Welcome Guest! Be sure you know and follow the Phorum Rules before posting. Thank you and Enjoy! (January 12, 2025) x

Thread Closed

Is my radio supposed to electrocute me?
#1

A came across a non-working 37-62 a couple weeks ago. I replaced all the caps, most of the resistors, the way out of tolerance volume pot, a bad 6A8, and a pile of dry rotted wire....and lo and behold the thing works.
The thing is, when I reached to turn on the light over my work bench....with my hand on the chassis, I touched the metal switch box and got lightly zapped. The switch is on the same run with the receptacle that it was plugged in to. When I measure from the chassis to the conduit and I get 60v.
I know this is a dumb question but, is this normal? Thanks in advance.


Attached Files
.pdf 37-62.pdf Size: 177.29 KB  Downloads: 798

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." — Winston Churchill
#2

reverse the plug in wall,,,maybe ???? need one of the polarity plugs???
#3

Or remove the screw from #30. Methinks what you are experiencing is ac leakage from the line bypass caps which is normal. Since this set has a cap on each side of the ac line I don't think flipping the plug around will matter. Back in the old days the chassis would have a ground wire connect to the chassis so it would be an issue.

When my pals were reading comic books
I was down in the basement in my dad's
workshop. Perusing his Sam's Photofoacts
Vol 1-50 admiring the old set and trying to
figure out what all those squiggly meant.
Circa 1966
Now I think I've got it!

Terry
#4

No matter what you do you should never complete the circuit with two hands. Transformer or no transformer.
I agree with Terry, you are experiencing the leakage through the #30 cap. And these caps have the value which is about 6 times what they allow today for home equipment for Y-caps.
This one won't kill you but one day you might encounter a transformer with a breakdown and the outcome might be different.

One hand behind your back, always.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#5

Thanks guys, I'll take the screw out of the Bakelite this evening and see what happens.
And lesson learned, one hand from now on.

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." — Winston Churchill
#6

I removed the screw from #30 last night, it's still hot. I'm going to trace everything part by part and see if I can find some mistake I've made. Thanks for the help.

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." — Winston Churchill
#7

Just for grins measure the ac voltage from wall socket, neutral to earth ground and measure from the ground on the socket to earth ground. Maybe some leakage before it get to your set.

When my pals were reading comic books
I was down in the basement in my dad's
workshop. Perusing his Sam's Photofoacts
Vol 1-50 admiring the old set and trying to
figure out what all those squiggly meant.
Circa 1966
Now I think I've got it!

Terry
#8

The most probable causes:

1. The C30.
2. The power transformer leakage.
3. Possibly the Power switch on the Volume control potentiometer.
4. Just measure for shorts between MAINS plug and the chassis, see if the resistance is very low or even in a few kOhms range, still bad.

With good transformer and no C30 whatever short is after the transformer it should not matter, it is decoupled.

People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
#9

The two capacitors in item 30 a connected from each side of the line cord to chassis ground. This creates a voltage divider, putting one half of the line voltage on the chassis. The current is very low so, it is not a safety issue. The main reason for these capacitors is to provide an RF ground path for the antenna circuit. Think of it this way, if you look at the schematic, imagine a wire connected from the ground symbol on the antenna transformer (item 2) to the ground symbol the item 30 capacitors. As terry said remove the screw from item 30, then check to see if the voltage is gone from the chassis. If the voltage is gone, put the screw back in and don't worry about it anymore.

Steve

M R Radios   C M Tubes
#10

Thanks all for the advice, I'll dig into it and update/beg for more help.

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." — Winston Churchill




Users browsing this thread: 2 Guest(s)
[-]
Recent Posts
Philco 71 Code 125
Ok guys. Thanks for the input. As for AI this is why I ask the experts. Dandconant — 07:39 AM
Philco 71 Code 125
Technically, that's C-. B- is chassis ground. The resistor between chassis ground and the HV center tap makes the HV c...MrFixr55 — 11:24 PM
54C Cabinet Refinish
hello Roy, I’d follow Arran’s suggestion and use automotive gasket material, which I keep around for situations like th...radiorich — 10:22 PM
Philco 71 Code 125
This might be one of those cases where it's a ground to an AC voltage and B- to DC.RodB — 08:22 PM
Philco 71 Code 125
Really Rod? I know you would not steer me wrong but AI say this is a short circuit? What if I moved the 6 volt center ta...dconant — 06:40 PM
54C Cabinet Refinish
Roy; Personally I would have left the asbestos alone if it were my set, but you can find a modern substitute that som...Arran — 04:51 PM
Philco 71 Code 125
Looks like that might be the B- buss, so that would be correct.RodB — 01:32 PM
Philco 71 Code 125
I noticed on the code 121 schematic the center tap for the 6 volt winding and hv winding are tied together. Is this corr...dconant — 12:16 PM
Philco 45-6365 Universal IFT Instruction Manual
The Philco Parts Catalog for 1942 shows it as usable for 175 kHz, 260 kHz, and 465 kHz. The instructions will show how t...DaleHCook — 11:19 AM
Stromberg Carlson 1500 Squeal
Hello Rob, I agree with you—I have one here at my house that I need to check out. It’s way over-engineered just to make...radiorich — 11:05 AM

[-]
Who's Online
There are currently no members online.

>