That capacitor was clearly oiled paper capacitor. Very likely some PCB based oil, by the way. You won't be able to wind the mica this way, mainly in mass production, it would just be breaking.
Remember the smell of this oil. Fun times: cadmium plated chassis, PCB-based oils, selenium rectifiers (also with cadmium in them). All the healthy stuff 😸
When I was a young boy my dad had an old camper that he use work on old radios in. (this would have been in the 50's, but it was the 60's when I would go in it) I was born in 1960 and I would have been probably around 8 or 9 yrs old when this happened. I would be fascinated with all the cool looking things in the bottom of those radios and I'd take the old capacitors apart to look at them exposing myself to all the toxins, although not knowing that at the time. (probably why I have this nervous 'tick' now........no just kidding, LOL) One day I got the bright idea to plug one of those old radios in to the wall socket, grabbed the chassis, and it nearly knocked me to the floor. I quickly let go, unplugged it, and didn't mess with them after that. LOL! Young and dumb I guess! 😂 Now that I'm older and close to retiring, I started messing with them, and anything electronic, it's always fascinated me how they work.
@@argoneum I'm glad I didn't really touch the chassis with anything abrasive or corrosive when I did a 50sish Hallicrafters radio a while back. I was aware of the potential for PCBs in caps and asbestos in insulation and pretty much treated anything that looked oily or fiberglassy like hazmat, but I had no idea at the time to ever expect the chassis could be plated with something like cadmium. It just seems so bonkers now.
When shango speaks of young people getting into collecting and repairing vintage radios it makes me happy. I started picking up old radios from the trash back in 1973 while I was in high school. Plus I worked part time in a TV repair shop. We all start somewhere and learn as we go along by " trial and error " and " powers of observation " . I am disappointed in all the young ones in my family, none of them have interest in my 49 year old radio collection. This disturbs me. I still have some of my all American 5 radios and record players from my high school days. Old school learning is the BEST.
I'm sorry your immediate family have other interests. Hopefully you will find others who will be interested in your collection and knowledge.. They are our extended families.
I know the feeling. I have an orchard and I can’t get anyone to have any interest in learning about it at all. It’s sad to think all my hard work will probably become firewood someday
*waves Hey, I'm a young guy, and I'm into these things. I have a Drake twin with power supply sitting next to my bench, and I have a commodore 64 in the middle of a repair. I also have a cool old panasonic walkman clone sitting on my other bench, in the middle of a restore.
Shango just curious, how did you get so much knowledge about televisions and radios? You are damn genius when it comes to this stuff. I have binge watching your videos very interesting.
Lol, I remember doing things exactly like this as a kid forgetting to solder connections or miswires far worse than this. I don't regret it one bit as I've learned so much more when it was broken than when it was working. Keep on going son, don't ever give up as you have done awesome to even attempt a AA5 & you'll pick up far more tricks & thank God that you have cool teachers like shango to show you. Proud of this young restorer. Thanks Shango for sharing & fantastic tips!
I am really impressed Shango, it’s great that you take the time and bring people in and help them with repairing old tech. Sadly modern electronics seems to bypass these skills which is a crying shame as those who have a good understanding of analog electronics generally go on to have a strong careers in modern electronics. Great vid as always keep up the good work..
The footage of you quickly screwdrivering IFs back into shape to the classical radio station soundtrack was todays highlight. Thanks for helping out the young fella. This is a great hobby. Hope he really enjoys it, making the same mistakes we all did, blowing stuff up, fixing it, and learning and having fun along the way.
Another fine presentation. Great teaching method. You point out the problem AND the correct way to do it. No belittling, just educating. I hope your friends get better and you stay healthy.
Why are some people so negative about the teen boy who is learning to work on valve radios? We all had to start somewhere. Sure it's not the best. I'm sure he'll improve with practice.
Definitely not from me!, if anything I'm proud to see youngsters and newbies even attempting an AA5. They'll learn far more from this than hours of theory
Probably a bunch of millennials who think that everything should be surface mount. I loved working with tube radios, TVs and record players when I was a teenager. To me, electronics is electronics.
@Andrew McIntyre,I agree with you completely. Anybody that says they’ve never made mistakes when they were starting out is a liar. It’s part of life and learning. As you said,we all have to start somewhere and we all had someone who helped us out along the way without making us feel foolish. Remember,there’s also a lot of bad examples/information out there on the internet too. I think It was great of Shango to help this guy out and encourage his interest in the hobby, Instead of giving him the business and driving him off because his first attempt wasn’t prefect. He cared enough to try repair this radio and wants to learn and that’s great.
I’ve been watching your videos for a few years now Dan, and you’ve certainly helped quite a bit along the way in learning anything from soldering tips to tracing out faults. Now I’m a happy 19 year old watching your videos on a B&W valve tv I repaired myself. Thanks
Whatever the mass media and government tells you, rest assured the opposite is probably better for you. Maybe it's bad in California... everywhere else I've been it's a memory.
i like when someone tells you the basics and then you can look into it further on the internet. i bend those solid wires into loops then smash them together with needle nose pliers and then solder them . i usually try to slip heat shrink tubing on either side and let that be protection for no grounding accidents .
I think radio repairment it's a good start for a kid. I've started doing this since age of 9 by repairing a lot of soviet old electronics and learning what should I do or shouldn't (electric shock with 220V - the best teacher).
From now on, I'm calling you Goat Boy......After all, we've never really seen your face....Currently working on a Zenth G-730. and it sound very good also...
Oh cool! Nice old Emerson! Besides enjoying your mine exploring vids, I'm also an antique radio collector...well, I have slowed way down, but have a few I enjoy. Used to hang out at a shop near me, in Arcadia, called Audio Imports LTD. The ol' Hungarian guy that owned the shop, fixed radios for me and he recently passed away. Not that you need more projects or, that you need to buy a vintage radio repair shop but, putting it out there. I know his son, and he's not sure what to do. Sorry about your buddies, that's a bummer. I hope they recover. I'm in LA County, along the foothills.
In HVAC work they are recommending the highest voltage caps for start/run as they say they are all Chinese and substandard and a higher voltage will last longer.
I've have the same RCA tube manual, a little different version from the mid 70's when I did Voc. Radio & TV in High school, mines been coming apart ever since🙃. I like how clean the chassis was ,and yah the tack on joint will eventually fail over time. It's got plenty of audio now. I've been doing this stuff for 50+ years and still get parts in the wrong place🙂
Shango066, don't worry about the goat with the 22 inch ears... We like you just the way you are. A other great video, that I look forward to. Helps me through the week.
I have to ask, what is the this is a test this is a test today is a nice day blah blah. I remember you saying its been there for years, but what is the purpose. Nice radio repair by the way.
Okay, I admit. It was the goat comment that made me finally subscribe. Sorry I took so damn long. I damn near died laughing when you asked if you were going to shove a metal screwdriver up in that tuners ass.
I'm like you on replacing capacitors. I have a Zenith model 14P11 Black and white TV from about mid 1950s and its all original and plays like a new TV. I wish I could mail it to you but you're so far away. A nice older man gave it to me before he had to go to the retirement home 😔. I know you would appreciate it and not recap the heck out of it.That takes the fun out of troubleshooting it when it needs repair and If I did I would only replace the bad one. Its not that hard to take apart again and again hahahaha 😆 until most are replaced. I have too many toys
Novice soldering errors, wrong value replacement parts, need to replace all bad old caps and not doing so, and cold solder joints too can always lead to this trouble. Shango does a phenomenal troubleshooting job with a licensed by RCA AA5 tube set. Micamold plastic covered capacitor replaced. The desert can wait for now.👍🏻👍🏻
Very informative on the layout. Sorry you didn't make it out to the desert. Any chance you and friends maybe looking for Kenny Veach who vanished a few years ago?
I’m surprised that it got to you in one piece! (I’m only 23 and I love doing this stuff as well, Preserving history is a big part of my life and passion of mine!)
By the way, this Emerson chassis was a very common chassis used in alot of style cabinets, I have a green marbled styrene model that uses this chassis. 1948 1949??.
The way I see it, the best soldering equipment for working on tube stuff is not soldering iron but soldering guns. Will happily solder metal sheets and only the tip gets hot, so you don't burn wiring or other things in cramped spaces. Same going with automotive electrical work, you can safely put the thing on the carpet as it cools down fairly quickly.
@@shango066 there are special iron coated tips that last much longer, often called "eternal tips". Pricing wise, over here a 100W ones, quality made will cost 30$ or so. Non Chinese one, locally made using the same old commie era design from the 1970's.
@@shango066 Use a piece of copper house installation wire, about 4mm² , but you need to experiment the length because the resistance is crucial. Short pieces, like sticking out of the gun no more than 3 cm is about it. It just needs to match the internal resistance/impedance of the secondary winding.
I would have to disagree---the heat from a 150 watt gun can ruin parts you plan on reusing, and also break off tube socket pins from excessive heat. I use a 40 watt Weller iron for most of my stuff, but I do have an old RatShack gun around for times when I need to solder to chassis
In my country we have a saying "An idle priest baptizes goats." That always comes to my mind when I listen the American TV/radio program. Really nice job educating a young colleague who's willing to learn the trade.
This is only a test, This is only a test, This is only a test, This is only a test, This is only a test, This is only a test, This has been a test of the redundancy transmission, This is only a test.
(@15:13) - There is no “R8” in the parts list in between R7 & R9; it goes from R7 (4.7 Megohm - bottom of center column) to R9 (470 kilohms - top of right column). Oops. 😥 Instead, it’s listed with R1 as 220 kilohms. 🤯
@@shango066 Shows how forgiving tube circuits can be. I would be curious to see what happens if you tacked another 470k in parallel, but as you say it probably wouldn't change much if anything. The 12AV6 tube will probably last longer leaving it alone as it is.
I'm jealous. That radio does point to point wiring in a pretty clean way. Meanwhile this Philco I'm working on 3/4th's of the time is wiring related. Components are folded and layered on top of each other with a generous helping of _extra wiring._ Oh, and it's the first time I've gotten hands on experience with these types of radios. I'm blaming bad luck. And the CIA.
Poor Shango leave that crazy state..... Another lock down.... That would never happen in the south or should I say Republican ran state..... Anyways like always your videos are awesome. Thank you
Shango, could you point in the right direction...i'm fixing a old tek scope tds544a and i'm having monitor issue. it seems like the vert and horz deflection is not steady. the picture is out of focus and expands and contracts? any ideas? just point me in right direction
God bless your patience, I would never film my repairs without a camera man shooting. I would chuck the damn camera or let it fall into some HV out of spite. Piss on that! 10 or so years ago, I tried to get my worthless teen sons to film, but indeed, they are worthless. So, accolades to you of California. Cinema is in your blood.
Well done again. I hate working on radios that someone else has played around with. You never know what they have screwed up . Always enjoy your uploads . Some of your TV resurections blow my mind . Wish I had half your knowledge !
It's a good day for testing testing. This is only a test. 🙃 I love these videos, not just for the nostalgia, (I used to work in electronics) but for the extra stuff Shango throws in for us.
Greetings: I would like to watch you tune across while measuring the changes in AVC voltages; I have never learned what typical readings are for our LA AM stations/radios. Thnx in advance.
Thanks much for the video.....been working on a SPICE CHEST RADIO 484 which has the AA5 guts....The spice chest box is god awful looking, may make a new box for it.... Thanks again!!!
The parts list skipped over R8 and only listed R9. In other words, the middle column ended with R7, then the top of the far right column is R9. It does show R8 in the schematic however, but what is the value? (edit: removed time stamp) Would not be the first time the parts list and the schematic differ. R9, the 470k is the resistor to the grid of the output tube.
Before you begin to work on these 75 plus year old devices, learn to solder. I was lucky to learn this early, well before I understood the theory of these radios operation. I am not OCD, but if it doesn't look like these new capacitors were put in when it was manufactured, then it is not a good job. Buy a good "solder sucker" and do it right. Leaving "j hooks" and rotten wiring is just not a restoration.
“Is he gonna shove the metal screw driver up it’s butt, yes I am” I busted up laughing and my wife is like “what’s so funny?” I couldn’t even explain it to her. She wouldn’t get the joke anyway.
Prodding around with fingers in a live tube radio? He has more faith in thin rubber gloves than I do! There are some sharp wire ends in that radio that would punture that glove (and skin) very easily. 200 VDC or more into a skin puncture would discourage such a practice.
You can't beat experience but that only comes with learning and making mistakes. I bet anyone working on anything has made mistakes, some big and some small, the main thing is not to get annoyed or upset but learn from it to try and not make it again. Even the old guys with tons of experience make mistakes, they just don't tell you about it or delete it from their videos. I guess when you do stop learning it's time to call it a day.
In ‘69 I got interested in radio. I was 13 and the local radio shop closed and let me take what I wanted for free. I remember riding my bicycle home from the shop carrying all the riders manuals home after many trips. Boy did I struggle to balance on my bike.
Send that kid links to US Navy NEETS training modules, if doesn't know about them. Plenty of free US military training for electronics and two way comms and antenna systems. :)
Greetings: You forget to solder your 470k resistor extension at detector pin 7. This is my first time seeing both a trim-cap tuned 1st IF transformer and a slug-tuned 2nd IF transformer in the same set. Is there some design advantage? I know that only the slug tuned units get silver mica disease.
@@shango066 I only get 360 as well or is youtube being 'funny' again and later on the HD version gets out. Still I don't mind relaxing watching this after antenna work. (still watching actually).
