This radio belonged to my brother in law. I bought it at his estate sale in hopes that it could be fixed. He repaired an old RCA I had during WW2 and now my son listening to the baseball games on it. Thanks.
Thank you sir! It was my pleasure to fix your RCA 56X3 for him and am really enjoying working on this Philco. I appreciate getting the opportunity and thank you for thinking of me when you got it. I still have a lot to do on it, but my wife has me doing some overdue chores. Thanks again for the kind note!
Thanks for the video!. I have one of these also but it is the "Baby Grand Console" version. When I was a teen in the 60s, I saw a bunch of stuff sitting on a customer's front porch. I knocked on the door (they were early risers) and asked about it. He told me he was giving that stuff to the Good Will and I was welcome to take it. He was the original owner. Anyway, it is still in very good condition and I turn it on and play it occasionally. It has NOT been restored, but still works fine. I use variac and ammeter to monitor it when I do this.
Hello Robert and thanks for the comment. That is a great story, and from the original owner! Glad you are taking such good care of it. Post a video of it sometime! Thanks again.
The name of your channel always makes me wonder if the repairing works are done or not 😂 Indeed, what does it mean - practically fixed? In my language it can describe a situation, when you've disassembled a radio, made the electrical part work, and that's it. So the radio is on the table, and the owner comes in and asks you - hey, is my radio ready? You say - oh yeah, it's practically fixed. The owner asks you - alright, I take it then. You - no, you can't. He - but you just said, it's fixed 😮😂😂😂
Ha. You got it! That was intended as a joke. Also, not throwing money at the problem if I can figure out how to fix what is there or using other parts and pieces. I spend some time troubleshooting to make it interesting for me and hopefully others. There will be more coming on this project (but the holidays here are busy with family). Thanks for watching and for the comment! Happy New Year.
Hi, I have a few Philcos I have restored that called for a fiber wrench but I used a metal socket covered with tape as there was 150 volts on the compensators. Now I know how to make my own thanks to your idea. I have a Philco 89 that had a coil problem but started out looking like silver mica disease (popping and crackling). Turned out a bad spot on outer coil like yours. I was not able to save mine as there were several green spots. So I removed the wire and that plastic spacer and found green spots underneath. So I rewound both coils. Radio worked great after that (whew!). Turns out that plastic spacer turns acidic and that it what is doing the damage. I have a wire in my shop that is connected to a ground rod driven in the ground outside of my house. Hooking that to the chassis or ground terminal of the radio antenna just about eliminates the electronic noise. Keep up the good work.
Hi and thanks for the comment and suggestions. That is interesting about the plastic spacer, and the cardboard tube may also be a source of acidity. I plan on restarting the work on this unit soon - the last few months were very busy here. Thank you again.
Thanks for the Video.....I have a 1930's Grebe AH-1 TRF.....works good enough, could be a touch clearer, but just didn't want to touch it... Nice Job on the repair of the coil....super fine wires!!.....
Really enjoyed your videos on this set , found your channel by accident, i have a 30s philco waiting to be worked on, Vintage American sets are not so common here in the UK, thats a beautiful set
Hi Jim. Thanks, looking back on it, it was fun using the needle to find the break. I think when I get an antenna wire not running past fluorescent lights and away from other noise makers in the shop it will perform pretty well. Got more work to do on it though. Thanks for the watching.
Hey PF, nice sleuthing on that coil wire break. Amazing what one can see with the magic of magnification. Have to agree about tubes. Always been my motto that a good tech should not need a tube or transistor tester. Good job so far. :)
Hi Doug. Of course sometimes a tube's filament is gone in a AA5 so it needs to be changed, but yes even extremely weak tubes work well enough many times to get through the rest of the fix. Amazing this one was able to get a very weak signal through in spite of an open coil and extremely weak tubes. Thanks
Have a working one I eliminated the original speaker w pm modern replaced the coil w resistor works well have the later s het as well both cathedrals and a parts chassis non working also have a baby clock w 4tube tombstone
LOL thanks for noticing. Had to take a bit of a break for other things needing to be done. Restarted work on this project earlier this week an am currently redoing the wires on the transformer. Should be a few more days before I post a new part. Thanks again.
I have a feeling inductor failure will be the biggest headache for the hobby a few decades out from now. Philcos are notorious for open coils but, I have seen enough in other brands particularly in sets stored poorly in unheated, high humidity barns/garages for years. Could be the canary in the coal mine. Hope not.
That coil will fail at some point as the insulating material (acetate) will eventually corrode the coil in another section. This coil, and the other 2 such coils in this radio, needs to be rewound.
Are the power transformer, choke, field coil, audio transformers and voice coil windings at the time also coated in acetate? Or was it only the RF coils? Thanks
Just the RF coils. Though early XFMRs were potted in tar which contained high levels of sulfer, so those can also corrode. This is mainly in Atwater Kent radios.@@PracticallyFixed
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This radio belonged to my brother in law. I bought it at his estate sale in hopes that it could be fixed. He repaired an old RCA I had during WW2 and now my son listening to the baseball games on it. Thanks.
Thank you sir! It was my pleasure to fix your RCA 56X3 for him and am really enjoying working on this Philco. I appreciate getting the opportunity and thank you for thinking of me when you got it. I still have a lot to do on it, but my wife has me doing some overdue chores. Thanks again for the kind note!
Thanks for the video!. I have one of these also but it is the "Baby Grand Console" version. When I was a teen in the 60s, I saw a bunch of stuff sitting on a customer's front porch. I knocked on the door (they were early risers) and asked about it. He told me he was giving that stuff to the Good Will and I was welcome to take it. He was the original owner. Anyway, it is still in very good condition and I turn it on and play it occasionally. It has NOT been restored, but still works fine. I use variac and ammeter to monitor it when I do this.
Hello Robert and thanks for the comment. That is a great story, and from the original owner! Glad you are taking such good care of it. Post a video of it sometime! Thanks again.
The name of your channel always makes me wonder if the repairing works are done or not 😂 Indeed, what does it mean - practically fixed? In my language it can describe a situation, when you've disassembled a radio, made the electrical part work, and that's it. So the radio is on the table, and the owner comes in and asks you - hey, is my radio ready? You say - oh yeah, it's practically fixed. The owner asks you - alright, I take it then. You - no, you can't. He - but you just said, it's fixed 😮😂😂😂
Ha. You got it! That was intended as a joke. Also, not throwing money at the problem if I can figure out how to fix what is there or using other parts and pieces. I spend some time troubleshooting to make it interesting for me and hopefully others. There will be more coming on this project (but the holidays here are busy with family). Thanks for watching and for the comment! Happy New Year.
Hi, I have a few Philcos I have restored that called for a fiber wrench but I used a metal socket covered with tape as there was 150 volts on the compensators. Now I know how to make my own thanks to your idea. I have a Philco 89 that had a coil problem but started out looking like silver mica disease (popping and crackling). Turned out a bad spot on outer coil like yours. I was not able to save mine as there were several green spots. So I removed the wire and that plastic spacer and found green spots underneath. So I rewound both coils. Radio worked great after that (whew!). Turns out that plastic spacer turns acidic and that it what is doing the damage. I have a wire in my shop that is connected to a ground rod driven in the ground outside of my house. Hooking that to the chassis or ground terminal of the radio antenna just about eliminates the electronic noise. Keep up the good work.
Hi and thanks for the comment and suggestions. That is interesting about the plastic spacer, and the cardboard tube may also be a source of acidity. I plan on restarting the work on this unit soon - the last few months were very busy here. Thank you again.
Great work, and thanks for explaining everything as you go.
Thank you.
Thanks for the Video.....I have a 1930's Grebe AH-1 TRF.....works good enough, could be a touch clearer, but just didn't want to touch it... Nice Job on the repair of the coil....super fine wires!!.....
They are tiny indeed. Thanks again.
Impressive job so far PF. Tough to do repairs with old eyes like on that coil.
Thanks Steve. Eye, knees, etc.; getting older is the pits, but as my late Dad used to say, it beats the alternative. Thanks again.
Really enjoyed your videos on this set , found your channel by accident, i have a 30s philco waiting to be worked on, Vintage American sets are not so common here in the UK, thats a beautiful set
Thanks for dropping by. Good luck with the Philco. I need to finish that radio up...
Great repair on that coil. The TRF works really well picking up stations. It doesn't have AVC either.
Hi Jim. Thanks, looking back on it, it was fun using the needle to find the break. I think when I get an antenna wire not running past fluorescent lights and away from other noise makers in the shop it will perform pretty well. Got more work to do on it though. Thanks for the watching.
Amazing !
Please more videos
Thank you.
Hey PF, nice sleuthing on that coil wire break. Amazing what one can see with the magic of magnification. Have to agree about tubes. Always been my motto that a good tech should not need a tube or transistor tester. Good job so far. :)
Hi Doug. Of course sometimes a tube's filament is gone in a AA5 so it needs to be changed, but yes even extremely weak tubes work well enough many times to get through the rest of the fix. Amazing this one was able to get a very weak signal through in spite of an open coil and extremely weak tubes. Thanks
Have a working one I eliminated the original speaker w pm modern replaced the coil w resistor works well have the later s het as well both cathedrals and a parts chassis non working also have a baby clock w 4tube tombstone
Where’d you go?
LOL thanks for noticing. Had to take a bit of a break for other things needing to be done. Restarted work on this project earlier this week an am currently redoing the wires on the transformer. Should be a few more days before I post a new part. Thanks again.
You have a lot of patience
Have had to learn to "just breathe" sometimes. Ha Thanks
I have a feeling inductor failure will be the biggest headache for the hobby a few decades out from now. Philcos are notorious for open coils but, I have seen enough in other brands particularly in sets stored poorly in unheated, high humidity barns/garages for years. Could be the canary in the coal mine. Hope not.
You may be right. Thanks
That coil will fail at some point as the insulating material (acetate) will eventually corrode the coil in another section. This coil, and the other 2 such coils in this radio, needs to be rewound.
Are the power transformer, choke, field coil, audio transformers and voice coil windings at the time also coated in acetate? Or was it only the RF coils? Thanks
Just the RF coils. Though early XFMRs were potted in tar which contained high levels of sulfer, so those can also corrode. This is mainly in Atwater Kent radios.@@PracticallyFixed
The last comment probably doesn't make sense. I was delivering newspapers early in the morning...😁
Ah now I understand! Thanks
unfortunately nothing but nasty talk radio on A.M. these days
Not enough music. I enjoy the games during baseball season though. Very nostalgic for me.