Vintage Radio - Australia's Vintage and Antique Radio Home

General Discussion

Forum home - Go back to General discussion

Subject: Later model Philips ID
Posted at 9:30:40 PM on 10 March 2010.

Leeinv66

 
Member #: 538
30 August 2009.
Posts: 240.
Loc: Launceston, TAS.

Can anyone ID this little late model Philips for me? Some one has played under the chassis and I think they got it wrongSmile I will need a schematic, but that's proving tough to find without a model number.

Philips Radioplayer 161


Cheers
Peter





Posted at 11:15:36 PM on 10 March 2010.

Marcc

 
Member #: 438
21 February 2009.
Posts: 634.
Loc: Wangaratta, VIC.

Clearly in that it does not work should scare a few off.

At the current price its a commercial risk if you like it? Looks late fifties to early sixties?

These things can be fixed without a circuit, if you have an idea of how the plot works and some clown has not been in it bastardising it.

Marc





Posted at 6:07:02 AM on 11 March 2010.

Brad

Administrator
 
Member #: 1
15 November 2005.
Posts: 833.
Loc: Hill End, NSW.
Brad's avatar

I've fixed the link for you Peter.

I don't think the radio is overpriced despite the poor condition of the cabinet. One good thing about the relative young age of plastic radios is that there's hundreds of each model still available for collectors to acquire.

Marc made a good point about the likelyhood of someone trying to fix it in the past - before these things get offered for sale or thrown on a clean-up pile (this still does happen sometimes) the owner sometimes tries to have a go at getting it going in the hope it can be used in a laundry or back yard shed. They usually tighten up all the adjustment screws on the IF coils, break up weak solder joints, bridge out others and modify the set to accept extension speakers, using mains plugtops and sockets as a connection method, all of which spells bad news for us collectors in one way or another.





-------------------------------------------------------
Regards,

Brad.

You get more from valves. Smile Approve Cool Smoke

Posted at 1:21:22 PM on 11 March 2010.

Leeinv66

 
Member #: 538
30 August 2009.
Posts: 240.
Loc: Launceston, TAS.

Hi Marc & Brad,
I have all ready brought the set and knew I was taking a risk, but I liked the look of it. Yes, some one has been messing under the chassis and I'm not sure what they have done. I'll just have to work my way through it and see how that goes. The bastardising seems to be isolated to two areas, so I might get luckySmile

Thanks
Peter





Posted at 3:55:34 PM on 11 March 2010.

Brad

Administrator
 
Member #: 1
15 November 2005.
Posts: 833.
Loc: Hill End, NSW.
Brad's avatar

G'day Peter,

If you get stuck, take a photo of the underside and e-mail it to brad.mail.vintage-radio.com.au and I will include it in your post. This will let others see if they can provide any help. Smile





-------------------------------------------------------
Regards,

Brad.

You get more from valves. Smile Approve Cool Smoke

Posted at 8:06:09 PM on 11 March 2010.

Marcc

 
Member #: 438
21 February 2009.
Posts: 634.
Loc: Wangaratta, VIC.

Unfortunately there are times when you can, read between the lines.
I just love the statements that they still have their original plug & cable.

There are still candidates for a Darwin award out there. I have seen two radio's in recent times and heard of another from a collector freind, where, the set has been plugged in to see if it works [ its like a mania, just got to do it ]. All of them had cloth rubber cables one was a series of rubber beads on all three wires and the rest were crumbling & patched.

Interesting when it is illegal to sell them like that, without warnings or the lead cut off [unless it has been certified]

There may be ID on the chassis or cabinet. Valve compliment?
As said before...... many of these follow a similar plot.

One thing with plastic cabinets as a general warning. I have noticed many plastics starting to brittle crack through loss of plasticiser, mainly due to heat.

Applying to both plastic & Bakelite ........ Do not lift by top, even the Kreislers with what looks like a handle in the back, will crack.

Marc





Posted at 10:31:15 PM on 11 March 2010.

Leeinv66

 
Member #: 538
30 August 2009.
Posts: 240.
Loc: Launceston, TAS.

Thanks Brad, I will send you a couple of pictures of the chassis.

No Marc, it has no ID in the cabinet, but it does have 82991 stamped on the back edge of the chassis.

The valve line up is 6V4, 6DB7, 6M5, 6BH5 and 6AN7. I have checked the valves in a Mullard here that runs the same configuration and they are all working. The problem I have is no audio, but the speaker and its coil test ok.

Philips Radioplayer 161
Philips Radioplayer 161
Philips Radioplayer 161
Philips Radioplayer 161
Please click images for higher resolution.


Thanks
Peter





Posted at 8:57:29 PM on 12 March 2010.

Marcc

 
Member #: 438
21 February 2009.
Posts: 634.
Loc: Wangaratta, VIC.

If its got paper caps in it get rid of them. The plate bypass is the most likely to fail. You will have low HT. This will also apply to shorted power supply filters [Electrolytics] and capacitors on HT.

You are going to have to work from back too front. get a battery and flick it across the speaker terminals to see if its dead.


You are then going to have to confirm if its getting power. seeing you have turned it on. If the heaters light its a fair bet. With it shut off check for continuity between chassis and the Plates of the rectifier {transformer secondary} pins 1 & 7.

Speaker transformer & speaker can also be rough checked by flicking the primary the same way, providing the plate cap if fitted has not let go. 6M5 pins 1& 7. By your account transfomer seems ok but you cannot test spkr & sec. with them still wired up.

At this point if the electrolytics look like they are leaking get rid of all of them & the paper caps, then start fault finding if it's still dead.
Mullard / Philips same company

Marc






Posted at 11:06:49 PM on 12 March 2010.

Marcc

 
Member #: 438
21 February 2009.
Posts: 634.
Loc: Wangaratta, VIC.

I have sent Brad a copy of a possible? Same animals so the voltages may be of help?

It has a cap across the transformer that can short killing the output. Note; Plate caps on the output are the hardest working and it is them that are most likely to fail.

Marc





Posted at 11:58:16 PM on 12 March 2010.

Leeinv66

 
Member #: 538
30 August 2009.
Posts: 240.
Loc: Launceston, TAS.

Thanks Marc!!!

You got me thinking backwards and that soon lead me to the problem. I replaced all the paper caps and then started testing from the speaker. It turns out the input winding of the speaker coil was open and no power was being supplied to the speaker. Yep, I found this after I remembered you can't test the spkr & sec. with them still wired upSmile

I replaced the coil and then I had sound, but only static. I thought I would swap out the valves to see if I had missed something and the first one I swapped was the 6AN7. Bugger me if it didn't spring into life and is now working great.Smile The funny part is this 6AN7 that won't work in this Philips set works fine in my Mullard.

This is a nice little 5 valve radio now it works, It picks up stations right across the scale and that is impressive down here in Launceston where we no longer have any local AM stations. Now to clean her up and make her prettySmile

Thanks for the help guys!!!
Peter





Posted at 1:33:20 AM on 13 March 2010.

Marcc

 
Member #: 438
21 February 2009.
Posts: 634.
Loc: Wangaratta, VIC.

Ok great, we are winning.

Lots of people cannot believe that to fix a dead set, you work from power, backwards through the set.

That AN7 may be weak. I would check the voltages on it and the resistors around it. It may be suficiently starved for voltage that it will not run? It's not unusual to find a few resistors that have wandered off spec.
10% is my throw out tolerance. Any resistor with a yellow muliplier on it, should be checked as a matter of principle (worst offenders).

ie.Both plates, screen, cathode & grid. The voltages on the circuit may be helpful. Be aware that RF can confuse some digital meters and they will also read higher, unless circuit states VTVM.

Philips Radioplayer 161 circuit diagram
Philips Radioplayer 161 circuit diagram
Please click images for higher resolution.


Marc





Posted at 8:52:53 PM on 13 March 2010.

Brad

Administrator
 
Member #: 1
15 November 2005.
Posts: 833.
Loc: Hill End, NSW.
Brad's avatar

Images are uploaded. Smile





-------------------------------------------------------
Regards,

Brad.

You get more from valves. Smile Approve Cool Smoke

Posted at 6:32:35 PM on 15 March 2010.

Marcc

 
Member #: 438
21 February 2009.
Posts: 634.
Loc: Wangaratta, VIC.

Note my comment re "Styroseals" in Flakes reply

Marc





Posted at 9:53:08 PM on 18 March 2010.

Leeinv66

 
Member #: 538
30 August 2009.
Posts: 240.
Loc: Launceston, TAS.

Thanks for uploading the images Brad! I have sent a picture of the finished radio via email. I figure the link to the auction will expire and seeing the set might be useful to someone in the future.

Marc, thanks for the heads up on Styroseals. I didn't change the one in this set as it looked and tested ok, but I will look much closer at them in the future.

Cheers
Peter





Posted at 7:36:50 AM on 19 March 2010.

Brad

Administrator
 
Member #: 1
15 November 2005.
Posts: 833.
Loc: Hill End, NSW.
Brad's avatar

Image is now in your first post Peter. Approve

You are right about the auction links - I think Ebay turfs anything older than 90 days now.





-------------------------------------------------------
Regards,

Brad.

You get more from valves. Smile Approve Cool Smoke

Return to top of page.

Members Sidebar

Thursday, 04:50. (GMT + 10).
9th September, 2010.
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
107 days to Christmas!

Username:
Password:
 Keep me logged in.
Do not tick this box on a publically accessible machine.

  

Register · Retrieve lost password

Vintage Radio has 734 members.
Newest member is gregl004.
Last post (FP): Brad here.
Last post (F1): Marcc here.
Last post (F2): Brad here.
Last post (F3): Brad here.
Last post (F4): STC830 here.
Last post (F5): Jazerjohn here.
Last post (F6): 6A8G here.
Last post (F7): Valve here.

Yahoo 7 Search



Search the Web
Search Vintage Radio

Tutorials

These tutorials contain a lot of worthwhile information relating to specific aspects of vintage radio. I recommend a read of these though some of them are quite large. You might need a cuppa tea and a few hours to get through them all in one hit.

Restorations

Back by popular demand are a few articles of mine that deal with restoration of vintage radios. As I edit them for clarity they will be republished.

Glossary

Vintage Radio's glossary contains the definitions for dozens of words and phrases.

Older Threads

To view older threads please visit the Vintage Radio archive.

Outside links

On our free links page there are dozens of other vintage radio-related websites which may be of interest to you. Everything from national vintage radio clubs to personal and business websites is included. Outside links.

Sites of Interest