does yours have a big transformer in the middle ? I've worked on a few Admirals and never seen that before.

[Tube TV]

Might be interesting finding a schematic.

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by bandersen

Does yours have a big transformer in the middle ? I've worked on a few Admirals and never seen that before.

No, that's a choke coil or whatever. Horizontal output, maybe. Mine looks just like the pic you posted, anyway.

[Tony F]

Bob, I know that you and Phil Nelson collaborated on the artwork for the decals for these sets. I E-mailed the gentleman that produced them (SolidDesign) with no response. Would you know if any other collectors had any available ? I have 2 sets now that could use some.
Tony