Any Philco experts in the house?

[cbenham]

I picked up a Philco 50T1104 Code 122. [Heavy. ;^)]

It is not like the sets pictured on the SAMS folders 114-9 and 115-8.
It has a bakelite case.
It also has a 10 inch CRT!!! The ones in SAMS are both 12 inch.

The tube lineup includes several loctal types instead of octals that are electrically equivalent. [7C5 = 6V6GT]

Is this an earlier set than the others? Just very surprised and pleased when I saw it for the first time. Any information about this set would be greatly appreciated.

[Eric H]

Sweet! I have the wood version of that set ( http://www.vintagetvsets.com/50philco.htm ) and have always wanted to find the Bakelite model.

It's a 1950 model, the "50" in the model number indicates the year.
Philco sure had a mix of tubes in that era, they also seem to have a "busier" chassis than most too with lots of caps!

[cbenham]

Originally Posted by Eric H

It's a 1950 model, the "50" in the model number indicates the year. Philco sure had a mix of tubes in that era...

Yep, it has two 5Y3s instead of one 5U4, and on further investigation I found the CRT is mounted to the chassis unlike the 12 inch versions.
There is a date stamped on the focus coil, May 20, 1949.

The bakelite cabinet is cracked on the bottom with a big chunk out of the left rear corner. Neither the crack nor the chunk are visible at all from the front or the sides, and I have the whole chunk. Lots of surface rust and LOTS of dirt.
This one will take a good while to make look show-room presentable. No back.

I just need to find out what the best glue is for bakelite and what sort of cleaner or ??wax?? to use to restore the surface so it regains it's depth and sheen. Anybody know if Gorilla Glue works on bakelite, or is there something else better? Didn't G-C make glue specifically for bakelite at one point?
Thanks for any help.
Cliff

[blue_lateral]

Dont know about the glue. I have had good success years ago cleaning bakelite up with automotive rubbing compound and caranauba wax. YMMV.

John

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by cbenham

I just need to find out what the best glue is for bakelite and what sort of cleaner

I successfully repaired the Bakelite case on a Colonial Globe radio with gel-type cyanoacrylate -- "Zap-a-Gap" type super glue, in other words.

http://antiqueradio.org/col01.htm

Some radio people prefer epoxy. Either way, running a bead of epoxy along the inside of the break may strengthen the repair.

Don't use Gorilla Glue. It expands when curing, and might bubble up out of the crack. This happened when I used it to reglue a wooden cabinet, and it was a real mess.

If you're going to clamp the pieces, I would practice my clamping scheme beforehand, to make sure you get it right the first time. These glues won't give you a second chance.

Warm soapy water will clean Bakelite.

Be careful if you polish it. The shiny outer layer of Bakelite is thin. Under it is a pulpy layer containing wood flour, which is impossible to polish with any product. (In fact, the more you polish, the flatter and streakier it may get.)

I have used Novus Plastic Polish #2 -- gently -- to polish a few Bakelite cabinets. Even a mild abrasive like that may take away the outer layer if you get carried away. If your polishing cloth comes away with brown or reddish color, you are taking away Bakelite.

Some people use oily stuff like WD-40 or Glayzit to make Bakelite look shiny. I don't recommend that. Oils are temporary and tend to attract dirt.

Other folks use a good quality carnauba wax to make it look shiny. I guess that does no harm, although wax, too, is temporary.

If your cabinet is already very weathered and you can't stand the unpolished appearance, I have heard of people who used spray lacquer to make it look shiny again. There are even some kooks on eBay who take cabinets to auto body shops to have them painted in garish, un-original colors, so I guess anything's possible, if you don't care about authenticity.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

[kbmuri]

I just picked up a Philco 50-T1443 yesterday.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachm...chmentid=27073

which sounds very similar. It's a 12-inch tube, cabinet mounted. One 5U4G, the rest of the (visible) tubes are Loktals. I guess I'll become an expert over the next month as I try to restore it.

I use JB-Weld (pictured) to repair bakelite. The radio cabinet (also pictured) was repaired that way, with excellent results.

I sprayed the cabinet with clear polyurethane. The radio was dumpster-grade, and the bakelite couldn't have been in worse condition. After JB-Welding the shards of it back together, I deep-cleaned and rough-scuffed it with steel wool, then sprayed the urethane. It looks fabulous now (the white flecks are just dust in bright sunlight in the photo). The clear topcoat brings out all the original swirling better than just rubbing out the bakelite. And I agree with Phil N, polishing raw bakelite runs the risk of digging too deep into it and ruining it. The clearcoat seals everything, so any polishing down the road only removes clearcoat, not original material.

I would worry a little bit about using lacquer, as it's a pretty strong solvent when wet, and will melt thin plastic completely. Not sure how it would react to bakelite, never tried it, but I remember melting plastic model cars with lacquer spray paint as a kid.

Of course, if it's a museum piece, I wouldn't spray it, polish it, or modify it in any way, just leave it be.

[kbmuri]

(the whole radio)

[peverett]

I have used the product "Plast-I-pair" from Antique Electronics Supply to make small repairs in Bakelite cases. In my situation the case was originally painted white, so the repair did not show.