I have repaired a cabinet way worse than this one ... on a 1930's bulgarian "Бралтъ" radio. Just soaked the whole cabinet in varnish for a few days. Everything dies and becomes rock solid after it cures. Then just filled the holes sanded and glossed it with varnish again. Worked great! The radio was (and still is now that it was preserved) of a historical imortance to my countrys early radio inustry. So dont throw this one away! Like you said .. it might be rally rare!! :)
For the 88 years this radio in the decrepit condition it's in, with some previous tech.monkeying around in the chassis, and not changing any tubes- this is totally awsome! Nice job!
It's amazing how tolerant old radios are to bad capacitors and out of tolerance resistors. I had a 1939 Zenith where just about all of the resistors were 50-200% out of tolerance, and the radio still played! I replaced them all, and it only marginally improved it. That being said, I recently restored a 1940 RCA, and the set didn't work properly (lots of static, sound would cut out) until I replaced every single paper capacitor. But it did 'sort of' work at the beginning... and now it's a fantastic playing set (I thank the 4 6K6's for that)!
Wow, slapping a coat of varathane and using that burlap for grill cloth made that radio a hundred times nicer looking! Good to see it singing again. Another first also, actual LIVE spiders inside rather than dead ones.
I LOVE the way you actually diagnose problems and get these sets running on as many original components as possible. I HATE the shotgun capacitor changers. Those caps with the tapered ends are a real trip.
What an interesting video. I love old radios & electronic equipment. I appreciate your command of the subject, & obvious vast experience. How delightful & utterly fascinating!!!
Many radios of this era did not use the chassis as b- voltage. The center tap pf the P transformer is connected to the chassis by a resistor of a few hundred ohms. That makes the chassis 20 volts or so positive, compared to the center tap. That way they can ground the cathodes of the audio tubes and take the negative grid bias voltage from the -20 volt end of the resistor. Many old TV set were designed that way too. You have to see if the filter cap negative sides are chassis grounded or the - voltage tap. I've fixed some radios with loud filter hum because prior repairmen grounded the filter caps to the chassis. Well done.
My experience is that those dog bone resistors from that era are pretty stable and don't go off value too much even though they might be 90 years old by now.
With radios like this I usually do a power up with the light bulb to see if anything is coming out of the speaker. If there is something I go directly to changing electrolytics and paper capacitors and work from there to improve its performance. But I like the way you go around this radio trying to figure out what has been done to it and testing its features. Very entertaining and informative.
I have to do that with my 34 Philco table radio. It works okay but I haven't run it in over 10 years till I check all the caps out. As far as I know it's all original, been in my family since at least 1960.
Very cool video, I grew up listening to old radios like that, not particularly that brand, most of ours were some that dad picked up at an auction sale as we didn't have much money, dad was a farmer but when he got the home place from his dad, he also got his dad's bills, he was sued and 1/3 of every dollar he earned on the farm went to the Federal Government to cover his fathers debts. Anyhow, I can recall laying on the floor, and watching the radio as it played our favorite adventure programs, and detective stories. Mom used to listen to her soap operas during her morning chores in the house, and there was pre-school programming for kids as we got dressed and ready to head off to school. Those were some great times to be alive, you used your mind to see what kids not days ignore on television, it built a great imagination and developed your problem solving skills without your even being aware that you were, in fact learning. I recently built myself a little stereo wifi radio set that I have programmed to play the old shows, western stations, mystery theater SUSPENSE and Johnny Dollar. Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel used to be some of my favorites as well as the Cisco Kid and Poncho! One of the stations that I found gave me a thrill to listen to was the AFRTS AFVN network that replays the actual tapes from the radio broadcast to we troops in Vietnam, now that's a trip and a half! Yes the days of watching television have been ruined so badly by the progressives taking over programming so I can no longer stomach the rewriting of our history in programming, in fact about the only programs I watch any more are on MyTV and PBS (for their british comedy shows!) At any rate, thanks a million for the video's it is almost like having a friend stop by for a cup of coffee, like they used to back when I was a cop in a small town in North Dakota.
If some very talented carpenter could recreate the cabinet and along with your electronics expertise...This might be worth having this restored, given it's rarity...
Josh Jones Indeed. Does anyone else notice he sounds like Ben Stein when he was doing the econ teacher roll call in class. I can just imagine shango66 saying "Bueller.....Bueller...."
Nice job man,I didnt think you could bringer back to life,but you fixed her.I never heard of this brand either.My uncle used to repair old T.V.s and radios and I've never seen that model in his little shop.Nice!
skycarl I will give it a listen. It's on late Saturday night from 10 PM until early Sunday morning at 3 AM if I'm in the eastern time zone and you can hear disco after hours. This is why I got "K-Surf" on my TuneIn app.
HOLY SHIT! Something ended up looking better than when Shango started? A rarity. I just can't say how much I love these videos. Its verging on perverted.
We've got an old 1930's Murphy set in a similar state to this. All the caps were bad and it wasn't really worth saving but just to get it working, and out of novelty I've just filled it with the cheapest El Crappo Chinese orange dips, some crappy resistors and for now it works ok. It's made a great set for outdoor use in the summer
I have half a clue. You just don't find those kinds of alarms up here. We also don't have roadworthy testing. Our highways are the roadworthy test! Ive seen cars up here from California just blow up on our highways. POSes just won't last up here.
Don't forget carkosnorfulators as well as the ubiquitous rototweebler... Thanks for sharing these vids, I think your judgement calls are what has so far prevented a resurrection fail. Then again, it could just be the skills ;) Don't think I don't remember folk like Gladwin and Philthy... Edit- I'm full of shit, it was the 1965 GE from back in February that I think was about your finest hour on the resurrection game
My wife said it should not go in the dumpster. Especially after all the work you put into it. Not really a museum worthy item but definitely would display nice somewhere.
Those spiders are devices, 100% agreed there. (candome Chicago USA) Your commentary is priceless, keep it up. 1500-2000 hours is not much for a tube. (¼ year full time use) Great 49 minute video, thanks.
I just want to let shango066 that in really enjoy his videos. I find them very informative and entertaining. I'm glad he out there repairing and keeping these old items out of the landfills. Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers sure could build stuff.
There is just one way to get rid of termites... Put the cabinet in a freezer for a couple of weeks and they are all gone. My dad did that with a very nice antique table 20 years ago and my parents still have that table. And it's still looking great!
Never seen this radio before, but the cabinet was beat up. My Victor Orthophonic 8-4 Victrola from 1926 is kinda beat up as well. I got it last year, and I did some work on my Victrola and finally got it working. I tried a 78 and it plays really well. And then I used wood stain to smooth out the finish. I made a video demonstrating my Victor 8-4 last year.
It was great timing when this video popped up in my notifications as I had something new from you to watch before I gave my pillow head & my mattress some arse.....because it’s midnight here, past my bedtime. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Since you did all that great work on the cabinet, I would keep it now as it looks fantastic & don’t look like it was attacked by hungry termites anymore! I would love to own it myself. 😀xx
JayBee - & if your referring to my joke about the pillow & mattress thing, it’s a old saying meaning “I’m off to bed”! Gee it must be only Aussies that say it then if you didn’t get it. LOL 😂 Hey, blocking me doesn’t worry me the slightest.....it’s just one less bully I don’t have to deal with on here! 🤣😜
Nicely done again, thanks for sharing. Interesting how in such bad shape that radio is and it's still able to work, it'll also be interesting to see in part 2 how well it comes alive. Considering how bad that cabinet is your quick repairs to it really makes it look a whole lot better!
I love shango hes ace, a lot of people on here (mentioning no names i think you all know who im talking about) do nothing but moan and go on and on about how things were in the old days, it really pisses me off.
justsomeguytoyou - His EOL’s are the surprising ones you don’t expect either. You sit back after watching them & say to yourself, “Wow I wasn’t expecting that” or “Shango, you sure out done yourself again on this one”. ;)
Nice job. I'll bet a week in the back of a parked SUV would kill off anything that might still be alive in that cabinet. I'd be looking to restore it even if the chassis were hopeless. We don't have dry-wood termites here; if the wood is wet, it disappears; if not, it's untouched.
On the plaque on the front there, the words "ALL-WAVE" has a fairly modern-looking type face. Like it could be from the 1980s or '90s. Very advanced for 1934.
Chassis mods look like a 1950's boy scout resurrection project, to earn their Shango badge. (addendum: nice work, if anything just to have a record of one of these rare birds in a working state. Nice job!)
@Shango066 I first clicked on the video because I thought this was very close to the first tube radio I ever saw in the early 1980s. Turns out it was not the same manufacturer at all. Just looks sort of similar. I remember seeing that McDonald's commercial on TV in the 80s too. This is the first time I've seen it since. That moon guy playing the piano disturbed me as a child. Haha. Excellent video. Please do not hold back on the commentary.
I've always had some luck killing wood-eating bugs, using Xylamon woodworm treatment. It hardens the wood and remains an active poison for any wood bugs even years later. It isn't cheap, but it's very effective
Phoney - Western Electric - Yeah I enjoy watching his old videos as well, keeps the brain fresh with knowledge of his work....specially when I’m still learning this hobby & yes I have learnt heaps from shango066 too. 😀👌🏻
You can recognize PLANET LYTICAPS by their shiny red cardboard jackets and their general neat workman like appearance. Available in all frequently used capacities from 3 to 500 volts, they are ideal for all types or service work-radio-tv-industrial. I'm not going to type anymore of that, but that's their ad in radio tv service dealer April 1956 edition. The radio might of been last serviced in 1954, so that's about 20 years of use.
We're caught in a trap I can't walk out Because I love you too much, Patterson Why can't you see What you're doing to me When you don't believe a word I say? We can't go on together With shorted caps And we can't build our dreams On shorted caps So, if an old friend I know Stops by to say hello Would I still see shorted caps in my eyes?
That has to be the most cost effective cabinet job I have seen, that radio looks just acceptable to me. I'd take it from your hands and maybe even leave some cash in it's place if I didn't live on the other side of the world.
I think I had one of your test devices there. Signal tracer or whatever it was. Friend found one when we were teens and we didn't know what to do with it. I used it for an amplifier of sorts.
For the termite poison to work that thing needs to be sprayed soaking wet with the stuff (no worries, it's oil based) and put in a plastic bag to marinate for a few days. I do believe a cabinet in that state can be salvaged and restored to something beautiful by a carpenter who knows what he's doing.
that was fun and the results very impressive....think twice before junking the cabinet.... someone will buy as is, just have it playing to that oldies station
Looking forward to see part II of this repair. Hopefully the Patterson will not end up in the dumpster. It's rough for sure but you made it already look so much better, would be a shame to throw it away. It's a nice display for sure and it's working. Did you fix the hole in the speaker? Would probably improve the audio quality as well. Keep up the good work!
Beautiful job, it looks very nice.. i love to see you bring these old things back to life, and yes the commentary is part of the bigger picture. Don't change a thing! I restore old Rock-Ola Jukeboxes Myself :)
Build your own meter to service your radio, what race of beings were they selling these sets to. Compare that to today's manuals that take multiple pages with illustrations telling you not to turn things on while underwater.
After it I decided to fix my Hallicrafters six tube short wave set and it was like nothing to repair...and it's a short wave and AM beast but a 1960's design, tubes got much better by then!! I even added a transistor BFO instead of gimmick capacitor and it's rock solid on SSB!!
Did you ever find a home for that 1960s Panasonic TV? your hard to get ahold of now that RU-vid has removed the private message system. please let me know if you need a new home for that Panasonic you showed a while back.
Ever since shango did the video about the junost soviet TV years ago (time flies), I always meant to contact him about if he wants a little portable soviet TV with original packaging, schematic etc. that actually works but could use some love. Now that YT has removed the messaging system entirely ("hey we changed something for the sake of changing something!") I don't even know how to contact him at all, other than public comments which is obviously not ideal... :(
To bad i live on the wrong side of the pound, but if it where not for the shippingcosts here i hawe some more modern stuff i could sent to Both of You Guys, i am not sure if it all is old enough to realy interest Shango (i know the problem hawing ewery room filled with projects in various stages... ;) ), but i think some telecom stuff i hawe might possibly had interest You Rinoa for teardowns.
The old school “robot/coffin” looking tubes look really cool .. btw, you can get “Chinese” versions of 811A & 572B (vintage 4 pin base, still in use in some old ham radio HF amps), that have the same look as those …
I remember listening to Santana and Blind Faith on my Crosley Dynatrol late at night on AM radio before FM took over the music scene in L.A.,,,, it sounded great on the 8" field coil speaker.
As you know of course but I just wanted to point out that this radio was 35 years old when Elvis came out with "Suspicious Minds" as a number one hit.. Probably not the first time that exact same song flowed through that radio. Love the video and your commentary is priceless!
Hard to beat a good valve radio for sound quality i have had some, the last one got too warm, they need a fan behind them to circulate air around the back.
You should restore this radio and cabinet dispite it's condition, its a piece of forgotten history. Use finger nail polish on the speaker, use filler and polyurethane the cabinet. If I had it. I would remake the pieces on a lathe if I had it. It upsets me to hear you say that you would take it to the dump...
