Hello Everyone, picked this up the other day, kindly donated to me by Mike Bennett, (Thanks mike if you read this).
Now this is one big beast of a radiogram, LW, MW, SW, and TWO VHF wavebands, Valve line up is ECC85 ECH81 EF89 EF80 EM34 EABC80 EBC41 And finally Two EL84s in push pull configuration, Six Speakers, the two base speakers are HUGE, they measure approx 18ins by 6ins, two midrange which are the same size as most grundig table top sets, and finally two grundig electrostat tweeters. Collaro RC54 three speed record deck, and finally an unknown grundig Reel to Reel,
It also came with it's original Collaro record dusting pad, and original Grundig Bakelite Microphone, approx year of manufacture is 1956/7.
so went to collect it, me and mike struggled to put it in the back of my estate, and on arriving home, SWMBO and myself struggled yet again to get it in the living room, it weighs a ton, (this is after removing my also large Blaupunkt Arkensas radiogram, upstairs into our main bedroom, SWMBO was not happy, and says it's not staying there, it has to go, we shall see
So off with the back, the problem as told with this was no sound, so to make some checks, heaters were ok, and HT measured a healthy 282V at the rectifier (it's one of the horrible selenium jobs, which stink something terrible when they finally expire) but this one seems ok at the moment, A few more measurements, mains smoothers are fine, so we keep investigating.
Now these as most Grundig sets have very reliable caps, with only one or two usually needing attention, so more tests, more head scratching, move a few to closly inspect, then I see it, a brown poly cap, which looked ok at first, but on the other side, had spewed it innards all over the outside, and was actually shorting against the tag strip it was connected to, (if you look closely, you can see the tag indentations at ether end), so this was quickly changed, then THAT capacitor was also changed, on this set it is a 47uf electolytic.
[attachment=1940]
So to test again, and it works, that is to say it made louder noises, so after a session at the switches with some servisol 10, I could now select various wavebands, and sound also came from the pick up cartridge when touched.
Next was the record deck, this required a partial stripdown to remove some old grease that had gone hard, re greasing,and finally I gave both idler wheels a light rub on their edges with some fine grade sandpaper, the cartridge and both needles were both ok, it now works quite well, and seems to be improving with use.
This set also seems to include a phono preamp, (pictured) which had two horrible hunts paper caps, and equally horrible 16uf yellow electrolytic, these were also swiftly changed, I don't know if this is an original part, or whether someone has added this?
[attachment=1941]
Now after two days use, the system switches have really improved, hardly making a crackle at all, good reception on all wavebands, and the record deck plays really well now, lots of meaty volume, bass tone and the 3 position 3D sound selector all work correctly,
So I am pleased with progress so far, the next job is to tackle the Reel to Reel, it's a bit of a mess, no belts fitted apart from the tape counter, totally filthy under the cover, It's dead, no life whatsoever, and at sometime someone has replaced one of the fuses with a bit of twisted wire, (does anyone know the model number, it would be much appreciated) so will need to do some checks, I don't know if it is worth repairing, or see if I can find a replacement.
So that's it for the moment, just going to enjoy it for a while, before I tackle it again.have enclosed some pictures, and the schematic, I could not find one for a 8055, but the 4055 radio schematic is 99% the same.
Thanks to you all for your time for looking. Back soon
Now this is one big beast of a radiogram, LW, MW, SW, and TWO VHF wavebands, Valve line up is ECC85 ECH81 EF89 EF80 EM34 EABC80 EBC41 And finally Two EL84s in push pull configuration, Six Speakers, the two base speakers are HUGE, they measure approx 18ins by 6ins, two midrange which are the same size as most grundig table top sets, and finally two grundig electrostat tweeters. Collaro RC54 three speed record deck, and finally an unknown grundig Reel to Reel,
It also came with it's original Collaro record dusting pad, and original Grundig Bakelite Microphone, approx year of manufacture is 1956/7.
so went to collect it, me and mike struggled to put it in the back of my estate, and on arriving home, SWMBO and myself struggled yet again to get it in the living room, it weighs a ton, (this is after removing my also large Blaupunkt Arkensas radiogram, upstairs into our main bedroom, SWMBO was not happy, and says it's not staying there, it has to go, we shall see
So off with the back, the problem as told with this was no sound, so to make some checks, heaters were ok, and HT measured a healthy 282V at the rectifier (it's one of the horrible selenium jobs, which stink something terrible when they finally expire) but this one seems ok at the moment, A few more measurements, mains smoothers are fine, so we keep investigating.
Now these as most Grundig sets have very reliable caps, with only one or two usually needing attention, so more tests, more head scratching, move a few to closly inspect, then I see it, a brown poly cap, which looked ok at first, but on the other side, had spewed it innards all over the outside, and was actually shorting against the tag strip it was connected to, (if you look closely, you can see the tag indentations at ether end), so this was quickly changed, then THAT capacitor was also changed, on this set it is a 47uf electolytic.
[attachment=1940]
So to test again, and it works, that is to say it made louder noises, so after a session at the switches with some servisol 10, I could now select various wavebands, and sound also came from the pick up cartridge when touched.
Next was the record deck, this required a partial stripdown to remove some old grease that had gone hard, re greasing,and finally I gave both idler wheels a light rub on their edges with some fine grade sandpaper, the cartridge and both needles were both ok, it now works quite well, and seems to be improving with use.
This set also seems to include a phono preamp, (pictured) which had two horrible hunts paper caps, and equally horrible 16uf yellow electrolytic, these were also swiftly changed, I don't know if this is an original part, or whether someone has added this?
[attachment=1941]
Now after two days use, the system switches have really improved, hardly making a crackle at all, good reception on all wavebands, and the record deck plays really well now, lots of meaty volume, bass tone and the 3 position 3D sound selector all work correctly,
So I am pleased with progress so far, the next job is to tackle the Reel to Reel, it's a bit of a mess, no belts fitted apart from the tape counter, totally filthy under the cover, It's dead, no life whatsoever, and at sometime someone has replaced one of the fuses with a bit of twisted wire, (does anyone know the model number, it would be much appreciated) so will need to do some checks, I don't know if it is worth repairing, or see if I can find a replacement.
So that's it for the moment, just going to enjoy it for a while, before I tackle it again.have enclosed some pictures, and the schematic, I could not find one for a 8055, but the 4055 radio schematic is 99% the same.
Thanks to you all for your time for looking. Back soon
