Admiral 26R12 restoration

[bandersen]

I'm just about done with the cabinet. Cleaning and buffing the speaker grille is a pain
There is some minor chipping along the top edge and discoloration from the control panel, but otherwise it came out great.

[vts1134]

That cabinet looks great. Was that just a hand buff with Novus #2?

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by vts1134

That cabinet looks great. Was that just a hand buff with Novus #2?

Thanks! Yep. Around 6 passes on the top and 3 on the rest.

Now on to the control panel. Some areas appear to have been sprayed with some substance that effected the plastic.
It's a little foggy and bumpy - especially on the left side. Perhaps something like pledge reacted with it ?

I'm just going to buff it as best I can.

[bandersen]

I finished buffing out the knobs and put the set back together.
I've had it playing for a few hours and it's working quite well

[kvflyer]

Hi Bob, looks good. Thanks for taking the time to investigate those cloudy swirls in the faceplate. I think that in 1950, plastic technology was not quite perfected as it kinda is today. You really can't see the swirls in the clear plastic but they are there. No biggie.

Thanks for showing how you removed the speed nuts from the speaker board. I tried also to pry the capture teeth and was unsuccessful. I thought about just cutting them. But pooh-poohed that idea because I didn't want to be sorry later for being in such a hurry. I will go back and revisit that after I move to Florida. My 26R12 is already sitting in the den of my house down there.

When I get the speaker board out, I can investigate the flash from the Bakelite. I have one large scratch on the top of mine. Looks like someone sat a chassis on the top and slid it along. It is about 2.6" long.

My control cover door cleaned up nicely. And, the picture that I posted along time ago shows that my volume control knob was more of a mahogany color than a brown. One of the members of ARF sent me the correct color knob.

The 26R12 that I had as a teenager is long gone. But what I did was to modify the amplifier in the set with a Loudness Compentrol and change the 8" speaker to a Philips/Norelco dual cone 8" speaker. It did widen the frequency response. I doubt I will do it to my present set because as with your restorations, I strive for originality as it came from the factory.

Thanks for taking the time to document your restoration. Interesting how both of the chassis I had/have were copper plated. And, some of the 12" models came in both copper plated and cadmium plated. And, it is interesting that both of your vertical transformers went open. Do you think wet environment and corrosion or massive failure in the vertical circuit?

way2wise has the 14" version of this set as well. I don't know if he did a documentary on its restoration.

[Reece]

Looks real nice, Bob, and what a picture. Thanks for the tour.

[dieseljeep]

The top picture on entry #64 shows a set top antenna in the background. Unit with the three push buttons. I always liked them. Who made it, Speco? I don't think it was Radion, which was a Chicago firm.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

The top picture on entry #64 shows a set top antenna in the background. Unit with the three push buttons. I always liked them. Who made it, Speco? I don't think it was Radion, which was a Chicago firm.

It took me a while to find one of these. I can't find any name on it, bu it's an "American 5-K" according to this website.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by kvflyer

...Thanks for taking the time to document your restoration. Interesting how both of the chassis I had/have were copper plated. And, some of the 12" models came in both copper plated and cadmium plated. And, it is interesting that both of your vertical transformers went open. Do you think wet environment and corrosion or massive failure in the vertical circuit?

way2wise has the 14" version of this set as well. I don't know if he did a documentary on its restoration.

Thanks. Weird how they copper plated some chassis and not others. Only the yoke support is copper plated in this set.

I believe it was a massive failure that killed the vertical transformers. Most likely from one of the nasty hack repair attempts I found throughout the set.