03-16-2012, 08:32 PM
Ron;
Did Philco not use twist lock filter condensers in the early 1940s? Most of the Canadian manufacturers began using them in 1939, G.E, Westinghouse, RCA, and even Rogers. I think that a rewire is probably the best plan, you would use up a lot of heat shrink sleaving the long lengths of wire in that 616 chassis.
I'm lucky in one way, I have a readily available local source of that vinyl covered wire, at least the stranded type, in 16, 18, 20, and 22 guage, in multiple colours. I have most colours of the 18 gauge in stock, I may pick up some 20 guage since it's a little easier to work with. Unfortunately they don't have the solid core wire which was what many of my sets used.
You are fortunate in one way, most U.S manufacturers seem to have stuck to cloth wire until 1939, except for Majestic maybe; but in Canada, Rogers, Westinghouse, RCA, and G.E were using the stuff much earlier on, though not in power transformer leads thank God. I have a 1936-37 vintage Westinghouse that has that same crispy rubber as Bob's 39-30 and your 41-316, it was so bad that I didn't even dare to power it up on a variac. I want to fix that Westinghouse up though, for a 5 tube set it has one of the nicest cabinets you would ever see on a table set and for the weight you would think it had a ten tube chassis.
Strange enough I also have a 1939 Canadian Majestic (a Rogers product) that also has rubber wire but it's as flexable as the day it left the factory, but as typical the rubber shock mounts have turned to dust. The Canadian RCA and G.E sets seem to use a mix of rubber and cloth wire with more rubber then cloth by the late 30's. So as you can see we may have dodged a bullit when it comes to rubber in Canadian Philcos but we still have to deal with it in many other sets.
Regards
Arran
Did Philco not use twist lock filter condensers in the early 1940s? Most of the Canadian manufacturers began using them in 1939, G.E, Westinghouse, RCA, and even Rogers. I think that a rewire is probably the best plan, you would use up a lot of heat shrink sleaving the long lengths of wire in that 616 chassis.
I'm lucky in one way, I have a readily available local source of that vinyl covered wire, at least the stranded type, in 16, 18, 20, and 22 guage, in multiple colours. I have most colours of the 18 gauge in stock, I may pick up some 20 guage since it's a little easier to work with. Unfortunately they don't have the solid core wire which was what many of my sets used.
You are fortunate in one way, most U.S manufacturers seem to have stuck to cloth wire until 1939, except for Majestic maybe; but in Canada, Rogers, Westinghouse, RCA, and G.E were using the stuff much earlier on, though not in power transformer leads thank God. I have a 1936-37 vintage Westinghouse that has that same crispy rubber as Bob's 39-30 and your 41-316, it was so bad that I didn't even dare to power it up on a variac. I want to fix that Westinghouse up though, for a 5 tube set it has one of the nicest cabinets you would ever see on a table set and for the weight you would think it had a ten tube chassis.
Strange enough I also have a 1939 Canadian Majestic (a Rogers product) that also has rubber wire but it's as flexable as the day it left the factory, but as typical the rubber shock mounts have turned to dust. The Canadian RCA and G.E sets seem to use a mix of rubber and cloth wire with more rubber then cloth by the late 30's. So as you can see we may have dodged a bullit when it comes to rubber in Canadian Philcos but we still have to deal with it in many other sets.
Regards
Arran
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