My First Philco: 46-1203 CODE 125 help?
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Hello everyone, this is my first post on the forums and I guess my first question pertaining to my very first Philco radio. I just bought it today off Craigslist and am very happy with it. The cord is in really poor shape, cracked and very brittle. But it does turn on and the tuner works fine as I have picked up several stations, though there is still a rather loud hum through the speaker, which is diminished by half with the tone knob, but still apparent. The two issues that I do not know how to fix at the moment, is one how do I actually use the phonograph itself. I have figured out the knob to turn it on, and the switch to turn it on, but I cannot figure out how to use the auto changer. Also the second issue is also with the phonograph, I cannot get the volume to go above a soft whisper. I did a small bit of reading and found that it may be the contacts or something that has corrosion on it that can be cleaned. I do not know how to do this, any help would be appreciated, I have enclosed pictures of my new pride and joy. Thanks ahead of time. -Steve
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Ok after some exploration a little more online help from this board and a few other helpful areas I was able to remove the chasis and I completely replaced the power cord and used some contact cleaner trying to clean up the volume roller, since it was a closed unit I really couldnt do much, but I was able to clean a fewother contacts on switches. I was able to see that the inner workings had been worked on a couple of times at one point or another. But overall to my unexperienced eyes it looked pretty good. So now that I have replaced the power cord, and no danger of catchign fire or anything like that is out of the way, I still have the issue of if there is a way to repair the volume or see if that is the problem and not the needle. Can anyone offer tips to tell if it is the volume knob that isnt working properly, or if it is the needle assembly?
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I finished restoing that exact model a few months ago. You need to replace a fairly good number of the capacitors before you do anything else. I imagine that you figured out that the bottom rotary control is your on/off/volume control... clockwise 1 click becomes the volume for the radio, one click counter-clockwise is volume for the phono. If it still has the orig cartrige in the phono arm then its a crystal cartridge. You can either rebuild the one you have (I wouldnt suggest this if you are inexperienced) or replace it with something more modern (heres a link to the one I used... http://cgi.ebay.com/290450901411) and of course use a 78 needle.
I would highly suggest you stop powering it up until youve changed out the caps!!!
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Okay, well I have never replaced more than a tube in a radio before this one, where I had no choice but to replace the power cord...so how would I go about replacing the caps, and should I replace all or just some? I am pretty novice at this kind of thing so I greatly appreciate expert help or at least experienced help. I see several posts listing the electrical diagrams so I guess thats a place to start, correct? Thanks. -Steve
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Okay thats a great visual aid, now I guess the question becomes which capacitors should be replaced? I have read in several different places that its not advised to replace some of the capacitors due to the type of cap they are. Is this true? It looks very for lack of a better word scary in there. I have never done anything like this before, I have no problem learning or experiementing, but I guess my question comes to is this a good radio to do my first on? I dont want to totally ruin such a beautiful radio, but I also do want to have this beauty back up to spec so i can use it and not just show it off, and I definately cant afford to have it professionally restored, so it looks like that with some guidance from the experience here I think I can manage. What are good methods for removal, and reinstallation of the caps? I see that the schematic that has been provided tells me pretty much what I need to know about the originals replacement? All the tubes look good, but I do not have a tube tester, would it be wise to invest in one? Thanks again and I look forward to being nursed through my very first self applied restoration! -Steve
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Well... I have no intention of holding your hand through a step-by-step restore. You need to think about how badly you want to do this... then start reading. There is quite a learning curve involved if you don't know anything about electronics. Under this circuit board is not the place to learn how to solder! Its not a particularly rare item by any means, but as you know the wood is a work of art. The schematic that I posted should be printed out and studied. Keep in mind that they made similar models and builds for a few years. You will still need your exact model and builds schematics. Welcome to the big adventure that is antique radio restoration!
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State, Province, Country: Indiana
Steve
Welcome. Tackling your first vintage radio can seem to be a daunting task. Yes, there is a learning curve...but if this is something you really want to do, you can learn how. Just don't expect to become an "expert" overnight...I've been in this hobby for 36 years, and I still learn things every now and again. 
You need to learn the basics of electricity and electronics. A good place to start is here:
http://www.antiqueradio.org/begin.htm
There are also books on the subject. Buy one or three, study them, ask questions, repeat.
Do you need a tube tester? I think this can best be answered by asking yourself another question..."Do I intend to buy and restore more old radios?" If the answer is yes, then yes, you should buy one. If not...then find someone close to you who is also involved with the antique radio hobby and see if he or she will be your mentor; someone you can learn from, use their tube tester, etc.
Above all...have fun! That is what a hobby is all about, after all.
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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Hello All, thanks for the great advice ive been getting, and I didnt intend to make it sound like i wanted some one to hold my hand through it, would have been nice, but not my original intent. I just meant as i need advice or perhaps some more visual aids, would be nice to be able to count on that. For Roger, any thoughts on where I can obtain the correct schematics for my model? Is there a web page that some one has where they sell these, or is it kind of a hit and miss type thing? Hello Ron, Thanks for the welcome, based on your questions to ask myself its an unequivocal YES, Though this is my first philco, its if I recall correctly, its my 10th vintage radio, and so far looks to be the simplest one to recap. I have among a few nameless brands, 3 Zenith trans-oceanic, 1 coronado, and 1 Hammond.....All look far more complicated than I want to work with initially, but this one looks to be a great first one, with only 10 possibly 12 caps to replace... might have mis counted but it looks far less daunting than tackling a Zenith Trans-Oceanic....I just need to find the radio schematics, buy some soldering wick and I think I can do some recapping....Then ill have to tackle replacing the needle assembly on the phono....another first. I think for experience sake ill take advice replace it vs rebuild it....Any further advice or suggestions will help alot. Thanks everyone. -Steve
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Here's something thats closer (I had to remember where it was stashed)... its your said model number, but it's not specific to any given build number. I've never been able to find one quite that specific... well, I tired of looking and just used the ones I had found...LOL! Once you get the caps in, its easy to test the state of your cartridge. Pull the leads off and hook them to a known source... I use an MP3 player turned low and alligator clips with a headphone plug. If you get sound out of the phono section at that point, its a safe bet that the cartridge is toast.
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to be harsh... I just ended up getting 'married' to one project on-line once-upon-a-time. There's lots of help here...
I hope that this schematic gets you a wee bit closer! Good Luck!!!
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