THE PHILCO RESTORER - walkingitaly · THE PHILCO RESTORER ca 1928 This Site is dedicated to the restoration of PHILCO Radio chassis and ... People who look at my radios have never

THE PHILCORESTORER

ca1928

This Site is dedicated to the restoration of PHILCO Radio chassis andcabinets from 1929 thru 1942. This site is for the newcomer (newbie) andnovice and not really the expert.Things covered in this web site are:Supplies and tools for the restoration of chassis and cabinets for thenewbie. Schematic's and Symbols: How to use them. PHILCO bakelitecapacitors; don't be afraid of them. PHILCO resistorsbefore R.M.A.. Soldering, PHILCO wiring and how to repair it.PHILCO paper capacitors and PHILCO Mica capacitors and what to dowith them. Tubes and how to read them. PHILCO vintage test equipment.Resources, where to buy the stuff. PHILCO model and part numbersexplained. How to refinish cabinets my way. PHILCO photo finishes in1937. PHILCO R.M.S. repair service.

Never to busy to help some one out

CLICK BELOW TO SEE WHAT I HAVE TO SAY

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MODEL, PART NUMBERS EXPLAINEDPAPER CAPACITORSPHILCO RESISTORSSOLDERINGPHILCO WIRINGMICA & SILVER MICA CAPACITORSELECTROLYTIC CAPCITORSREBUILDING PHILCO BAKELITE CAPACITORSPHILCO SERVICE BULLETIN NO. 289 - 1ST PAGEPHILCO SERVICE BULLETIN NO. 289 - 2ND PAGEOTHER PHILCO ITEMS OTHER THAN RADIOSSCHEMATICS & SYMBOLS, How to use them.HOW TO GET PHILCO INFORMATION


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MODEL , PARTS NUMBERS EXPLAINED

MODEL, PART NUMBERS EXPLAINED

Model, Parts Numbers ExplainedPHILCO marketed their first radio in 1928 with the model number of 511and used 2 and 3 digit numbers up until 1937, when they started usingsuffixes for cabinet styles. So if you had a 95 chassis, that could be in anyconsole cabinet with 65 being a 6 tube chassis, 76 being a 7 tube, 86 or 87being a 8 tube and a 95 being a 9 tube chassis. Like a 95 highboy or a 87highboy or even a 76 deluxe highboy. In 1937 they started using 37-9X or37-61B for example. The first 2 digits is the year, 37 for 1937 and 41 for1941 for example.PHILCO's part numbering system also has some numbers that appear tobe year model numbers, for example the 39-6347 is printed matter and36-5521 is speakers. So 27- is for bakelite parts, 28- metal parts, 30-fixed condensers, 31- variable condensers, 32- transformers, 33- resisters,34- tubes and bulbs, 35- phongraph parts, 36- speakers, 37- chassis, 38-sub-base, 39- printed matter, 40- accessorys, 41- motors, 42- switches, 43-major sub-body's, 44- speaker cloth, and 45- hardware.Mistakes useally happen when looking in a cabinet and you see 39-5587,that's the part number for the label, not for the radio model number.

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PAPER CAPACITORSFirst of all capacitors is a term that was not always used. The wordcondensers was used for a very long time and some place along the way itwas changed to capacitors. Most people call them "caps", so when youread that a radio has been "recaped", that means that the capacitors havebeen replaced.

The performance of the radio depends on the conditon of these "caps".Most often they will be badly deteriorated and they should ALL bereplaced and NOT JUST the easy one's to get at. They are cylinders filledwith wax on the ends with a wire lead coming out of both ends.Capacitors are found in all areas of the radio circuit for generalcoupling, decoupling and filtering. They are NON-POLARITY sensitiveand are usually clearly labeled with the value and voltage rating. Theyoften have a black band around one end. This end was connected to theless sensitive side of the circuit and for non-electrolytic ones it does NOTmake any difference which end you connect.

Damage to the caps is usually indicated by melting, bubbling or darkeningof the outer wax covering and loss of wax on one end. Sometimes theylook ok and test ok, but have electrical leakage and can act more like aresistor.It is hotly debated whether or not you should replace them all as puristsand collectors feel they should only be replaced if absolutely necessary. Paper-wax capacitors are VERY prone to failure and it is just a matter oftime before they fail, so I believe they should ALL be replaced. Since thework is under the chassis and not visible, it should have little impact onthe value. People who look at my radios have never asked me to take thechassis out.Before you expend a lot of effort trying to find the exact values, you comeas close as you can to the values. For example, a 0.05 cap you use a 0.047cap, for a 0.02 cap use a 0.022 cap and so on. The voltage I use is 630Volts on everything, that way you don't have to keep as many of them instock.

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PHILCO RESISTORS BEFORE RMA

PHILCO RESISTORS BEFORE RMA

The resistors used in the early PHILCO radios were color coded withPHILCO's own system and were of the "dog bone" type. Othermanufactures like Atwater Kent also used their own unique system forcolor coding. It was not until RMA (Radio Manufactures Association)established the 3 color system that became the resistor color coding oftoday.

Looking back, it did seem strange that PHILCO's engineers used someof the different shades of color instead of a different color. Twoshades of gray were used, Battleship Gray and Silver Gray; 2 shades ofyellow, Yellow and Golden Yellow. Other colors had fancy names likeJade Green, Auto Buff, Auto Broen and Belgian Blue.The following is a list of these colors:

BLACK 10.000 ohmsBLUE 13.000 ohmsAUTO BROWN + YELLOW 25.000 ohmsAUTO BUFF 25.000 ohmsBATTLE SHIP GRAY 500.000 ohmsSILVER GRAY 100.000 ohmsSILVER GRAY + YELLOW 100.000 ohmsGREEN 1 MegohmsJADE GREEN 70.000 ohmsORANGE 50.000 ohmsWHITE 250.000 ohmsGOLDEN YELLOW 5.000 ohms

(The colors used here are not exact)

All of these resistors appear to be 1 watt.I think it is best to replace all resistors with 1 watt, except when a 2 watt iscalled for in the schematic.



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SOLDERINGThis subject of Soldering and Philco Wiring is so important that Idecided to do it in two parts, the first half Soldering the second halfPhilco Wiring.

Replacing the capacitors and resistors could lead to a disaster if not donecorrectly. Be sure to work on recapping and replacing resistors a fewhours at a time. I know it’s fun but it’s very easy to make mistakes whenyou are tired. Even worse you’ll find yourself compromising quality, asyou are anxious to get it working. Be patient and work carefully. If youdon’t have the time to do it right this time, you’ll never have the time todo it again.

When you are done with the recapping and replacing of resistors, treatthe set as if there might be a short in it when you turn it on for the firsttime. Be ready to quickly disconnect the power.

I have four (4) sets of locking forceps like doctors use. The papercapacitors usually are much bigger than the new replacements and havelong leads. I clip the old capacitors up next to the body and clamp onepair of forceps to the old wire and do the same with the other old wirecapacitor end; that way if I am interrupted or stop for the day, I have notlost where the new capacitor goes. When I stop for the day I put the oldcapacitor on the bench in front of the set, this way I know what valuegoes where when I start up the next day. I had three (3) occasions whenI put the capacitor on the wrong terminal.

With the forceps, I put a ‘J’ hook in the old leads, a ‘J’ hook in the newcapacitor leads and crimp them together. Hold the iron to the terminalor wire and heat it up, then start to apply the solder to the terminal orwire, letting it melt the solder rather than the iron tip. Let the solderflow liberally around the joint. Be sure to keep the wires steady as thejoint cools and always inspect the connection for “dry” areas. Thesolder MUST bond well to both metals being joined and the joint shiny. A word about after the soldering is done. Take your forceps and pullthe joint to make SURE the job is done right. I had two (2) occasionswhere the radio did not work correctly and it took a long time to figureout that the bad soldering joint was the problem.

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PHILCO made a lot of run changes to redress the wiring. I very seldomcompletely remove the wires from the terminals. You can get yourself ina lot of trouble doing that. Don’t move the wiring around a lot orchange the direction and location of it.

Keep a notebook and pen by the work area to make notes. It’s easier tomake notes for reference than to remember what you did when tryingto figure out what is wrong!

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PHILCO WIRING

Now a word about that wonderful PHILCO Wiring used in sets from1939 to 1942 when production stopped for WWII. They tell me it wasrubber covered, but I really don’t know what it was. It was just awfulstuff! They tell me that the repair of PHILCO Wiring is not for theNOVICE, but if you take your time, you can do it. All of the “rubber”insulation breaks down over the years, dries out and flakes off. If youturn that 40-150 chassis you just got upside down, you will see a lot ofbare wiring and partially bare wires that will brake apart when touched. They even used it in their power transformers.Some people just put sleeving over the wiring without taking thetransformer off. They slide the sleeving up the wiring inside thetransformer covers.The problem with doing this is the wiring inside the transformer, underthe covers, is touching causing a short in the transformer. The only wayto do it right is to color code the wiring with paint dots and remove thetransformer. Remove the transformer covers and then put the sleevingon, running the sleeving right up to the paper insulation.

The rest of the wiring can either be replaced or re-sleeved. Do one at atime and try not to change the length or the route of the wiring. Useheat shrink sleeving. If your going to replace the wiring use 20 GaugeCloth Covered Stranded Wire, do NOT use solid wiring. If you put anick in solid wire and you bend it, it will break. I have seen it breakinside of something and you don’t know it broke. A real hard thing tofind!!


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MICA AND SILVER MICA CAPACITORSPHILCO Mica Capacitors are flat bakelite stamp sized square blocks orsmall “pez” sized pills or even small cylinders. They are found in thehigh frequency tuning and detecting stages of the circuit.

These caps are very durable and rarely need replacing unless they areway off value, damaged or open. If they need replacing it’s usuallybecause they are open. By NOT replacing them, you can reduce theamount of possible re-aligning required to get the set working well.

Mica Caps are usually measured in pF (Pico farads) and sometimesnanofarads, and not uf (microfarads).

As long as we are talking about Mica Caps, they are also used in thePHILCO Bakelite Block Capacitors. The block numbers they are usedin are :

8035-D8035-ODU8035-EU8035-OEU8035-DG8035-ODG8035-SG8035-DU8035-SU

8035-H8035-G8035-E8035-F8035-K8035-L8035-C8035-B8035-P

And are listed as 110 pF. Do NOT use 0.001 caps, use silver Mica100 pF caps like the small one at the top of this page


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ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS

They are commonly either large aluminum cylinders mounted to the topof the chassis or large cardboard cylinders under the chassis with severalcolored leads. Usually there are two (2) or more of them. They can be one(1) part, two (2) parts or sometimes three (3) parts. Each part can have adifferent voltage and value. These capacitors are used for power filtering.

They are VERY prone to failure and must ALWAYS be replaced. One ofthe golden rules in antique restoration is NEVER, EVER plug a radio inwithout checking the electrolytic capacitors, they may very well be shortedand can burn up the power transformer.

Electrolytic capacitors are usually the reason for a loud hum or buzzing,but are not always the problem. If you find one that is bulging or hasexploded, suspect that it is wired incorrectly. If they are mounted on topof the chassis and are the can type, check to see if they are mounted in acardboard cylinder or if there is a fiber washer between the can and thechassis. If there is a washer or cardboard cylinder, they are not groundedto the chassis.

Take a look at the blue and black capacitor at the top of the page. Noticethe arrow on the side of it. The arrow is pointing to the NEGATIVE endof the capacitor. If it has wires the NEGATIVE wire is black. Notice Idid not say ground!! It’s NEGATIVE. Electrolytic capacitors AREpolarity sensitive! You must have them wired positive to positive andnegative to negative. Now they MAY have negative to chassis ground,and they MAY not. If you don’t know which way they go, FIND out,DON’T guess. Check the schematic and if you can’t figure it out, asksomeone.As far as replacing the electrolytic capacitors, you have many options. Some top chassis aluminum cylinders are available but are veryexpensive and hard to find. Usually it is much easier to just install axiallead caps under the chassis. There is usually lots of room after the papercaps have been replaced. It is best to avoid using the original canterminals for connecting the new caps. Disconnect the wires from the oldcans and leave it mounted to the chassis for appearances sake. Theelectrolytic sections could short and render your restoration useless.

Remember to use new caps with a voltage rating equal or greater to theoriginal voltage. When in doubt use quality units of 350V or 450V.

Below are some examples:

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39-25 PHILCO schematic lists 2 of 16 mfd 250V USE 2- 22mfd 450V

38-12 PHILCO schematiclists

1 of 8 mfd 400V USE 1- 10mfd 450V

1 of 4 mfd 250V USE 1- 10mfd 450V

1 of 12 mfd 400V USE 1- 22mfd 450V 60 PHILCO schematic lists 2 of 8 mfd 250V USE 2- 10mfd 450V

37-620 PHILCO schematic lists

1 of 8 mfd 250V USE 1- 10mfd 450V

1 of 12 mfd 400V USE 1- 22mfd 450V

1 of 16 mfd 400V USE 1- 22mfd 450V40-180 PHILCO schematic lists 1 of 12 mfd 400V USE 1- 22mfd 450V

1 of 16 mfd 400V USE 1- 22mfd 450V

A power supply filter can be replaced with one as much as 50% over thevalue, but keep in mind much higher could result in increasedtransformer and rectifier surge current when powering the set up


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PHILCO BAKELITECAPACITORS:

REBUILDING THEM

Philco started using the new Bakelite Capacitors in June of 1930 intheir models 30, 41, 77, and 96. These were phased out in the late1930’s and were replaced by paper capacitors. But the bakeliteblocks were used in the AC line filters as late as 1948.

The blocks consist of a bakelite shell with capacitors wired toappropriate terminals and sealed with a “tar” or “pitch” mixture anda single self-taping metal screw, that sometimes also serves as achassis ground. Terminals riveted to the top of the shell provideconnections for the capacitors inside the shell. Often extra terminalswere added to serve as tie points for wiring.

The PHILCO Part Number is Hot stamped on the side of the shelland the very late one’s have a yellow painted part number imprintedon the side. The letter ”O” in the part number means that it wasfilled with a high temperature wax, and letter “G” means the blockis grounded to the chassis, and the letter “U” means that it isungrounded.

A paper-dielectric capacitor that is inside of the shell is shown atthe top of this page.

Now a word to the wise that MOST other site’s don't tell you. SOME of the bakelite blocks have resistors in the blocksconsisting of a hank of insulated wire folded in a figure eight (8)inside a very small envelope, and 110 and 250 pF pa per capacitors. DO NOT use 0.001 caps, instead use 100 or 250 pF m ica capacitorsand the suitable resistor. Most of these blocks st art with 8035-something.

The VERY FIRST thing to do when rebuilding the blocks is to colorcode the wiring with a dab of paint on a touch up-brush and makea drawing of the block and what wire goes to what terminal. Thenjust cut the wire as close to the terminal as possible and remove theblock from the chassis.

I have a small vise shown at the top of the page that I clamp theblock into and a small pocket screwdriver to dig the “tar” out inchunks. If it will not come out I use a hair dryer to heat the blockup. Be careful the block doesn’t break. Use a small pair of wirecutters and cut out the wiring of the block inside. Then I have ajar half filled with lacquer thinner to put the block in to shake

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vigorously, washing out all of the “tar”. Re-clamp it back in thevise and clean the solder off the terminals and the wiring out of theeyelets. Take a drill and drill out the eyelet holes. Put thecapacitors and resistors in and the wire though the eyelet andre-solder it and snip off the excess wiring.

I refill the blocks with a caulking gun and a tube of “DAP”Blacktop Driveway Sealer. DO NOT use silicone sealer. Put itinto the freezer for about 15 minutes and reinstall in the chassis.

Use the next two (2) pages as a guide for the capac itorsand resistors.

For information onMetal Case Capacitors

For information onTone ControlCapacitors

For information on Multi-section CaseCapacitors andElectrolytic Capacitors (Big Black Box’s)


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PHILCO SERVICE BULLETIN NO. 289 1st PageHow to use this bulletin:Read the number on the side of the bakelite shell.Look at the “discontinued bakelite condensers” onthis page, and see if the number was replaced. Mos t have been!!Look up the number in the listing, most will be on the2nd page. Wire and use the value as the bulletin s tates.

Be careful of the one’s that use 100 and 250pF andResistors.

This bulletin does not list 29 bakelitecapacitors:15 have no information and 14 are not listedbut I have the information, just E/Mail me.The 15 with no information are:

The 14 that I have the informationare:3615-BS 7442-OSU 8318-F3615-BU 7653-SU 8320-SU3615-BW 7762-SG 8325-DU4989-AL 8035-P 8326-SG4989-AM 8174-SU

The 15 with no informationare:

3615-BY 3793-AK 4989-AS3793-AF 3793-AL 4989-AT3793-AG 3793-AM 4989-AU3793-AH 4989-AN 4989-AW3793-AJ 4989-AP 4989-AY

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PHILCO SERVICE BULLETIN NO.289 2nd PAGE

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MY PHILCO STUFF OTHER THAN RADIO'S

RADIO REPAIRMANSRMS CERTIFICATE

ca.19358 + 10 Window card

for radio shopca.1935

Full page Newspaper ad, sent to its dealers from PHILCO, Philadelphiain 1929

ca.1929 ELECTRICCLOCK

ca.1935

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ca.1935WALLET SIZE BUSNIESS CARD

DEALER WALL PLATE ca.1952

ca.1928LIFE BEFORE PHILCO RADIO

Sign hanging in my shop

From December , 1935 PHILCO SERVICEMAN


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SCHEMATICS and SYMBOLS : How to use them.Schematics are like a road map for radios. Can you imagine drivingacross the U.S.A. without a road map? People who have years ofexperience with working on radios may be able to work on themwithout one, but not for long. When driving you need to know theroad signs and I am going to give you some of them for radios.

There are hundreds of thousands of schematics, and there are 3major sources for them. Rider started in about 1930, Sam’s Foldersstarted in about 1948, and the third source was the manufacture'sschematic of the radio. Rider and the manufacture is your best bet. Rider’s first one is Roman Number I the second is II and so on. Ihave from Numbers I to Numbers XIV. I purchased all I needed from1929 to 1942 for the old Philco’s. Rider’s Roman Number I can getvery expensive, but worth it.

Now you can also get Rider on CD’s but they are also veryexpensive. I use only the books. Can you imagine carrying thecomputer out to the workbench every time you need something ortaking the chassis inside too use the computer. Only kidding! I justprefer taking the pages out of the books to carry around rather thanprinting from the CD’s.

If you are using Rider, you also are going to need an index forthem. Rider is almost worthless without an index. The index list isby the manufacture and model, NOT by the year. This means if youhave a Philco Model 95, it says 1-23, which means volume I, page23 in the Philco section. If you had a Philco Model 37-610, it says7-45, that means volume VII, page 45 in the Philco section. If youhad a Philco 39-40, it says 10-19 that means volume X, page 19 inthe Philco section, and so on.

The following chart shows SOMEof the symbols used in schematics.

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HOW to get PHILCOINFORMATION

PHILCO SERVICE BULLETINS:This and 2 more ways was how Philco got Schematics and ServiceInformation to its RMS members.The service bulletins were schematics for each model radio. Sometimes they had other information. For example bulletin#289 was for Bakelite Capacitors. Rider used these for theirmanuals, but PHILCO was a pretty good company and when theyhad a problem they tried to rectify the problem right away so theremay be more than 1 bulletin for a radio. For example Model 60,the first bulletin was number 164 the second bulletin was number164A. Rider did not always publish the second bulletin.

PHILCO CHANGES IN MODELS:This was another way Philco let its members know that they hadchanged something in their production. They sometimes changedtheir production runs as many as 5 times, so you may have onechange in run 2 and another in run 3 and run 4 may have changedit back to run 2, as in Model 60.

PHILCO SERVICEMAN:This was published by PHILCO as a little newspaper, witheditorials and discussions about the changes they had made inproduction and any new products. Sometimes there werediscussions on why they did things one way and not another suchas in their September 1935 article on why they did not use metaltubes.

All this seems confusing to present day restoration people, but thiswas no problem for Philco Repairmen who belonged to RMS. They just used the Philco schematic and checked the PHILCOCHANGES IN MODELS for any changes in the set.

Not all schematics were written the same. PHILCO’S ownschematics were written the same, while others were NOT. YOUMUST be careful, for example resister ohms, one may say 500,000ohms and one may say .5 Meg. They both mean the same. If you

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don’t understand ASK someone.Below is an article written in September 1935, and copied from aPHILCO SERVICEMAN.

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Documents

THE PHILCO RESTORER - walkingitaly · THE PHILCO RESTORER ca 1928 This Site is dedicated to the restoration of PHILCO Radio chassis and ... People who look at my radios have never