1936 Ekco AC77

[Yorkie]

Thanks for reading guys, and for your helpful views.

I can understand both angles from Gary and Robert and I teeter between the two. On the one hand, it would be nice to undertake a total restoration, and in some respects this set lends itself to that, in that because there are two chassis, there is plenty of space to get at all the components. It also helps to simplify the layout. On the other hand, it is a fact that it could easily become a 'money pit' but providing the mains transformer and OPT are sound, that slants the odds in my favour. I don’t know what the gauge of the wire of the field coil is, but I do have a reel of 46SWG enamelled copper wire, which would be quite close I think, so I could rewind the field coil at nil cost.

Thanks for the offer of the loan of your Morris winder Nick – that was kind of you. I have in fact completed my Morris (Gingery) winder, so could wind the field coil on that without a cam, guiding the wire by fingers, which I assume others have done. I've also seen battery screwdrivers (which can be bought for a fiver), used as the basis for a coil winder, which might be a bit easier than winding on thousands of turns of wire by hand.

46 SWG (0.060mm) Enamelled Copper Wire is approx: 39.746 KMs/kg, and has a resistance of 6.05 ohm/Mtr, so that would be 330 Metres for the 2,000 Ohm coil. I assume that all one can do is to fill the former with turns, then check the resistance, taking off turns as needed to get back to the correct resistance. Leastways, that’s what I’ve done when re-winding coils on HR headphones.

I think that I’ll keep an open mind until I’ve checked out the transformers and valves. You’re right about performance Gary. I do have other sets – notably a couple of German ‘piano key’ sets with SW, LW, MW and VHF, and in terms of time spent v performance, the time would be better spent on those. But then no-one expects a 1936 car to perform as well as a 1955 car, let alone a 2012 car, but it doesn’t stop people enjoying restoring pre-war cars, so there is always an element of nostalgia triumphing over objectivity, or this wouldn’t be our hobby!

I soaked the grub screws on the knobs with Plus Gas penetrating oil last night, and this morning the screws loosened and the knobs came off with no hassle. (WD40 is just hopeless for that task, which it was never intended for).