Went to a bush market today (Wallan, Vic.) and.. well.. yes, another radio for the growing collection .
But first I had to go through the dozen or so that were up for sale.
As I'm a genuine newbie and have no radio electronics skills at all, I buy what appeals to me and even then, it has to have that certain "something".
Anyway, most had a white sticker on them to denote "it works", the others , don't. While it better if they do, I still rate aesthetic appeal higher than functionality, which verifies me as totally non-technical.
It dawned on me that while there was a range to choose from ($55 for goers, $40 for duds), overall the condition and general appeal was not all that hot. Except for this one.
Turns out the bloke was selling them for his old mate who obviously was not of vendor ability, but who supposedly (and I believe it) has a large collection and these are just some he is letting go. Hence the lack of general appeal.

Fair enough, but time to do something I do fairly well, negotiate.(not bargain, that has miserly tone to it), and only with those I think can afford it). $45 was accepted.
So I got this nice, neat (one crack only) Healing with a nice, clean, perfect dial display, , and firm and functional knobs. The power lead and plug were kosher and the aerial and earth wires looked pretty clean and original.
I've sent 4 photos which should show the innards and the chassis has what appears to have 406E3461 clearly stamped into it. There was a small square decal inside but age has virtually turned it to dust, a lot of small print.
Yes, my wife had met up with me after the market (many, many stalls) and said "I thought so, you couldn't come away without one of them [smile]".) She has this weird notion that I've become addicted. Who, me??
Wait for the photos if you think you might be able to shine some light onto its vintage..
For a while the first powering up seemed like it was not going to do anything other than nicely light up that magnificent, pristine dial. But after a minute, it squawked to me and in moments I had the local radio station, but no others. I found that touching the bundled up external leads raised the volume even further.
I'll set up a regular external aerial and ground tomorrow and see how it, and some of my others, go.
So it works, and has plenty of volume, I like it because I'm also a bit slow to get going initially .

Mal

For a while the first powering up seemed like it was not going to do anything

Many of us will cringe to read that. It's strongly advised not to power up old radios unless they are known to have been in recent use. Whether it comes alive or burns out parts is a crap shoot, and the parts that may be destroyed can be expensive and/or hard to find.

Hello Nemo .
Expanding on GTC's comment.
Old radio's have the potential to kill people, you have mentioned you are not experienced in this field. Firstly the voltages inside these radio's in most cases are well in excess of the 240 volt mains in fact some 600 volts plus across the transformer high tension secondary winding supplying the rectifier valve. I myself have been across this on a speaker field coil, my chest throbbed for hours I am lucky to have survived. I am not trying to discourage you, however you need to proceed with caution. Firstly your workshop should be equipped with an earth leakage breaker and it would be a good idea to connect the radio using an isolation transformer.
You Must inspect the wiring first a lot of these old radios used rubber insulation on the wiring including the mains lead .Be aware if it has a 2 core flex on it there will be no earth and if it is faulty the chassis could be alive if a fault exists.
I always inspect the underneath of the chassis for rotten insulation and burnt components. This is in my opinion is the very first step. If all looks ok I then connect the radio through an extension lead modified with a 60 watt incandescent lamp in series with the active conductor.On power up the lamp will glow at about half brilliance and as the radio warms up it should die down to a faint glow. If however the lamp is at full brilliance you have a major fault and it should be turned off immediately. This also reduces the initial inrush current which is a good thing if it has not been powered up for some time. I leave it sit like this for five minutes . I then disconnect the test lamp and power the radio up as normal. Even if it works , unless these components have been previously replaced you should replace all the capacitors including the electrolytic capacitors most will have some leakage and regularly fail leading to the radio burning out, this is what GTC is making reference to.
From my experience the capacitors have been the main cause of radio failure not the valves.There was a common term valve jockey this referred to people with no experience swapping valves and hoping it would cure the problem . Resistor failure is also in my opinion more common than valve failure. A valve can have low emission and still work to some degree and yes in some cases the valve may be at fault.

I always replace the mains cable with a 3 core lead and make sure the earth is secularly connected to the chassis.
These are my thoughts I was hoping one of the more learned may have commented on your post I stand to be corrected and I mean this as a helpful guide. Proceed with caution and enjoy your hobby.

Kind Regards. Jimb

Nemo I meant to add in my last post if you are not already a member can I suggest you join the Historical Radio Society (HRSA) They have an excellent quarterly magazine they also have a valve bank and other component's members can purchase at very reasonable prices there is much to learn from some very smart people.
Regards Jimb

As examples of look before you leap stuff for repair. I have opened up so called working radio's bought at sales & parts have fallen out when the chassis was slipped. Some have had a mains cable that was lethal. Last month the best for this year, a piece of test gear with apparently a transformer issue? Real issue: its missing.

this year, a piece of test gear with apparently a transformer issue? Real issue: its missing.

Transformed indeed.

Yeh! Only that it happened elsewhere: This is the sort of thing I would expect of the resident Poltergeist.

Thanks for all the quality advice.

I have not and will not do more than remotely, visually inspect the innards, unplugged, just out of interest . No point in getting involved,really; as no knowledge of the technical elements means it either goes, or it doesn't..

My workshop does have a very effective earth leakage breaker, in fact the entire house (fairly new) has, and it is instant.

I do not meddle with mains power, never have, and having had a computer service business for 26 years, have been appreciative of what to be wary of and what stay right away from.

My interest in these vintage radios is just nostalgic, and I need something different to casually collect, and display. I have no intention of powering any of them up again (except maybe that cool AWA portable [if it functions, batteries ordered].) And I'm aware that 67 volts is to be kept in mind).

Probably sounds a bit odd, spending money just to look at them, hardly expecting anyone to say "Wow!", but that's Ok, it's a subjective thing.

Hope I'm not being too unconventional. I will join that HRSA as I do appreciate what you are all doing and I really like the depth of info they provide . I think the comment made somewhere that the variety is endless is really something.unique and encouraging for my type of involvement.

ELCB wont save a transformer with a short on the secondary.


Just sayin'

Photos uploaded.

Probably sounds a bit odd, spending money just to look at them

Not at all. There are many collectors who are not electronically literate, and there are many collections with radios in very good outer condition but whose operational state is unknown (indeed, some will have the mains cords cut off).

So, you're in good company with others who enjoy collecting radios for the sake of it.

Would agree on collecting without repairs etc. The Americans call these "Shelf Queens". It is probably better than a minority that you note on the forums that have not a clue on how to repair, refuse to learn as they either cannot understand, or think they know it all, but still need help?

As a concequence end up with their ignorance & vanity, wrecking what was a perfectly restorable or collectable radio.

One should not bet their life on an RCD. I know of one case in a LAB (same company different site) where one failed. As said they are only good for mains, not after a transformer.

I deliberately put a plug in RCD on my Slide transformer (aka Variac). These are Auto transformers where there is a common connection between Primary & secondary. at 130V the RCD would not trip. That is what I expected: Be warned.

I often run a repaired radio via an "Isolation Transformer" No fuse box RCD protection there. Box has a "Kill Switch" just for radio's & new components that don't play ball. Good methodology helps get things fixed safely.

You can actually make up the batteries for your portables by buying the common 9 volt batteries and joining them together for the appropriate voltages, ie 10 makes up 90 volts. you would need 7 for your awa and a D cell for the other battery.


You did say you ordered one. Can you elaborate and tell us where you ordered from please.

RCDs do fail and more often than people realise. It tends to happen more where spikes, surges and brownouts are more common. One of two faults will develop. Either the breaker will continue to allow current to pass and leave the user unaware that it will not trip when there is a fault current or it'll trip and refuse to allow current flow under any circumstance.

I work at a hospital. RCDs must be tested in health facilities every six months. Not a test goes by without finding at least a few that require replacement. The endless switching in and out of solar arrays, bird killers and other intermittent (renewable) power sources doesn't assist.

Thanks TC, I was made aware of that on the topic I raised for that portable, and not AWA. but Astor.

Well, it doesn;'t work. for me anyway.

Rather than buy 9 - 9v supermarket batteries And what ever would I do with them if th eradio was non-operational? So I took a punt and order a pack of 10 small 9 volt batteries used in door openers. I realised that if the radio did work then these might just get through The News, but at $7 it was worth a try. If it worked I would get the usual larger ones.
They arrived today and are indeed very small, but they are labelled 32A 9V.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/10-pcs-32A-9V-Volt-6LR732-Alkaline-Battery-Remote-Control/182736221012?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I drilled out a bit of timber so I could line them up proper for a series connection and tested the voltage . Initially I did 7 as advised elsewhere under that topic,and the voltage was close to what I'd expected.
I carefully isolated every connection and installed a on/off plastic toggle switch in one line so I could power up, and off, quickly away from the radio.
I got a D cell into the case, it had room for 2 in parallel but for the test I thought one might be enough.
With the unlabelled top knob moved back counter-clockwise and the numeric lower display left around 90 I switched it on.
No glow from the tubes, no static, no nothing, as they say. I moved the volume knob around using insulated pliers, and still nothing.
Since someone else recommended 8 cells I added another and got a reading of 69v. So, power on and wait. Nothing.
So I decided I had tempted fate enough and took the batteries out of the circuit.
But I did detect some low heat coming from the unit, not much but noticeable if my hand was near the batteries area (near, not touching).
Turned out the single D cell was discharging a heap for some reason.and was warmer that any Alkaline should be, but not hot, yet.

So, That's that. Possibly I did something incorrectly, but I cannot see how, unless it had to have 2 D cells after all, but my limited but long experience with Rc batteries doesn't seem to be anything than doubling the stored capacity.

Here's where I got those little 9 volt batteries.

So, she is now definitely a Shelf Queen. ;)