This is my radiogram, great to have it fixed! After it worked for a few days in David's workshop I got a bit worried that there wouldn't be anything to repair, but then he messaged me that he'd solved it. Enjoying my records again! What he is not showing in the video, is he has done some cosmetic work, replacing parts that don't need replacing, it has been a full restoration!
This is the kindness we need in everyday society. To see people help each other and use their unique skills in tandem is heartwarming. Good work, both of you.
David, your videos NEVER go longer than they should have, but that's just my opinion. I never tire of watching them. Another great job of troubleshooting and repairing issues.
As far as I'm concerned you have no need to apologize for the extended length of your videos. I enjoy every thing about them including the length. I don't even notice the length really.
I'm always amazed at how hard the mechanism drops the tone arm onto the record. The stylus cartridge must take quite a beating. Don't worry about the video being long. Can always pause it and get up for a cuppa and a piece of cake. BTW, recently the digital display in my very old clock radio went strange and appeared to be showing a code. I figured clock radios of that vintage wouldn't be designed show a code. Anyway, looked inside and found a large electrolytic nearby the the main clock chip. Watching your videos led me to deciding to check all the electros. (the clock radio is about 40 years old) So I checked the large cap near the driver chip and it was a dead short. I replaced it and the display worked fine again. So I decided to change all the caps. Thanks for the inspiration. I love the old clock radio, it was a gift from someone special.
Hi Ellesmere, it's pretty rough treatment all round with these old players. That's great to hear you had a go at your clock. Capacitors are the first to go and you get to keep your special clock a bit longer, well done 👍🙂.
Speaking of this, when I was about three, we had a DVD player. It died eventually and the final words on its vfd display were “TOOT”. It was my introduction to electronics, because rather than throw it away, my dad let me take it apart. I remember the green boards with little caps and chips dotted about, and the big mechanism that handled the discs.
That's some world class muddling there Dave! I was trying to think of a word which is the opposite of muddle but it's too early and my brain is definitely still muddling.
I love your cautious repair on the Philips record player. Like those easy to get retaining clips with the bent ends. Don't have those in the States so one must be extra careful in removing them or kiss it goodbye. I have a fresh bottle of Rubber Renue which always comes in hand with hardened rubber idler wheels. The length of the video was perfect IMHO. There are a lot of steps to show in the repair sometimes. The owner should be very pleased with your capable hands repairing it!😁 Cheers, Steve from Illinois
Hi Steve, you have been following me for quite a while, thank you for your support. I have spare clips but I still have to crawl around looking for the ones that go 'ping!' The Rubber Renew works well but I haven't tried it on a wheel that has gone hard, that will be a test. I try to keep the videos as short as possible but they still run long, as you said, there are a lot of steps, thanks Steve 🙂
I like that you made a point about the idler diameter making no difference to the speed beyond, as you also mentioned, the ability to make contact with both driving surfaces. It's surprising how persistent that misinformation is.
A braver man than me attempting to disassemble the tone arm. Another great repair. I noticed the sacrificial Whitney single came out to test things out. As always, really look forward to another radio adventure. Keep up the good work!
Haha... poor old Whitney get thrown in the deep end every time 😄 I have no fear dismantling things, it's getting them back together is the issue. Thanks Martin 😊
Nice job Dave, another happy customer no doubt. Well done with the tone arm too, putting it back together I mean. I'm just having a laugh to myself here imagining something went wrong. Customer returns, you say I've checked it out and couldn't find the issue, here's the box of bits, you work it out. Sorry, sometimes my sense of humour gets warped in the heat.
Thanks Graham, I thought with the tone arm I could take the circlip off and lift it out, it didn't work out that way 🙁 That would be embarrassing if I gave him back a box of bits 😄
Another job well done, David. Always a pleasure to watch you do your (patient) magic. Even the Neolithic Monster Soldering Iron came in action. Thank you for the efforts!
Nice job Dave. Just out of interest, what is the output of those units in Watts to the speakers? Never apologise for long videos. There the ones I love.
@@DavidTipton101 9 Watts is not too shabby. Next time I see a similar unit on the council clean up pile I will have to grab it. Would make a great little stereo amp if the rest of it is no good
Hi Dave, welcome back! Another great repair, I see that people look you up for those difficult repairs now. There's nothing wrong with being a repair star :) I hope you are feeling well and have recovered from treatment.
Well the good thing about that Radiogram is its kind of like a modular circuit board construction. But I agree intermittent problems are some of the worst to diagnose but. I knew you were up to the task David. Thanks for another great video.
I've only tried fixing an idler once but it worked a treat! My brother dragged home an early-80s Crown tabletop console stereo a few years ago and apart from missing a cartridge, the turntable made horrible grinding noises and was very slow. The idler still felt reasonably soft but definitely had a divot in it. For want of a late I chucked it into my drill and took some wet and dry 180-grit paper with a drop of water to it until the divot was gone. Reinstalled it and the turntable worked like new again! The only thing stopping me from fixing it properly is that some bloody fool tore off the wires to the cartridge and I haven't been able to find suitable connectors. I did try to raid an old VGA plug but the pins of the cartridge I've got are too thick.
Hi Ragnar8504, a bit of sandpaper works wonders but just the minimum amount off. I think I used the sockets out of some computer cabling once, I can't recall where I got them from, but I was able to release them and remove the original wire and solder in the cartridge wires. You can also get little jumper leads from electronics shops which may be small enough, something like this: www.jaycar.com.au/150mm-socket-to-socket-jumper-leads-40-piece/p/WC6026
@@DavidTipton101 Unfortunately I had the opposite problem, the pins of my cheapo ceramic cartridge (the only thing that fits this arm without any modifications) are too fat for the connectors I salvaged. I could push them onto the pins with a bit of force but they didn't look as if they provided proper contact. I might be able to bend them to fit better though.
Wow, I haven't seen those mustard caps go bad before. I have an old Philicorda organ with about 200 of the buggers in it. I sure hope those stay in one piece...
They should have used the TELEFUNKEN Low Voltage Vacuum tubes and used 2xVN66AF MOSFETS in the output stage then there wouldn't be a problem with with blown capacitors, then the H+ could be 6V and the B+ could be 12V.
CuriousMarc talks about Apollo RF being the blackest of black arts, but I’m thinking it might be dial cords and turn tables! You never fail to impress me. Nice editing with the split screen capacitor removal. Thank you Dave for another great Friday morning video!
Greeting Sir David. Another fine investigation! You could bump many TV series to a non prime spot with your work! Very entertaining and instructional for me! Thank You!
I also replace the big Electrolytic's with originals- it's worth the price...and they look great rather then tacky small CAPs just dangling under the chassis!
I love the fact that you and I come from a mechanical background and got into radios and electronics as a hobby. I was a certified tool maker/mechanical engineer, CNC programmer for 30 years. Loved playing with electronics as a kid, have no idea why I didn’t pursue it as a career. Being a gigging guitarist for the past 43 years forced me to learn electronics out of necessity after all my old amp techs retired or passed on. Now I’m the crotchety old fart all the young players come to to get their amps and guitars fixed. As you I’m a fairly accomplished wood worker so guitar repairs are fairly easy to repair broken necks, modified bodies…….years in a machine shop kind of transfers to woodworking well. My math skills from machine work helps in this electronics game. You’re one of my favorite RU-vid channels as well as Manuel. I also love Shango066 because of his humor and just the God awful rusted, rat infested, things from the desert sitting out for 40 years he gets running. His methods are quite unique to say the least but very entertaining. I love the fact he uses a guitar amp to check caps. Pretty ingenious. Keep the great videos coming David. Much respect from Upstate New York. Mike
Hi Mike, like for like it seems, I played with electronics from a young age but pursued a career in engineering, I don't play a musical instrument however. I needed something to do in retirement so fell back to electronics and I always had an interest in woodwork too. Shango is good value, he knows what he is doing and has a strong troubleshooting mind, I haven't tried his capacitor testing method. I remember he did it once with a Mrs Miller soundtrack, it didn't improve Mr Miller's voice though. Thanks Mike 🙂
Another great restoration, Dave! The owner must be happy now, the radio and the record player work perfectly well and are ready for extra 50 years of service! Cheers!
Hey Dave, just a fab repair...Patience is definitely a virtue and you have loads of it..! Very interesting and comprehensive tech tips as usual..Thanks so much for sharing...Hope your keeping well..Look forward to the next adventure..Ed..uk.😀
Hi Ed, thank you. You sure need a bit of patience with this type of work otherwise it would end up in the bin. My pleasure Ed, I'm well thanks, I trust it's the same with you 🙂
David, Never apoligise for making a smashing video 😀 Mustard caps are usually reliable, but time still gets them. Cerclips, i call them Ping :-D (Vanished into a different universe). I like the pcbs much better than the point to point madness of older heaps of hell. While you were fixing the tone arm (silly name), i was wondering how on earth you would get everything back in synk, I would be in a mumbling panic :-D That friction disk looked very nasty, some drongo applied too much oil/grease and buggered it up :-(. "Buying a capacitor bracket" Disgusting! i expected to see a hand made one ...... No not really 😀 Loverly repairs, the owner should be very happy :-D
Thanks zx8401ztv. The disk had something on it, it was waxy and I was expecting that clip to go 'ping' as well. I never thought of making a brackets 🤦♂️🙂
@@DavidTipton101 Here in Canada we always called the clips with the two little holes in them grip clips and the pliers, grip clip pliers. The other clips you push on we called C clips and we had a special tool that held the clip to push them on and the other end clipped on and pulled them off. They still went PING though...lol.
@@DavidTipton101 I wish I had a nickel for every minute I spent on my hands and knees looking for them. After a few years, I got a collapsible wand with a magnet for fishing them out of the deep recesses of machines.
Really nice troubleshooting and repair job on the radio Dave and we are going to have to start calling you the record changer "Whisperer". Really nice work on those mechanisms!
Hi David, Always makes me smile when I see 45's from that side of the pond. Here the hole in the middle is almost 1.5 inches (38 mm). Must be nice not to need a special adaptor to play them. Always gives me anxiety when I have to unclip 50 year old plastic covers. Was so happy to see nothing broke. ( Bet you felt that way also ) Idler wheels are a pain. There are places that will rebuild them, for 75 yankee bucks. Crazy expensive. As for the length of the video, seemed to be over in 15 minutes. Always a pleasure to watch.
Hi Vern, I never understood why there were two hole sizes, our earlier 45s had a knock-out centre to make them the larger size. I agree with the old plastic, just waiting for the snap 😖 I don't think we have anyone in Oz doing idler wheel rebuilds, might be a opening there for someone. Thanks Vern 🙂
Great job again, Dave. However, I must express my disappointment in your incorrect use of test equipment. Everybody knows that speaker movement is tested with ping-pong balls, and not bits of paper. We all learnt that trick from a guy called Tipton, from down under 😊
My previous message got buried in the sea of comments, so I can't find it to comment there. Do you happen to know the size of the turntable bearings? I finally got the one in my great-grandparents' old Grundig working again (thanks to your incredibly helpful, in-depth instructions - thank you VERY much again for this video!), but 2 of the 3 bearings went missing in the process. They appear to be around 2 or 3mm, but I'd really like to know the actual size before I attempt to buy any kind of replacements.
Hi Buddy, well done getting your player working again, I'm delighted my video helped. If you have the AG1025 deck then the bearing is listed as 1/8" diameter .👍🙂
Greetings Dave. good to see you treating the turntable with respect with Deutsche Grammophon recordings. As always, a great piece of workmanship. And stay out the floods please
Nice to see you David, Hope you were too busy with work and or pleasant leisurely and not because of illness. Nice short and sweet fix-it video, as always both entertaining and informative.
Hey, that's great Don. They aren't so bad to do, I had trouble with my first one too, I put parts in backwards and someone had already 'fixed' it before I got there and was assembled wrong. I'm very happy you sorted yours out 👍😀
@@DavidTipton101 BSR, Garrard and even Philips (which are generally said to be a bit tricky) are straightforward enough if you're methodical. Collaro decks can be a baffling ordeal! Dual and Perpetuum-Ebner are ok to work on. Most Japanese decks from the 70's are easy.
you do a lovely job on these, i have the single, hit the road jack :) about 1956. i would love a valve radio gram and be great to have you restore it, only on opp side of the world to us scotts. thankou for sharing :)
David another brilliant Refurbishment sadly many of Philips Radio Gram when the Tip when Colour TV was introduced to Australia I have found the Philip Caps were very reliable but the IRC Resistors were not they were called Shit resistors And full Marks refurbishments to Philip Turntable there were reliable unit but I guess working vintage Radio Gram you cured a few problems Again full Marks Mate,Ian, .
Hi Ian thank you. The caps in this were in bad physical condition, they may have worked OK though, the resistors were all over the place. The turntable worked well after the repair, this one needed a service which is understandable. Thanks Ian 👍🙂
Hi Dave just found your Chanel and subscribed straight away my hifi amplification is a kt88-89 triode connected tube amp utilising two valves pre channel +two preamp valves a Chanel, Chinese made but UK modified sounds absolutely gorgeous as a tube -valve amp shuld I’m liking Your Chanel 👍👍
Hoi David, Great repair! I have been repairing & restoring old radio's for more then 40 years now. In all these years i have NEVER found a bad ( philips - mullard ) mustard cap . They are the best caps ever made! Even today you can not find a better cap. So...i never measure these because i know they are good . Sometimes you find a cracked one, very rare, but they are still ok ( If i spot the cracked ones..i replace them too ) Greetings from a fan in Belgium
Hi Dirk for Belgium, Thank you. I have had a few do bad and they seem to go intermittent or noisy, generally they are pretty good. This had a number of cracked ones, maybe because of the salt air we have here on the coast getting in and correding the foil 🙂
Great video David. I just bought a Philips Music Studio Glidomatic Nova Sonic RF8 myself and I am slowly trying to clean it up. I noticed it is missing the Stacking Spindle or centre post that you also indicated was not provided with the one you fixed. I am not sure where to get one from or what the part number is. Can you let me know what part number it is an where I might grab one? Great videos, I am chuffed i found you. Looks like I have another channel to spend many a night trawling through. :)
Hi stephenmaconachie, thank you. The model number of the deck is AG1025, the part number of the spindle is PW 2960 40, the number of the stub centre pin for playing singles is PW 295 91. I did a quick search for the automatic spindle but no luck. I suggest you join a facebook vintage radio group and see if someone has one laying around or one of the many radio groups on the internet. You may end up going international. The spindle may fit other Philips models. The little stub pin can be made at home 🙂
Hello David this is Chris how are you hope you're doing well. Its fun watching you enjoy what you do best. I'm glad there are repairman like us and others that appreciate fine equipment and keep them going for our young people to be curious about 😆 and enjoy the charm these antiques have. Just thought I'd give a quick hello and tell you what's going on. Have you ever worked on a Grundig Majestic model 4040? Those are physically the most difficult radios to restore. The band selector switch buttons are difficult to remove and clean and all those cables and strings and some type of rocker arm and cam assembly on top of the tuning capacitor and motor assist ???? I'm thinking it needs a valve job 😆 maybe I should bring it to my mechanic. The customer brought this thing in and it has a broken dial string and I have no idea how it goes but I'm not ready to assemble it yet anyway. The only way I would know how to wire the band switch back properly is to cut all the wires and this way I have a color code and some guide at to where they go. I tried taking a picture but its just too many wires uughh. I'm still in the process of cleaning and repairing. I guess I'll worry about how to assemble it later 😆. Maybe I'll find a German physicist to help me. It passes the dim bulb test and all I get is static so at least the amplifier is working and I am surprised the transformer is good. TTYL Have fun
Hi Chris, I'm good thanks, I trust it's the same for you. I haven't seen a 4040 but I looked it up and it looks typical for German and European radios in general, I see it has motor tuning which would be fun to play with. I located a service manual and it has the stringing diagram included. I try and clean the switch mechanism insuti, not easy but it can be done if the contacts are still intact, contact cleaner and cycling seems to clear them up. Good luck with it Chris, I hope you get it all working again 👍🙂
Great work Dave, I ran my RF8 board the other day and it sounded dodgy. It's in a old SAR telephony box, repurposed the amp. Now I've seen this I'll know what to check for. I'll replace the resistors and see how it sounds. Thanks for the video Dave hope your doing ok mate.
Hi A Last, thank you. I did another RF8 a few months ago as well, that had different issues to this. Good luck with your RF8 and I am pretty good thank you 👍🙂
And another one done and the second RF8 as well. Great job!! Those 1/2 watt resistors were always a pain and always going high, even those capacitors have stood the test of time. but after 50+ years, so built to last. Great work, as always. If i may make a surjection... i would have increased the gap between the new electrolytic filter caps and bare chassis. A bit to close for my liking, but great work still all the same. Take care !!
Thank you Stephen, it's always a relief when a radio contains Philips caps. I know the capacitor looked close in the video but the two positive tabs were well clear and it wouldn't matter if the negative touched, there was also about 5mm in vertical clearance 👍🙂
The turntable repair was most informative. My Grundig Radiogram has a similar record changer and will be most helpful in servicing it . Thank you for a excellent restoration video. Mak in Rawalpindi Pakistan
Excellent Video David. I have my parents Phillips stereogram with RF8 and the additional inputs like guitar. It hasn't been run in 30 years. Can you refer me to a restorer in Melbourne please?
HI 1diode, I don't know anyone directly in Melbourne but you could try contacting the HRSA and asking them, they will know someone 👍🙂 hrsa.org.au/contact/
So who's a clever boy then! Well done David. None of your videos are too long. As always I love watching your work and listening to your mumbling comments. Blessings to you and your wife.😉
Hi Kenneth, thanks, I worry people will find them too long, we are an impatient lot these days, thanks for the feedback. Thank you, all the best to you 🙂
👌😎 always a great watch David, love your content, it's a cold wet day in Oldham, but can feel the warm Australian sunshine coming through 😺,cheers me up thank you
Oldham, near Manchester I think. My great great grandfather came from Tipton near Birmingham. Thank you Martin, it's warm and sunny, we are just getting into the nice weather now 🙂
Hi David. There is nothing better than sitting on the settee with a mug of tea, and a Daves radio adventure. Some of those old Philips turntables could be very fiddly and frustrating. Great result with the radio section. Again superb stuff and I thoroughly enjoyed watching. Cheers Chris.
Great job! Love old idler wheel decks. I used to own an old Garrard idler wheel turntable. Glad you left those beautiful mustard caps in there. I’m sure you’re aware of how desirable they are, especially when fixing vintage guitar amplifiers.
Hi Dave, another very entertaining video and not too long at all. I was trying to buy you a coffee and noticed that I can’t use PayPal anymore. I need to supply a creditcard number, which I’d rather not do. Any idea why this changed? Cheers!
This Radiogram sure did find the proper fix-it man. David your expertise is second to none. I sure do enjoy your videos. It is great to also have that dialect/accent to listen to while going about your repairs. Not to mention your excellent video creation and editing talents. Well done (again)
Hi Dave, it was 2AM here in the eastern US and I couldn’t stay up to watch the entire video. But I watched it this evening - great job! You are The Record Changer Whisperer! Your skill and patience with record changers and dial cord stringing continue to amaze me. Hit the road, Jack! ;-)
@@superhet7281 Thanks Super Het. I don't blame you for heading for bed at 2am. One day I will get too cocky with a record player and it will befuddle me 😀 I used to run flight control cables in aircraft, in contrast dial strings are a snap... pun intended 😉🙂
Haha... they can give you the willies if they are in poor condition, this one wasn't too bad luckily, I've had others that were a blob of black goo 🙄 Thanks Hijme 😀
🎼The Tone arm is connected to the 🎵 pivot bar the pivot bar is connected to the main spring 🎶 the main spring is connected to the slide bar 🎵 let's pull the whole thing out 💥.lol I really thought you were going to burst into song then Dave best wishes and regards from up top coffee ☕ on the way
Thanks a lot for your very nicely made videos. It's very nice also too see and hear AM radios working from an area where there is almost nothing anymore.. Greetings from Switzerland!
Nice job, the turntable sounds pretty good on the brass-heavy passages. Hope you weren't inconvenienced by the torrential rains I heard about in your region.
Hi Don, it was through the speakers on the desk, I imagine it would be terrific through the six speakers in it's cabinet. We are OK from the floods but parts of the city and outlying areas are a mess. The so called 'Mud Army' of volunteers started cleaning up today. Thanks Don 🙂
