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Tube radios

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bettablue

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Feb 21, 2011
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Location
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I remember, back in the late 1970's to early 80's, I had an old Philco tube radio. I loved that thing, and kept it in my work room where I would turn it on for background noise, and to listen to some tunes and general news. That radio, like most tube audio systems sounded great, especially compared to a transistor radio with the same basic size, and speaker. Like most tube amplifiers, compared to more modern transistor, which often sounded cheap and tinny, the Philco sounded rich, and seemed to have a much more pleasing sound. Not only did the old radio give off a "presence" with its sound quality, but the Bakelite cabinet gave the radio a real sense of quality; a quality that you just don't see now days! 8-)

Why bring that up here? Well, I was going through some old boxes at my folks home not long ago, I came across the Philco. Sadly, somewhere between then and now, the radio became nonfunctional. :(

I was able to find some replacement tubes, and broke out my old Simpson Multimeter to start diagnosing the problem. I found a few loose connections, and there were a couple of wire splices that needed replacing, but overall, nothing was obviously "wrong". The fuses I bought were tested in another radio at a vintage electronics repair shop where they offer free tube testing. I had all 5 of the tubes tested before I bought them, so I know they're OK. I also tested the power supply's capacitor and coil, and the speaker. Unfortunately, none of my testing provided any answers, and the lady is still DOA.

Here's where I am right now. The tube heats up and gives off a very low but pleasant glow. Somewhere along the way, I must have done something right because the light behind the faceplate suddenly began working when I turned the radio on after my testing. The funny thing is that the light never worked before! Still though, nothing comes out of the speaker.

I can't bring myself to let the old lady go to the recycler, or worse yet, the trash! Oh, Hell No!!! The shop where I bought the fuses offered to buy my old Philco and even refund the money I paid for the fuses, so I know there's something with the old lady that's worth some money. But I'm not looking for the money (as much as I could use it.) I want my old friend to sound-off once more. I want to feel the knob "Click" as I turn on the power

Waiting 20 to 30 seconds as it warms the tubes in preparation for the days' work was the norm back when I had the radio in my work area as a young man. Sort of the same thing as I boot up my trusty 5150... (sighs) Oh the memories of an older man.

Until I find an exact replacement to put in my hobby/work room, I'll keep her around and try a few more tricks. So, does anyone have any ideas as to where to look next in my diagnostics? :confused2:

If I can't fix the old girl, I guess I'm in the market for another Philco tube radio. Who knows, I may even find one on E-Bay... :rastarolleye:
 
Chuck(G) said:
What kind of Philco? What age? Right now, it sounds as if you're not getting any B+ to the tubes.
Click to expand...

This is an old, very old Philco. Just out of spite, I looked up Philco Bakelite and found a photo at http://www.radio-restoration.com/Philco.html. According to the site, my old girl was manufactured in 1953 to 1954. "The Philco 501 Broadcast only receiver. This 5 valve model was made in 1953/54. The model 521 looked exactly the same, but was a Dual Wave job. The bottom right control is a local-distance switch. It become the band change control on the Dual Wave model."

Based on this, it appears that I have the original 501.

I've always had a "thing" for vintage electronics. Perhaps that's another reason, I was drawn so deeply into vintage computing so easily. If I had my way though, I would ultimately love to get one of those console radios in a Bakelite cabinet. There is just something about the Bakelite that makes the radios and TV's of the time seem so much more "There" if you know what I mean. The only problem with getting a console; well two thins actually, is the price, and having the space to put it, where it wouldn't be blocked by my other stuff. I guess that's why I liked my old tabletop radio. It had the quality, and it could be placed virtually anywhere.
 

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Was there a reason you bought new tubes? Tubes usually are not the problem, and it's possible you put in a dead one.

Do you hear any noise from the speaker? No hum or hiss or "static"?

You can fix it. Fixing it will be easier than buying one and fixing that, which is what usually happens.

Get the model number, and you can get a schematic.
 
Ah, so not the big floor models from the 30's. I'm guessing that this is an AC/DC "All American" box with 5 octal tubes, such as 35Z5, 50L6,... and no power transformer?
 
It may be an All American Five. In any case, it should be very simple.

If it has (had) a Selenium Rectifier, that may be your problem.
 
At least it's not a TransOceanic. I had a G500 and an H500. What a pain to work on! The alignment procedure took days, it seemed. The 1L6 made it even more of a pain, but thankfully, the H500 had a good one. I stuck with restoring a Hallicrafters S-38D after that. I haven't played with tubes in a while, other than listening to my Dynakit ST-70 daily.
 
Chuck(G) said:
...usually made obvious by the smell. :)
Click to expand...

Everyone says it smells like garlic. I like garlic. The only time I've been around burning selenium, I sure didn't like it at all. I don't know if there's a way to describe it, but I sure don't want to ever have to smell it again! For whatever reason, all my selenium rectifiers still work, for now anyway...
 
KC9UDX said:
Everyone says it smells like garlic. I like garlic. The only time I've been around burning selenium, I sure didn't like it at all. I don't know if there's a way to describe it, but I sure don't want to ever have to smell it again! For whatever reason, all my selenium rectifiers still work, for now anyway...
Click to expand...

I always heard they smelt like rotten eggs, but I've not been unfortunate enough to smell a bad one. I've removed many from radios, but they've never been cooked.
 
Chuck(G) said:
...usually made obvious by the smell. :)
Click to expand...

I don't smell anything like garlic, but that doesn't really mean anything. It's been 30 years since I last listened to this little beauty.

One other thing to note: The place where I bought the tubes, SEEMED like a nice guy. A little too nice if you know what I mean. His offer to refund what I paid for the fuses, seemed too much like a computer shop I went into when I first got into vintage computing. There, the guy behind the counter told me that my 5150 was basically little more than junk, but he would "gladly" pay me to take off my hands! Yeah, right.

Now that I think about it, the guy at the vintage electronics shop seemed to be just about as oily. Still, I only paid $20.00 for the fuses. So, I didn't get totally burned.

To answer some other questions, no there is absolutely no sound coming from the speaker, but when I tested it for continuity with my volt-ohm meter, I got a satisfying little "pop", which let me know the speaker is OK. I checked the tuner, which seemed to be OK as well. But without really knowing what I'm looking for, I'll wait for the schematics I ordered. Perhaps I'll learn something from them.

While I'm thinking about it though, I will start to watch for another tabletop tube radio from Philco, Sylvania, or some other brand. Either way, I'm going to get something. And if/when I fix my old girl, then I'll have one to keep in my den.
 
I can't say that hydrogen selenide smells like either garlic or rotten eggs. Maybe a cross--but I know the smell when I encounter it. WikiP qualifies the smell as resembling decaying horseradish.
 
I have a portable computer which smells like rat pee when it's running.
I love it none-the-less.

I still don't have any tube based tech around, but do think it's pretty epic stuff.
 
First off, the radio is probably not a Philco 501. That's a New Zealand market model, and I don't recall Las Vegas being anywhere near NZ...

Philco made a zillion different models in the late '40s/early '50s, including quite a few that looked pretty similar. Even if it's missing the tag on the back, there should at least be a number on the chassis somewhere to go by.

Secondly, any tube radio you buy is likely to have a similar sort of problem. You simply don't try to use a tube radio these days without doing an electrical restoration on it. The general rule among radio collectors is to never even plug the things in without going through them.

The problem is mainly capacitors. The old electrolytic filter caps have gone bad, and most/all the little paper/oil caps have also gone bad. I can tell you that much without even knowing what sort of radio it is. If it's a standard 'All American 5' sort of radio, it'll cost about $10-15 in parts to fix it. There's only a dozen or so caps in those things. I can do one in 45 minutes to an hour if I have the parts on hand, and you can probably do the same if you're reasonably handy with a soldering iron. They're pretty easy to work on.

It's possible there's a selenium rectifier, but it's more likely to use a tube rectifier... the standard one for smaller transformerless sets was a 35W4, which is generally trouble free. If it does have a selenium one, though, you should definitely replace it. A 1N4007 plus a dropping resistor in series (generally around 120-150 ohm 5W) will do the trick.
 
SpidersWeb said:
I have a portable computer which smells like rat pee when it's running.
I love it none-the-less.
Click to expand...
As a child, my first XT was purchased used from the back office of our PC dealer. They were chain smokers.
My XT smelled a mix of cigar and cigarettes. Not like an ashtray.. for some reason it smelled pleasant.
I may have just been mesmerized by the whirling of the hard drive and memory counting to 640K.. all that plus the smell made my experience welcoming.
That is all.
I love tube stuff and have one piece i'll dig-out this spring.
 
SpidersWeb said:
I have a portable computer which smells like rat pee when it's running.
Click to expand...
I have absolutely no idea what rat pee might smell like as I've never stuck my nose that close to a rat's ass. Would you care to clue me in so I won't have to approach one of those critters to make a determination?
 
Stone said:
I have absolutely no idea what rat pee might smell like as I've never stuck my nose that close to a rat's ass. Would you care to clue me in so I won't have to approach one of those critters to make a determination?
Click to expand...
lol

The odour was just something I associated with dirty pet rat cages or old abandoned garages (which I suspect this came from) where rats were present.

But point is, it smells nasty, I just open a window and enjoy the machines slightly-better features :S
 
I still have and use a Zenith AM/FM valve radio. It still has the original tubes but had the selenium rectifier replaced. It has a nice warm sound but the enclosure rattles when mildly driven.
 
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