[philco4me]

I have finished my recap on my 46-1209 the record player plays strong and all seems fine but the radio won't work. I don't have the signal generator so is there a simple way to check why the radio won't play ? I have triple checked all connections

[Marsupial]

Are you still using the original tube? Maybe you have a bad one.

Have you tried all bands and all frequencies? Maybe you just got unlucky on what you tried.

Do you have an antenna? With no antenna you won't get anything.

Otherwise, it could be a misconnected capacitor. This can happen. If you have the philco documentation there is a lot that can be done troubleshooting wise. I don't have 1209, but the 1227 and 1230 have stage-by-stage test points to suggest you. at least half of it can be done with an MP3 player instead of a "audio sound signal". I know its not perfect, but worked for me on my 1230 before I got a cheap signal generator.

[codefox1]

You can find more information from http://www.nostalgiaair.org/
Go to resources, Philco Radio & Television Corp, then look up your model. As stated similar sets that do have voltage charts should give you some good information on what to expect at each stage.

[Chuck Schwark]

And, ahemm, clean photocopies of the original Philco Service Bulletin for your set can be obtained thru the Schematic Info Page on my website. See my signature below...

Chuck

[philco4me]

Yes chuck I got them from you they were very helpfully. I used my iPod in the test jack in the back and It does play strong. There is a slight hum I'm the unit and if u wiggle the first 6v6 it gets quiter. All the e-caps were replaced.

[philco4me]

On the subject of tubes where do most of you get them eBay ?. Is there anywhere I can get my tubes tested ?

[codefox1]

Well, if wiggling tubes changes things, the sockets and/or pins need cheaning and retentioning which has been much discussed. If you replaced the electrolytics, good, you should/must replace all the wax capacitors and out of tolerence resistors as well. If there is a radio hobbiest club or oldtimer like me in your vicinity, you can get tubes tested, however mostly if they light up, and do not drag down the B+ there is a good expectation they are still working.

[philco4me]

Yes all the wax caps were replaced. Dave from just radios was a big help

[Eric T]

If you have a multimeter/VOM, you can at least check the filament on each tube for continuity. Even the most basic (read cheapest) meter will do for this check.

You can get the data sheet for each tube here: http://www.scottbecker.net/tube/index.html This will show you which pins to test.

Just pull each tube and see what the resistance is from filament pin to filament pin. I think that more than a couple ohms would indicate a problem. More than likely they'll just show open or infinity if the filament is bad.

Mind you, even with a good filament the tube may be garbage, but a tube with a bad heater filament is dead.