Mid-century portable 53-658
Posts: 5,170
Threads: 274
Joined: Nov 2012
City: Wilsonville
State, Province, Country: OR
One of the local antique dealers called me about this little guy. It looked to be in decent shape, had a battery still in it but hadn't leaked and was cheap enough. Hopefully the leather will clean up nicely. (it has the back to it as well, its just not in the pic)
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9izqnqj9hr365d....jpg?raw=1]
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/izi1fkhvtj65q1....jpg?raw=1]
Posts: 2,573
Threads: 337
Joined: Jun 2013
City: lawrenceville nj
hey bob
you can put that in storage with mine
[Image: http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag14...278154.jpg]
I used spray nine cleaner on mine come nice and clean try not to get red leather edges wet dye will come off
they sound pretty good get lot of stations
yo have battery that's a plus gut it and put nine volts in it 
great find
sam
Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift
mafiamen2
Posts: 7,301
Threads: 269
Joined: Dec 2009
City: Roslyn Pa
Looks like the mixer toob has a crack in it. Top looks awful white. Hope it's a 1R5 not that Z toob.
Good find.
Terry
Posts: 2,128
Threads: 18
Joined: Oct 2008
City: Merrick, Long Island, NY
Once fixed, very sensitive and highly directional aligned with antenna coil. You can stuff the battery compartment with cells or make a AC adapter.
Posts: 4,441
Threads: 419
Joined: Jun 2011
City: Boston
State, Province, Country: Massachusetts
Heck just use the AC line. Even though they are simple I like those dials, ships, CD, etc....Codefox is right on sometimes the early bar antennas are pretty good. If you can make it go like that Firestone you did you will have a neat lttle set.
Paul
Tubetalk1
Posts: 5,170
Threads: 274
Joined: Nov 2012
City: Wilsonville
State, Province, Country: OR
Should be fun, will post progress when I get to work on it.
Posts: 5,170
Threads: 274
Joined: Nov 2012
City: Wilsonville
State, Province, Country: OR
Terry, you're right, that tube does look bad but it is a 1R5.
Posts: 347
Threads: 34
Joined: May 2007
City: Raleigh, NC
Battery guts are pretty easy to make if you have the outside cardboard box and connector. Some people make their own connectors and print their own cardboard.
Can you read the Philco battery number? The battery looks small, but you can still probably fit enough 9 volt batteries in to make the high voltage section. I've also used AAA and AA cells in series to make the high voltage if there is enough room. Lifetime of 9 volt cells is not too bad, but if you have enough room to use AA alkalines in series for the high voltage, you get very long battery life--more than the original.
I've used AA, C, and D cells in series to make the filament supply section, depending on how much room I have.
John Honeycutt
Posts: 5,170
Threads: 274
Joined: Nov 2012
City: Wilsonville
State, Province, Country: OR
Yes, the Philco P-274 battery is still there so if I can separate the outer printed cardboard from the guts of the battery I can make the replacement. Its voltages are A+ @ 9v and B+ @ 90v.
The IR5 tube was indeed cracked and you could easily see the crack after taking the tube out. Good call Terry. The IU4 tube is also bad.
I moved the thread to the electronic restoration as I've started to take a look at the chassis. Here's the underside. You can see that one of the components has failed completely. I believe its C15 in the schematic based on its position in the circuit, although I've not come across a cap that looks like the one in the photo before. Looks more like a resistor or coil. Anyone seen a cap that looked like that, perhaps a later repair??
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8mbx2uyqj9q4pm....jpg?raw=1]
Close up of failed cap
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/obiw7qs8cnkc4j....jpg?raw=1]
Posts: 3,157
Threads: 59
Joined: Apr 2011
City: Lexington, KY
Bob,
That capacitor is a Sprague Bumble Bee, and although I don't usually see them split open like yours they are notorious for being bad. Funny thing, the audiphools love those things and pay big $$$ for them even though they are leakier than an old faucet.
John KK4ZLF
Lexington, KY
"illegitimis non carborundum"
Posts: 5,170
Threads: 274
Joined: Nov 2012
City: Wilsonville
State, Province, Country: OR
Thanks John!! Appreciate the info. This one is definitely kaput!
Posts: 2,573
Threads: 337
Joined: Jun 2013
City: lawrenceville nj
hey bob
battery is easy to make
make sure you clean battery / plug switch really good
tight space to replace caps but worth it
if you can`t find or make handle
http://www.brettunsvillage.com/trunks/ho...andles.htm
sam
Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift
mafiamen2
Posts: 2,128
Threads: 18
Joined: Oct 2008
City: Merrick, Long Island, NY
Replace all the caps, resistors too, you'll be surprised how much room there is. Respect layout and direction of parts. Nice set once you are done.
Posts: 5,170
Threads: 274
Joined: Nov 2012
City: Wilsonville
State, Province, Country: OR
Thx codefox! Yep, and the selenium rectifier also.
Posts: 5,170
Threads: 274
Joined: Nov 2012
City: Wilsonville
State, Province, Country: OR
Battery came apart with a little help from a utility knife blade, a few choice words at the appropriate moment and some Dos Equis
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/j1ldrqwvrcnvbz....jpg?raw=1][Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o8zs9i9jumsxp7....jpg?raw=1]
Users browsing this thread:
|
Recent Posts
|
Philco Battery-WWII vintage
|
My younger sister went to SUNY Plattsburg NY, (BS, MS, RN) in the late 1970sabout 10 min from the Northern NY / Canada b...MrFixr55 — 07:59 AM |
Philco Battery-WWII vintage
|
Hello Bob,
What Amazing find!
Sincerely Richardradiorich — 10:19 PM |
Testing a speaker and output transformer Trutone A2-G
|
Hi Murf,
Do this:
Monitor between ground and one plate of the rectifier while playing the radio. Do the same with ...MrFixr55 — 09:51 PM |
Philco Battery-WWII vintage
|
Mike;
I take it that Soviet cars did not come equipped with block heaters, hence the hot oil change? Where I lived in...Arran — 08:42 PM |
Philco 42-345 Restoration/Repair
|
The more the better. (Within reasonable limits.)
2-5 times more is no problem in this case.Vlad95 — 03:50 PM |
Philco 42-345 Restoration/Repair
|
Thanks, RodB and Vlad95,
I was mainly trying to figure out this capacitor to locate a replacement, Vlad thank you for...osanders0311 — 03:44 PM |
Testing a speaker and output transformer Trutone A2-G
|
Would an output transformer if weak, cause the problems I am seeing with lower B+ voltage?
murfmurf — 01:22 PM |
Testing a speaker and output transformer Trutone A2-G
|
Hello murf! I merged the threads. Please do not start new threads regarding the same radio. Take care, - GaryGarySP — 10:21 PM |
Philco 42-345 Restoration/Repair
|
Regarding picture 5 on page 1 of this thread this capacitor is #40 on scematics diagram - 4mF+4mF. Black wire is "-...Vlad95 — 09:01 PM |
Philco 42-345 Restoration/Repair
|
That's a dual 4 MFD, red and green are both 4mfd and black is common negative. You should be able to see them in the pow...RodB — 08:58 PM |
Who's Online
|
There are currently 310 online users. [Complete List] » 2 Member(s) | 308 Guest(s)
|
|
|

|