12-06-2018, 08:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-06-2018, 08:24 PM by boater sam.)
Wanted one for a long time, the only radio made by a vacuum cleaner manufacturer? The S.25 Goblin Time Spot Made by the British Vacuum Cleaner and Engineering Company Ltd. 1946 production?
Bought a fair condition one recently for a good price. Obvious faults are a small veneer chip on top back corner, a scratch on one end, only 2 correct knobs and its a bit mucky.
On examination the tone control, no knob, has a shaft that is too short! Oddly it looks to be original but there is no way the correct knob will fasten on.
The chassis is unmolested apart from a new double capacitor can, dated December 1957, a U50 instead of 5Z4G rectifier, EBC33 instead of 6Q7G, 6V6GT instead of 6V6G.
One dial lamp missing. Wavechange and on/off switches a bit stiff. Tuning cord drive is by a bit of green garden twine, incorrectly fitted and useless. The slow motion drive doesn't work in slow, its gummed up with grease as is the pointer drive shaft for some daft reason.
Mains cable cut off, shame because it was a nice black fabric one with a white tracer.
The blue sticky tape over the IF transformer adjusting holes has been pierced so the twiddler may have been here.
Now the good points, the hand set knob on the back is present, the mains and output transformers check out with an ohm meter as do the loudspeaker energising and hum bucking coils. The loudspeaker cone though full of dust and fluff moves freely and quietly. Both back panels are good, one corner a bit soft, pva will sort that.
All valves have heaters and are holding a vacuum ( should do seeing who made it! )
No rust! The clock runs, I can hear it, and the fingers move. It will need stripping and cleaning.
Unsolder the loudspeaker. Remove all valves and brush and blow the loudspeaker and chassis, generally clean it all up.
Fitted a new fabric mains cable with a zip tie strain relief rather than a knot, run it up briefly on the lamp limiter, no dramas, HT comes up, all valves lit. Smoothing can staying cold. Speaker crackles when changing wave band, enough power for now.
Grease the switch ball bearings, change the tone control for a reclaimed one with a longer spindle. Clean all the old grease off the mechanical bits, oil the slow motion drive and it works fine.
There are 3 Sprague capacitors in plastic sleeves that are sweating an oily substance, the AVC capacitor, audio coupling capacitor and mixer cathode decoupler. All out of spec, gone high which means that they are leaky. The other 3 Spragues are naked, dry and test OK, very odd as these capacitors are usually fine. I suspect its the plastic sleeves oozing plasticiser and not the capacitors leaking oil.
Restuff the 3 sticky ones and refit. The sleeves will have to go back on for originality.
Check all possible resistors without disconnecting them all, the valve bases are the nasty paxolin ones that have solder tags that break off easily, all are within tolerance.
Replace the 2 wrong colour HT wires on the new smoothing can that the last repairer fitted, badly and tidy the soldering. I'll restring the tuning drive tomorrow.
More later.
Sam.
Bought a fair condition one recently for a good price. Obvious faults are a small veneer chip on top back corner, a scratch on one end, only 2 correct knobs and its a bit mucky.
On examination the tone control, no knob, has a shaft that is too short! Oddly it looks to be original but there is no way the correct knob will fasten on.
The chassis is unmolested apart from a new double capacitor can, dated December 1957, a U50 instead of 5Z4G rectifier, EBC33 instead of 6Q7G, 6V6GT instead of 6V6G.
One dial lamp missing. Wavechange and on/off switches a bit stiff. Tuning cord drive is by a bit of green garden twine, incorrectly fitted and useless. The slow motion drive doesn't work in slow, its gummed up with grease as is the pointer drive shaft for some daft reason.
Mains cable cut off, shame because it was a nice black fabric one with a white tracer.
The blue sticky tape over the IF transformer adjusting holes has been pierced so the twiddler may have been here.
Now the good points, the hand set knob on the back is present, the mains and output transformers check out with an ohm meter as do the loudspeaker energising and hum bucking coils. The loudspeaker cone though full of dust and fluff moves freely and quietly. Both back panels are good, one corner a bit soft, pva will sort that.
All valves have heaters and are holding a vacuum ( should do seeing who made it! )
No rust! The clock runs, I can hear it, and the fingers move. It will need stripping and cleaning.
Unsolder the loudspeaker. Remove all valves and brush and blow the loudspeaker and chassis, generally clean it all up.
Fitted a new fabric mains cable with a zip tie strain relief rather than a knot, run it up briefly on the lamp limiter, no dramas, HT comes up, all valves lit. Smoothing can staying cold. Speaker crackles when changing wave band, enough power for now.
Grease the switch ball bearings, change the tone control for a reclaimed one with a longer spindle. Clean all the old grease off the mechanical bits, oil the slow motion drive and it works fine.
There are 3 Sprague capacitors in plastic sleeves that are sweating an oily substance, the AVC capacitor, audio coupling capacitor and mixer cathode decoupler. All out of spec, gone high which means that they are leaky. The other 3 Spragues are naked, dry and test OK, very odd as these capacitors are usually fine. I suspect its the plastic sleeves oozing plasticiser and not the capacitors leaking oil.
Restuff the 3 sticky ones and refit. The sleeves will have to go back on for originality.
Check all possible resistors without disconnecting them all, the valve bases are the nasty paxolin ones that have solder tags that break off easily, all are within tolerance.
Replace the 2 wrong colour HT wires on the new smoothing can that the last repairer fitted, badly and tidy the soldering. I'll restring the tuning drive tomorrow.
More later.
Sam.
Boater Sam.