Another great video. Thanks you for taking the time with these under appreciated radios. In 1960, my dad came home with an NEC NT 620 playing out of his shirt pocket . I was five at the time, it made such an impression on me I'm still obsessed with transistor radios. While most people consider them junk, imagine if in 1940 you could of had a 6 transistor radio this small and powerful. I really enjoy you restoring them back to life. (I still listen to an NEC NT 620)
Excellent video.I pick up these type of radios at flea markets occasionally. Always check the battery area for corrosion. Duracell batteries are the worst.THANKS
I've got an old Zenith Royal 500 with a sticker on the back that says "Zenith Quality built in America by highly skilled well paid American workers ." It's from the 50s and it still works. Those little receivers still seem like a miracle to me when I hear all the signals they can pick up.
Great video JP! Been dipping into these old transistor radios after watching Shango066 playing around with them and resurrecting them. Done a lot of tube radios and got kind of boring because 99% of the time just a cap job brings them back. Have had a few where I had to repair IF transformers which was challenging. The transistor stuff is a nice change. Rebuilt a few old 70’s receivers and quite a few sound reinforcement amps. I started out as a guitar amp rebuild/mod guy as I have been a gigging guitarist since the late 70’s. Learned how to do my own repairs when all the old techs I used retired or passed away. Your troubleshooting skills are top notch and I learn a lot of new stuff from you and Shango066. Haven’t tried a TV, maybe that’s next. Have an old Sony here I can try when I can find someone to help me carry the hernia maker to my bench. 27” and must weight 125lbs.
When removing screws from plastic posts, and reattach, turn them counterclockwise first to engage the thread and not damage is done to the post so the screw will keep tight when attached, making a good grip.
Interesting video, thanks for making it available. A few comments if I may: 1. Lighting is inadequate. The right half of the screen is (much) better lit than the left one. 2. Ditto for the camera viewpoint and focus. Why show your pieces of electronic equipment in the background? 3. On the top of all that, your hands get frequently in front of whatever you're doing. It's easy to criticise someone else's hard work, I know. But there are lessons to be learned here. On the technical side, you were very lucky for being able to fix the radio without its schematics.
Duracel is by far the worst brand name battery for leakage. But one thing has always puzzled me about alkaline batteries is why they almost never leak in the package and leak far worse when they are physically touching in series but not powering anything or with a very tiny load. Small loads like in the low microamp range tend to virtually guarantee a leak. Of all alkaline batteries of all brands (which are also physically touching each other in series) 9-volts are the ones least likely to leak in my experience.
Neat radio and great repair! I need to get myself one of those Capacitor Wizard checkers or something similar, I only have the type that checks them out of circuit.
I Used To Go Garage Sailing With My Mom & Look For Transister Radios To Fix. Sometimes It Was just A 9 Volt Battery Connector That Was Bad So I Just Picked One Up At Radio Shack.
Interesting idea! Especially because you can still source motorcycle chain lube, unlike a lot of chemicals formerly common in the electronics industry.
Awesome! Not sure I had one of these radios as a kid, but I had many that were very similar. Want to say Radio Shack sold basically identical 'FlavoRadios' into the 1980s. Never appreciated what I had at the time.
Many years ago, Xcellite made a tool for removing the nuts from those earphone jacks. They were called terminal drivers. The tools have been terminated. I have the tools for the 3.5mm and the 2.5 mm earphone jacks. Good video.
GET a thin bladed screwdriver about as wide as the earphone jack nut, and with a Dremel cut a notch 1.5mm from both edges of the screwdriver. Make the notches 3-4 mm wide. The screwdriver blade will end up looking like a broad "W". Now notched screwdriver will fit earphone jack nut for easy removal.
Enjoyed the video, but all the commercials are very annoying!! Kind of like watching television; more commercials than program!! Wish RU-vid would remove all the commercials.
All about the greed. Even with all those commercials I don't see much more revenue After elections the commercials will become less and revenues will drop
I figured either a speaker or the headphone jack... when you had zero noise ... you should at least hear it click in the speaker when you turn on the power...
I doubt they had much confidence in that copper-on-phenolic PCB composite, likely the adhesive they used could not stand up to the heat as much as it needed to, or it failed to adhere to the resin in the phenolic properly. I have to be ultra careful when working on old Heathkit VTVM's that use the same type of PCB only from an earlier era so it's even more dodgy. Nice save on the radio, one of yours? Cheers,
5:09...I JUST HAD AN IDEA: MEASURE THE VOLTAGE ACROSS THE SWITCH TERMINALS: WITH THE SWITCH TURNED OFF- YOU SHOULD MEASURE THE BATTERY VOLTAGE...AND WITH THE SWITCH TURNED OFF- YOU SHOULD MEASURE ZERO VOLTS!!!
Maybe another video on rejuvenating those old "leather" cases. But a lot of them from the era were just cardboard simulated to look like leather. Even Zenith started using those as price competition became more intense with the flood of cheap transistor radios from Japan. Those just crack, shred, crumble and can't be saved.
Certainly a nice looking restored transistor radio,,,now working great,,,after the speaker terminal connection and one bad capacitor causing the whistling noise when tuning in stations. Certainly will have to take a look into a few old transistorised car radios that have the same problem with that whistling sound too,,,could b a bad capacitor or 2 that needs to b replaced.
@@daleburrell6273 Maybe,,,,but it,s an awful lot of work there. I,m sure I,ll get some sort of reading from testing capacitors,,,and if I find unusual readings on a few,,,it should b what I need to replace,,,if not all of them.
@@nickfrench7372 ...the electrolytic capacitors are all the same age- and if they haven't already gone bad, they probably will later. I tried fixing a vintage transistor radio by just replacing the electrolytic capacitor(s) that were bad- then I put the radio away for several months- and when I turned on the radio again, the radio didn't work, because the rest of the electrolytic capacitor(s) had gone bad. You're better off just replacing ALL of the electrolytic capacitors at the same time.
If you watch, I did. The carbon wafer is just badly worn. Excess use if deoxit will often wash the remainder away - making it necessary to find a control....no thanks
Yes, definitely made by Sharp. Sharp made many, many radios for Montgomery Ward, well into the 1970's. Shin Shirasuna (Silver) also OEM'd many radios for M W as well.
I just hate it when some clueless knucklehead has been inside a radio like this. Just makes the job all that much harder. For a radio with value or something you want to be reliable, those plastic cased 'lytics should all go. They're all well past their "sell by" date.
16:53...you're better off replacing ALL of the electrolytic capacitors at the same time in these vintage transistor radios: I know that from EXPERIENCE!!
