Ken's Antique Radios

Ken's Antique Radios My name is Ken and I am an old school electronics hobbyist. I refurbish vintage radios and give them a second life and also saving them from being tossed.
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If you need help in reviving your vintage radio. Contact me (text only) at cell 604-817-6339. I am an old school electronic hobbyist. It's my passion to restore vintage tube radios and amplifiers to as close to the original condition as I can. I pay attention to details. Wood cabinets will be re-furbished and some stripped to bare wood and re-stained and varnished depending on the condition. Bakel

ite and plastic cases will be polished to expose its original shine. in some cases they may be repainted. Cracks will be repaired with epoxy to prevent further development. Out-of-spec components will be replaced as needed. "Stuffing" technique is used in some higher end antique radios to retain its originality. It is a time consuming process in which new parts will be hidden inside the original can or shell to make them look original. My mission is to revive dead and abandoned vintage radios in order to give them a second life. I can also add a cable by request so you can play your phone/iPod/Bluetooth through the radio.

Electronic restoration of 1939 Canadian Westinghouse model 757 floor radio. Bryn found me on my Etsy shop site and...
04/05/2026

Electronic restoration of 1939 Canadian Westinghouse model 757 floor radio.
Bryn found me on my Etsy shop site and contacted me about getting his 87 year old floor radio that he bought from an antique store years ago. She has been sitting in his living room quietly for years. Bryn had enough of the quietness and decided to look for someone who can bring her back to her original glory, and he found me.
The cabinet is in fair shape and needs a re finishing job. I will take on the task of electronic restoration. The chassis looks intact except a broken rectifier tube 5Z4 which was broken during transit.
After a routine vacuuming and cleaning, the chassis is now clean enough for surgery. The schematic employs 7 vacuum tubes, with a 6U5/6G5 magic eye and an extra 6SK7 for RF booster.
The radio is also equipped with mechanical push buttons for selecting pre-set radio stations. We are talking about 87 year old technology here, so this was quite a unique feature. All tubes are then tested for emission. Results are: 6SK7 (77), 6SA7 (66/70), 6SK7 (83), 6SQ7 (86/83/82), 6Y6G (72) and the 6U5 Magic Eye - DEAD.The 5Y4 rectifier tube is missing. The brackets numbers show the emission in %, more or less. After checking through my tube stock, I don't have a 5Y4 (125 mA output) rectifier which is not popular anyway. I do have a 5V4 (175 mA output) and a 5Y3 (125 mA output). Since 5V4 seems to be overkill, I decided to go with a popular 5Y3 by re wiring the Octal socket. All paper/wax and electrolytic capacitors are swapped out and replaced with new ones. The original aluminum can 4-in-1 electrolytic capacitors is replaced with 4 individual ones which are soldered to a connection fibre board as capacitor bank and looks professional and has good aesthetics too, IMO.
All resistors are checked for value drifting and replaced as needed. After hooking up a Variac and an AC current draw meter, I am ready for a test run. The speaker is extricated from the cabinet and positioned on the bench for test run. It is one of the best looking paper cone I have seen for radios of this era. (see photo)
The Variac is set at 85 vac to start. After turning on the radio, there is nothing. Tubes are not lite up, no AC draw. I put a tester to the 2-prong plug and check any continuity, it's infinity. Then I checked the continuity of the switch, it is good as it should. This is a simple circuitry, the plug, power cord, switch and the primary winding of the power transformer. Now I keep my fingers crossed that the primary winding is not open circuit, if so, it will be disastrous. I connected the tester directly to the lead wire of the primary of the power transformer and got 7.5 ohms which sounds right for resistance. Phew... this is quite a relief.
By process of elimination, only the power cord and plug are left for checking. They both look innocent enough from the outside. Upon further testing, the connection inside the plug is open. The plug is designed for small appliance like table lamp. When the lamp cord is pushed inside the opening , the sharp metal pins will puncture the PVC jacket and contact the conductor. However, the current passing through the contact area may be good enough for a light bulb of a table lamp but not so for equipment like an amplifier or a radio. Sometimes the sharp metal pins don't actually contact the copper conductor or it is burnt and resulted in open circuit. The culprit is the plug as I hold it up for photo taking.
After replacing the faulty AC plug with a vintage one, I am ready for a second test run. All tubes light up (well, except the dead 6U5). The radio comes to live with lots of crackling noise and seems to be on maximum loudness. The volume control is out of control, LOL. Taking it apart and thoroughly cleaned with contact cleaner seems to be fruitless. I have decided to replace it with a modern new one of 500K-A. Since the k**b will only take a shaft with flat spot, I have to file down the shaft with a hand file which takes time and nothing but tedious. I might as well do the same cleaning of the on/off tone control pot to make sure both controls are nice and quiet.
The radio draws about 0.6 Amp which is normal. Everything works good. A quick alignment is performed to ensure reception is at its peak. The 6U5 magic eye is dead and I sub it with a brand new Japanese made 6E5 and you can see from the photo how bright it is. The difference between a 6U5/6G5 and a 6E5 is the latter is more sensitive and will show the fan shape overlapping when the signal is too strong. Since it doesn't impose any problem, I will leave it as is. The original 6U5/6G5 and 6E5 are getting extinct since no American manufacturers are producing them because there is no demand anymore. There is some surplus NOS still available in Japan. Some tube manufacturers in Russia and Europe are still making them under 6E5S and using Octal base (8 pin) instead of the original 6 pin. One has to change the socket if decided to go with the European products.
Bryn has enquired about playing the trendy Bluetooth with this old lady. I have done this type of retrofitting on many units before, so this is my cup of tea. I have used a BT module and a 5Vdc PSU (power supply unit) that I always have in stock. They are glued down on a cardboard and Epoxied on the chassis next to the power transformer. A double pole double through slider switch is installed in the back of the chassis for quick switching between Radio and BT. This will disengage radio signal when BT is turned on and played. The power to the BT should NEVER be on when the radio is played because the sesame seed sized LED on the BT module will generate so much RF waves and cause unbelievable static noise on radio reception.
Both radio and BT work beautifully. When pairing with your cell phone, the BT model # will show up as XWF-M18-M2......
The radio has 6 push buttons to select the pre set radio stations. I decided to give it a try by setting them to 6 popular AM radio stations. 590kc, 650kc (CISL), 750kc (CHMJ), 1100kc (CKWX), 1200kc (CJRJ) NS 1320KC (CHMB). This is mechanically operated, meaning by pushing the buttons, the metal arms will push the Air Condenser to a chosen position where the radio frequency is. It is by no means accurate, but as least will bring you to within +- 5 kc of your chosen station. I continue with my fancy approach to my restoration project by making labels of radio station frequencies and call names to stick them inside the rectangular holes to identify each button's function.
The project is now complete and she will provide many years of listening pleasure to Bryn after sitting there quietly for years.

Electronic Restoration of 1936 Stewart Warner model R-145 wood case table top radio Jennifer M. contacted m...
03/25/2026

Electronic Restoration of 1936 Stewart Warner model R-145 wood case table top radio
Jennifer M. contacted me regarding her heirloom vacuum tube radio that her mother passed down to her. Obviously it is not working and has been sitting on her board for display only for all these years. She was very happy finding me who would like to take on this project. The big round dial is the centre piece of this radio just like most Zenith radios which are famous for beautiful big round dials. The cabinet is in reasonably good condition considering her tender age of 90.
The chassis has gone through a general clean up to remove all the dust and grime. The 5 tubes are pulled and tested.
6A8G (66/80/44) , 6K7 (62), 6Q7G (68/78), 6F6 (66) and a 5Y3 (80/90) in lieu of 5Z4. The bracketed numbers indicate the emission in %, kind of. The wiring and placing of components are not too orderly under the chassis making it time consuming to identify the parts and tracing the wires. All electrolytic caps and paper/wax caps are swapped out replacing with modern new ones. A lot of time spent on trying to locate 2 wire wound resistors (30 ohms and 25 Ohms) to no avail. So I have decided to add them on cursing the tech before me removing them for whatever reasons. Later when I looked closer with magnifying glass in hand, I found these two little devils looking exactly the same color and diameter of the cloth jacketed hook up wire. Now I have to remove the ones I added earlier.
As per Jennifer's request, I have replaced the short PVC power cord with a 8 ft long cloth covered vintage looking cord and fitted with a bakelite vintage 2-prong plug. A Variac is set at 85 VDC to test run the unit. Hooray, she comes to life after sitting for decoration for decades. She draws around 0.55 Amp on power consumption which equal: 0.55 x 120vac = 66 watts very close to the 64 watts as shown on the tag. The radio sounds very good thanks to the big 8" speaker.
Although it is not part of the scope of work, I have gone the extra mile to touch up some of the rubbed off finish on the cabinet to make her look more decent. The big dial lights up beautifully in the dark. Tuning is accurate and smooth. The sound is amazing with very little white noise.
I am sure Jennifer would be ecstatic when she listens to this old girl singing again after decades of silence.

Electronic and cosmetic restorations of 1934 Canadian General Electric model M51 5-tube radio. This 92 year old ...
03/19/2026

Electronic and cosmetic restorations of 1934 Canadian General Electric model M51 5-tube radio.
This 92 year old beauty was traded in by one of my customers Brian K. over a year ago. This project has been procrastinated since. Radios of the early 1930s are built like a tank with heavy sheet metal chassis, thick cotton jacketed wire of 16 gauge conductors, gigantic aluminum can electrolytic caps, big and bulky paper and wax dry caps, dog bone resistors, big irons, field excitation coil speakers and need antenna. Schematic is usually not too complicated with the superheterodyne configuration.
I will start the first part with the electronic restoration. The chassis has a thick layer of dust which was dealt with first before I inhale any of this. I sprayed the top of the chassis with Mr. Clean solution and wipe cleaned with cloth. All tubes were pulled and tested. 6A7=49/76, 6D6=79, 6B7=38/84/55, 41=64 and 80=49/54. The numbers show the level of emission, well kind of. I understand some of these tubes might have been replaced at some point during the past 92 years, I still believe that the myth of vacuum tubes don't last very long is not true. When I looked under the chassis, I saw what I expected to see. All components are big in size, wire are super thick and it has the typical fibre board mounted board where parts are soldered from both sides. Immediately I know that I will spend a big part of my time refurbishing this parts mounting board. The steel cross bar is removed to get access to this mounting board. I counted eleven (11) wires connected to this board. I sketched up an actual drawing of all the parts on the board. (see photo) The wires are then either cut or de soldered from the board and labeled from No.1 ~ 11. The board which was screwed to the chassis with 2 screws is easily extricated. Now I can see all the parts on both side. Some parts especially the paper/wax caps are not marked with values so it is difficult to tell their values. By tracing each of the eleven wires connected, I am able to figure out the parts as in the schematic. There are a total of 15 parts on the boards including resistors and paper/wax caps. The resistors are checked for values drifted over 15% and replaced accordingly. All paper/wax caps are replaced regardless. Now I move on to check the components in the chassis. With the connection board out, I have room to work on the parts in the chassis. The 2 big aluminum can and the tin box electrolytic caps are replaced with modern ones about 20 times smaller.
This process requires total concentration and carefulness. One mistake will lead you down the rabbit hole later. After all parts and connection are checked and double checked, It is put back to its original location. All 11 wires connected.
A grid wire from I.F.T. #2 is so deteriorated that I have to remove the cylinder and replace with a new one. The wires to the speaker are hot wired which I have to cut to removed the chassis. There are only 3 wires, in order to facilitate quick disconnect in the future I found a 6 pin-socket that I can use. For the male end, I use the base of a destroyed 6-pin dead tube that I found in the tube cemetery. They work out fine and looks professional and original.
Now with the speaker connected and an AC current meter inline, she is ready for a test run. The inline draw current is about 0.55 A and the radio comes to live immediately. The volume controls sounds a bit "scratchy" which is dismantled and cleaned with Silicone base contact cleaner. A photo shows the casualties of this project.
The next stage is the refurbishment of the cabinet. The overall condition looks fairly good showing some signs of tear and wear and the gouging mark around the volume control and the tuning k**bs. I decided against a full blown re finishing job, including stripping of the original finish. The speaker and the grille cloth mounting board, the dial window bezel are carefully removed.
A #400 W/D sand paper is used to sand down all surfaces gently to remove all the grime and oxidation. The cabinet now has a hazy look. Traditional Cherry stain is used to rub all the surfaces leaving a very thin layer of stain so that the color is now looked consistent. After a couple of days of drying, the cabinet receives a few layers of High Gloss polyurethane top coat. The last photo shows the condition of the radio after both electronic and cosmetic restorations are complete.

AFTER photos of 1937 Rogers Majestic model 7M621 table top radio. This project will include the restoration of elect...
02/23/2026

AFTER photos of 1937 Rogers Majestic model 7M621 table top radio.
This project will include the restoration of electronics and the cosmetic of the wood cabinet. This is a 85 year old lady. She aged gracefully. The wood cabinet is structurally sound only with some normal tear and wear of the finishing. All wood k**bs are there.
The schematic shows that there are 6 vacuum tubes, 2 of them are half wave rectifier tubes 2X3. One would ask why use 2 half wave rectifier tubes instead of one single rectifier tube like the 5Y3. There area multiple reasons that I can gather. The design engineer might be given the instruction to get rid of overstocked 2X3 or two 2X3 cost actually less than a single 5Y3. The manufacturer might just want to boost up the tube count for sales gimmick. One might think that 6 tube radio will work better than a 5 tube radio. Same is true when you think about transistor radios, a 8 transistor radio is regarded as higher end than a 6 transistor one.
Original tube line up - 6A7M, 6K7M, 75M, 41M, 2X3 (x2). What I have found in the sockets: 6A8 in lieu of 6A7M, 6K7M, 6Q7 in lieu of 75M, 6K6M in lieu of 41M and the two 2X3. All tubes are tested satisfactory, except the two 2X3 has no setting to test in my Knight 600 tester. I will take a chance to test run the unit with the untested 2X3s. If they are problematic, it is easy to just replace them with 2 diode rectifiers.
By visual inspection of under chassis, the unit has been recapped at some time. The electrolytic caps are the modern radial type. Upon checking the values of the resistor, it is found that quite a few have drifted beyond 15%. They are replaced accordingly. As shown in the schematic, there are two "air cells" which are missing from their holders. These air cells are designed to give a negative bias to the grids and have very negligible current draw. They are suppose to last for the life time of the radio. Some techs may replace them with small button batteries, I decided to leave them as found.

Basically the unit is ready for a test run. As a normal procedure of mine, an AC ampere meter is connected in the input 120AC and hooked up to a Variac. The AC draw is about 30 mA which is normal. The radio comes back to life with no issues.
An alignment is performed to make sure that the radio is operating with optimum performance.
The 4 rubber grommets under the air condenser are deteriorated and hardened and partly broken off. They are used as suspension under the air condenser to avoid possible oscillation. I replaced them with DIY rubber washers made from an inner truck tire. They will last forever.
The electronic part of restoration is quite non eventful.
The speaker is mounted in an upward firing position. The grille cloth is very grungy and worn. The mounting board is extricated and re mounted with new speaker grille cloth. The wood cabinet is structurally sound with normal tear and wear on the finishing. I have decided against stripping and re finishing. Instead I follow my own way of re furbishing. I sanded down the existing finishing lightly with #600 W/D sand paper to just dull the surface. This way I have removed the wax and grime built up after so many years. A very light coat of Traditional Cherry stain is applied to have the cabinet look consistent in color. After leaving the cabinet in from of the furnace (yes, it is winter here) for a couple of days, the stain is totally dried. A coat of gloss polyurethane is sprayed over the whole cabinet. The cabinet looks like new again. The power transformer is brush painted with gloss back rust paint to look fresh. Radio this old is very dependent on the wave signal from an antenna which is not very practical these days living in urban or suburb areas. I have stapled a piece of wire inside the cabinet to act as an antenna, the trick most tech used.
The radio works and looks beautiful with the light up dial face.
I'd like to thank John again for giving me the opportunity of bringing this gem back to her original glory.

BEFORE photos of 1937 Rogers Majestic 7M621 table top radio. The radio was donated to me by John B. of Port Moody, a nea...
02/23/2026

BEFORE photos of 1937 Rogers Majestic 7M621 table top radio. The radio was donated to me by John B. of Port Moody, a nearby city. John was so kind that he actually drove 1/2 hour and delivered to me. This is the spirit of a true antique radio enthusiast who would go the extra mile to preserve this gem instead of handily throw it in the trash. I promised him that I would bring her back to her original glory.

Chris reached out to me about his 1965 Grundig model 1055 W-3D ph radio record player. He told me that the radio works b...
01/17/2026

Chris reached out to me about his 1965 Grundig model 1055 W-3D ph radio record player. He told me that the radio works but not the record player. I told him that I can refurbish the electronics but any issues with the record player would be mechanical and not electronic. A radio of this era needs at least replacing all electrolytic capacitors plus checking all tube, resistors etc. However, I can take a look at the record player and see if the issues are something I can tackle.
The chassis is very dusty, needless to say. It has 6 tubes (EC92,EF89x2, EABC80, EL41 and EM85) They are all tested with acceptable results. The aluminum can electrolytic dual cap is replaced with 33uf+22uf connected in parallel= 55uf. The original 50uf is not popular these days, while values like 22uf, 33uf and 47uf are more popular. I rather increase the capacitance slightly to make sure hum is not going to creep up on me. I found some ideal real estate where I epoxy glued and zip tied the new caps. The bridge rectifier is a A.E.G. made. Experience tells me that they are usually problematic in German radios of this era. It is replaced with a new 1000v-2A bridge rectifier which is about 1/50 the size of the original. See one of the photos for size comparison. Test run shows the radio is drawing >0.5 amp input current which is quite normal. Radio plays very well in FM. When I switch it to AM, it is a different story. There is crackling noise when the air condenser is turned and the radio stations come in erratically. After cleaning the fins with contact cleaner, the problem is not going away. The other possibility is the moving fins are touching the stationery fins in some spots causing shorting, hence the crackling noise. Visual examination can sometimes locate the contact point but not always, especially with this air condenser. In American radios, the air gap is roughly 0.3~0.5 mm, but in German radio like this one can be < 0.1 mm. You can call it proud German engineering if you like. Now, I have decided to run a shorting test. The wires connecting between the stationery fins to the R.F.coil and O.S.C. coil are disconnected. A ohm meter is connected instead between the stationery fins and ground. The air condenser is now turned slowly from the totally open position and monitor the ohm meter reading. Theoretically, it should be infinitely all the way until the fins are totally meshed in. However, it is noticed that the reading shows a few ohms during the travel indicating the moving fins are touching the stationery fins at certain spots. Unfortunately, it happens with both the R.F. coil and O.S.C. coil gangs. Other components have blocked the view of the bottom of the air condenser and make it impossible to visually examine the condition when the moving fins are all meshed in. To find a replacement air condenser is near impossible.
There is no issues with the FM section of the air condenser because the fins are made with thicker aluminum and the air gap is much bigger making it impossible to short out. See one of the photos for comparison. I have no choice but leave as is.
Next I inspected the turntable and found the rubber belt has hardened and cracked indicating it has been sitting and deteriorating over the last half a century may be. I tried to turn the spindle and expect to feel some frictionless movement but what I found was it is totally seized up. I sprayed WD40 sparingly at the bushing area and heat up the metal with solder iron hoping to loosen it but to no avail. The last resort would be to extract the armature and polish/lube the shaft and bushing. As shown in one of the photos, the housing is held together not by bolts and nuts but steel plate and bent tabs. It is an economical version of induction motor that could be disposable when issues arise. With Chris's approval, I pried open the metal tabs and pulled the steel plate but found the housing is also glued down to the coils with Epoxy. I decided it is not a good idea to continue, so I put everything back and leave as is.
I have tried my best in this project but fall short a bit on my expectations. The power supply is now working flawlessly. FM is working great. AM is working also but with some glitches. She is ready for a replacement turntable or just the drive motor and belt if either is found.

Bill W., a retired fire department chief and a customer, referred his friend Jim B. to see me regarding his heirloom tab...
01/09/2026

Bill W., a retired fire department chief and a customer, referred his friend Jim B. to see me regarding his heirloom table top vintage radio. The radio is just making staticky noises and getting no stations.
This is a small wood case radio made of hard wood. The top has beautiful burl book-match wood grains. The make is Brand and Millen, model "Astra" DR-102U , made in Canada in 1946. Yes, 80 years old. The speaker opening has solid wood cross bars instead of the usual speaker grille cloth. It has a simple 5 tube AA-5 (All American Five) chassis. After pulling the chassis out from the cabinet, it is noticed that there is an aluminum can electrolytic capacitor retrofitted in the back of the chassis. I think the previous tech tried to recap the radio and didn't have the right size of the capacitor and forced to use a bigger one and installed it outboard.
The canned capacitor has 3 separate capacitors inside, 60uf-200v, 25uf-200v and a 30uf-25v. I have replaced them with the new modern ones which are much small and fitted under the chassis comfortably. You can compare the "before" and "after" photos. The outboard one, which stands out like a sore thumb is completely removed.
The radio comes to life immediately after the "recap" job. An alignment job is also performed to ensure all stations show up on their marked frequencies. She plays very well on all stations across the dial scale spectrum. Now Jim is able to enjoy this heirloom jewel again.

Rick H. contacted me about his Addison model 2A "Waterfall: radio. The radio had been working but suddenly died. The rad...
12/11/2025

Rick H. contacted me about his Addison model 2A "Waterfall: radio. The radio had been working but suddenly died. The radio was passed down by his late father who was an electronic technician. Addison did not produce a lot of models. But their "Waterfall" and "Courthouse" models top the list of collectors. The cabinet is made of Catalin plastic which has different colors. To name a few, butterscotch, beetleware,cherry, marble, etc. People love the cabinet design, especially the Catalin material of the cabinet. They are more popular in the East coast than the West for some reasons.
The case of this radio is in immaculate condition with no cracks or chips. As usually, I started to pull all the tubes and do a general cleanup of the chassis. The under chassis looks tidy and the capacitors have been replaced at some point. There are 5 tubes in the line up: 12SA7, 12SK7, 12SQ7, 50L6 and 35Z5. Test results are: 35Z5 (87), 50L6(76), 12SQ7 (76/59/64 12SK7 (72) and 12SA7 (dead) The bracketed numbers are shown in my Knight 600 tube tester which can kind of indicate the % of goodness. Since these 12 volt heater tubes have metal envelops, so visual inspection of the heater lighting up is not possible. The heater of the 12SA7 is connected to pin 2 and 7 and was tested as OL in my multi tester which means Zero Load (as shown in the photo). I tried to resurrect the tube by re soldering pin 2 and 7 but to no avail. In some cases cold joint has insulated the connection and caused open circuit. A good used KenRad tube is its replacement.
I quickly checked the resistor for value drifting >15% and found none. The aluminum can electrolytic dual capacitor is "stuffed" by the previous technician, who I assumed was Rick's late father. "Stuffing" is a process in which the aluminum can is gutted and new capacitors are put inside to look original. This is a time consuming process which in most cases not appreciated as it should be. In order to honor Rick's late father's hard work, I decided to take on the task of removing the 2 Spraque electrolytic caps inside and "re-stuffed" with the new ones I prepared. The schematic calls for a 60uf-200v and a 30uf-200v and there are 2 x 47uf-200v inside. I want to use the capacitance close to the specification and go with 55uf 200v (33uf + 22uf connected in parallel) and a 47uf 200v. The new ones are so much smaller compare with the Sprague ones which look like about 10-20 years old. The aluminum shell is then put back as before. A photo shows like nothing has been disturbed and everything looks original. Radio sounds good getting all station across the spectrum. The volume control is a bit "scratchy", a generous spray of Silicone base contact cleaner solved the problem. There is a little hole in the speaker cone and patched with nylon fibre mat with Epoxy.
The last photo is taken of this radio side by side with her big sister "The Courthouse" in my own collection. Another little fun project complete. I hope Rick will enjoy her for a long long time.

Jim S. brought in his Phonola/Electrohome model 1T55-P wood case radio for electronic restoration. I fixed his Hallicra...
12/08/2025

Jim S. brought in his Phonola/Electrohome model 1T55-P wood case radio for electronic restoration. I fixed his Hallicrafters a few years ago and he still remembers me. The case is in very nice condition and she has character. For saving lives, Jim is a first responder since he is a retired Paramedic. But saving dead antique radios is not his cup of tea.
Upon initial inspection, the jacket of the power cord has turned to crumbs. There are 3 x 100 ohms 10 watt power resistors connected in series just dangling outside, LOL. Obviously, some "Okay" technician has tried to fix it but did not have the right mind or parts to do it. These can get very hot if left lying on a cloth mat and may catch fire. Jim mentioned that the speaker is a replacement in lieu of an original field coil speaker. So I know these 3 outboard resistors connected in series were used as filtering resistor to replace the field coil. However, a 300 ohm resistor may not be enough for good filtering as hum may creep up. The circuitry design of this radio is rather unconventional. 12 volt heater tubes are used for stringing to make up to 120 vac, and yet they used an isolation transformer that has a 120 vac and 6.3 vac secondary. The high tension is for the plates and 6.3 vac is for the 2 miniature dial lights. This will eliminate the danger of having a "hot chassis" . Last photo shows the schematic of the radio.
All tubes tested with good result. All resistors are checked for value drifting > 15% and replaced as needed. I used a 1.2K 10 watt power resistor to replace the 3 x 100 ohms 10 watt resistors there were dangling outside. All electrolytic and paper/wax capacitors replaced. The radio almost came to live immediately. The volume control pot is noisy and taken apart for thorough cleaning with silicone base contact cleaner.
The dial string is broken and replaced. The pointer is attached to a U-shape steel plate gliding on aluminum plate. It can hardly move along due to the oxidation of the aluminum plate and the grime collected. It takes a Q-Tip dipped in alcohol to remove the grime on both side of the aluminum plate where the pointer travels. After the sliding surfaces are cleaned, a thin coat of 3 in 1 lubrication oil is applied to provide a slippery sliding surface.
After it is said and done, the radio works beautifully. She doesn't have a loop antenna coil so the previous tech attached a piece of AWG 16 magnet wire in the under side of the wood case as a cheater antenna, but I found it a bit inadequate. Attaching a piece of wire about 10-15 feet long will aid in reception.
This is a fun little project and hope Jim will enjoy her.

SEQUEL to the restoration of Phonola/Dominion 1T55-P radio.
At the time of pick up, Jim took a photo of me and his radio with his vintage black and white film camera. He is a photography teacher who mastered the non digital black and white photography. He has been teaching old school photography. He has even researched into the 1920's wooden box photography when the photographer has to light (literally) the magnesium powder for flash, LOL. The picture he has taken of me and the radio is as non digital as it can be. The last picture taken of the glowing power tube and rectifier tube will charm you to death.
Well done Jim !

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Coquitlam, BC

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