Hi all I have just joined your forum and looking for info and schematics on a radio I have.

it has airplayer written on the dial and has 5 valves, it does have a arts&p sticker, it looks green and is F27974
There is no name on chassis, only 170-341 stamped

Valves fitted are 5y3g, 6v6gt, 6b6g, 6u7g and a red ek32

Has anyone any info on this radio as I plan to restore.

Do you mean EK2?

Is it a mantel or console set?

If a console then try Breville model 124 dual wave console from 1938.

It's a on floor console, I have added pictures but not yet accepted on forum

EK2 has the unpopular Philips base, it was replaced by the EK32 (or EK2G) with octal base. The EK2G has gold paint. I'd say the EK32 will be correct.

Airplayer was a Philips moniker....
The F in the ARTS&P sticker dates it to 1938.

Pity you can't see a model number, it would make the search on Kevin Chant's site much quicker.

Only one I see is 3052B with that frequency changer; however, it has 6F6 meaning 6V6 may be wrong? Being 1945 there was a lot of chopping & changing of tubes in wartime. That did include reverting to older 6pin tubes.

6F6 and 6V6 are pin-compatible output valves, however the specs are different. Still close enough to work though.

Photos uploaded.

Hi Johnny, that's a very nice original looking radio.

If the set has not been powered up yet, DONT!

There are things to be done before any power is applied.
Two I can see straight away.
1/ the 240-volt power cord. Needs replacing with an earthed 3 wire cable.
2/ The electrolytics may be original and may explode if suddenly powered up, may need replacing.

Then there is a host of minor things such a transformer insulation, leaky capacitors, resistors out of tolerance blah blah blah.
That is such a nice radio to start off with!

Fred.

"The electrolytics may be original and may explode if suddenly powered up, may need replacing."

Those are wet can electros. They would have dried out and been replaced with newer ones under the chassis by the 1950s.

They don't explode, but they DO go short circuit, so make sure they are disconnected.

Nice touch to leave them there though.

Not sure now I've seen the pics about my Philips call. Breville looks more likely.

Thanks for the info, I also suspect its made by Breville but not sure.

Sorry, but I did power it up briefly with a dim bulb tester, I should know better.

Dim bulb test indicated that no bad shorts. dial light and some valves glowed and no audio.

I noticed that red valve marked ek32 is in slot marked ek2g, other valves seem correct and one valve is not marked on chassis, that is 6b6g.

the tuner has about 1/4 movement, so jammed.

There is no off/on switch?

I have uploaded a pic of underside and it looks pretty original, well to a first radio restore novice.

Thanks for all advice given, I will add a 3 pin power cord and have a go at changing caps and doing some tests before repowering.

I wonder why some old radios were not branded by manufacturers, it makes it difficult or impossible to find circuit diagrams. Maybe only the high quality radios were branded.

It might be time to slip the chassis. Some sets do have the number on the front of the chassis, or on a corner at the top.

N.B. The tuning gang, it is a dead giveaway for the circuit.

There are only two reasons that there is a three section gang: Viz.

It has an extra tuned circuit, preceding the frequency changer;
OR, Rare here, it has a Colpitts oscillator.

The "Farm Radio" will have a tube TRF stage with perhaps 6D6 or 6U7 (same animal different base) also preceding the frequency changer.

Totally agree: Powering a set like this to see if it works without "assessment": Will end badly.

N.B. When taken photo's of the inside of the pan; Auto fucus is not your friend and the tripod is not dead. With a "real camera" set manual focus, & focus on something in the middle of the subject area (Bits). Daylight is best, with a high f stop number eg. f11.

If flash is too intense; Move back & crop the photo later & put a tissue over it to diffuse the light.

Yes, a lovely radio to look at.

The markings on the back indicate 6U7G, 6B6G, 6F6G and 5Y3G, with the EK2G marking hidden from view.

So, 2 valves have been replaced, the EK2G became a EK32, and the 6F6G became a 6V6GT.

Those 2 tall metal cans on the right will be some kind of electrolytic, most likely dried up.

The work required will be at least to replace every paper/wax capacitor and probably the electros; check the values of every resistor and replace as needed; check continuity of the speaker transformer and the choke (if it has one) or if it's a dynamic speaker then the electro-magnet winding.

The radio transformers (IF, osc, antenna) will most likely be ok, but it's best to check them for continuity too. Same for the mains transformer.

If there's rubber-coated wires they will need replacing. A new modern power cord will be a certainty too.

When that's all done, and you power up for the first time, if any valves show a purple glow (particularly the 5Y3G) then it's gassy and needs replacing.

With the stuck tuning, it's most likely that the various moving parts will need cleaning and oiling. Sometimes you find that someone "had a go" and messed up the dial cord threading.

Looking at the bottom of the dial seems to indicate that there might be a shortwave band fitted too. Lots more coils to check, and the band-switch will most likely be intermittently open circuit.

Thanks for replies... Ok, I have added pics of the under chassis, just waiting for them to be put up.

No markings on front or side, only 170-341 stamped on the rear, no brand names.

Why did you say farm radio, I thought farm radios were battery powered?

Thanks for photo advice, it sounds like photography is another of your hobbies.

I have already taken pics of the under chassis and waiting for them to appear, if not good enough I will try again using all your suggestions.

Does your comment (Its a dead give away of the circuit) mean I can get circuit diagram ?.

its going to be a big mission for me to fix the radio even with a circuit diagram but I'm keen to try even without, I might get lucky changing caps and bits

When changing to an earthed power cord should a fuse be added?

A fuse is always a good idea, but be aware that it's not an ideal way to protect the radio.

Reason is, any conventional fuse small enough to blow under secondary fault conditions will "nuisance blow" after a while on switch-on, when there is no fault.

I use a 50 or 60 degree thermal fuse (like is used in some appliances such as hair driers) inside a length of silicon sleeving and strapped or glued to the mains transformer winding. Construction adhesive works well, many glues will not stick to silicone.

This way, anything that heats the fransformer (and threatens to destroy it) will cut the power off. Avoids fires when the radio or TV is running unattended on a display in a museum or similar.

You need to join the wires to the thermal fuse with crimps or screw ferrules, if you solder to it, the fuse will open.