These updates were copied from my blog, there could be updates there which are more recent.

2011/01/10

After installing the new rectifier tube, Audin and I powered it up annnnnnnnnnnnnd... no audio. Hum, but no audio. Shit.

After some more poking, prodding and investigation Audin discovered we had inadvertently installed a 400k ohm resistor where a 400 ohm belonged, blocking the incoming radio signal!

Now we have radio, but no volume control. This turned out to be a misconnected wire, and oddly we shouldn't have had any audio at all, but apparently in that configuration it was bleeding over from somewhere and coming out the speaker, with some hum.

Now it is fully repaired, reassembled and working nicely next to my chair awaiting a trip back to Olympia to return it to my father.

2010/12/27

I did a little, and Audin did a lot, but the Philco is nearly rebuilt.

We hope. We powered it up after getting all the new caps and some resistors installed. The radio has been previously repaired more than once, and it shows. Some parts are just wrong, some have been relocated.

Then we wondered why it still wasn't working, one tube which previously tested good wouldn't warm up! Turns out, WRONG TUBE. So the pins were different and it wasn't hooked up at all. D'oh.

I've ordered the replacement, hopefully it'll be here soon and we can listen to some fine AM tunes.

2010/12/19

Gave the Philco's cabinet a little cleaning today. It certainly shows its age, but I think that is just fine. Much dirt, webs and goo were removed. Now it only awaits the arrival of the new capacitors and resistors so its guts can be repaired and reinstalled.

2010/12/12

Second Update

In case anyone's curious, the following is the list of parts I ordered for Dad's Philco 37-620CS (Chairside) radio today.

Philco RF Chassis Isolation/Support Grommets (3)
Philco Wave Switch Lever
Philco Repro Dial; 37-611, 37-620, 37-621
.0082 uF at 630V Orange Dip
.006 uF at 630V Tubular Axial Film Cap
.015 uF @ 630V Tubular Axial Film Cap
.03 uF at 630V Tubular Axial Film Cap
8 uF at 450 Volts Axial E-Cap
12 uF at 450 Volts Axial E-Cap
16 uF at 500 VOLTS AXIAL E-CAP
.015 uF at 250 Volts AC Y2 FILM Safety Cap
.05 uF at 1000 VOLT Tubular Axial Film Cap
.1 uF at 1000 VOLT Tubular Axial Film Cap
390 ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
1.0K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
10K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
20K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
30K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
33K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
50K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
56K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
68K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
75K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
470K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
500K ohm 1W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
1.0M ohm 1W Carbon Film (pkg of 5)
8.2 ohm 2W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
10K ohm 2W Metal Oxide (pkg of 5)
400 ohm 5W Power Resistor

A good deal of those resistors will be unneeded, they fail much less often than the capacitors in old radios, and are also hard to get matches for the stated resistance of the old parts. So I have some which are close and so I bought the closest above and below, as old part tolerances were not as good as modern parts, so likely one of them is good enough anyway. Also I probably won't need them. They're cheap, though, so now I'll have a big box of resistors! Which I'll... not know what to do with.

First Update

Audin and I cleaned and disassmbled the Philco 37-620 some more today, checked my parts list and I have ordered a new dial, a missing knob, some interior grommets, and all the capacitors and resistors the little radio could ever desire. Hopefully they will soon arrive.

Audin is playing with his tube tester, hopefully all the tubes are good. But I just heard some grumbling that one may be bad. Booooo. Hopefully I can get this all repaired and nicely functional, Dad would probably be a little excited by that.

Update: Assuming the tester works and is being used correctly, all the tubes for the radio work fine! Pow!

2010/12/08

My dad has an old chairside Philco cabinet radio, which no longer works. He was wondering if it could be made to work again, so I've taken it home and my housemate Audin will be helping me to repair it.

We've already disassembled it, and I have located a schematic online. For those curious, the model is Philco 37-620. It is missing one knob, and the light inside of it, but that should be easy to fix. This won't be a full restoration, just some cleanup and repair to get it functional again.

I've already located a source of replacement capacitors, which are usually what is broken in old radios, and soon I will order them!