Unfortunately Jamie , Reliance schematics are some how related to hens teeth, they hardly ever published them. But that shouldn't really be a big issue. Speaking about the transformer and the chassis maybe be made by AWA , I have spotted a Philips set with a similar transformer position ie being installed in the chassis as opposed to on the chassis.

There is a Majestic 15A (USA) circa 1932, here (See Rider) it actually has a tuning gang made out of something like1/8" plate & the transformer is mounted on top of it.

Yeas that is interesting.. Something I read in Frye's Radio Receiver Servicing, about not chassis layout with power supply components kept as far away from RF components as possible, maybe not a golden rule though. My Emperor has the transformer mounted under the chassis, but it still has a steel cover plate with air holes covering the transformer on top of the chassis. One would wonder with yours that a huge electromagnetic field would be affecting the variable capacitor, maybe it's compensated for somehow? Hopefully the circuit is the same or similar to another make with the same valve lineup, which would really help! All you can do is look and see and hopefully it's good underneath. I've started to find with radio's, they either work or they don't, when they work they seem to keep working, even crackly, hissy and volume going up or down and capacitors dripping wax, transformers smoking, and all this playing up sorts it'self out when you re-cap, swap a better or new tube here or there and replace bad resistors and bad wires, just fix the bad bits, but when they don't work at all from scratch, usually you can replace every damn thing and they still won't work unless your lucky and something simple has been overlooked! I've had most which after a re-cap burst into song and a few new resistors made a huge improvement, but I've got a few duds now I've replaced all caps, resistors and valves and dead as a doornail still! Just bad juju sets! Hopefully yours is ok, it looks good!

A total cap replacement on an unknown or not going Radio is not a good idea. It’s bad practice.
Firstly a good visual, then make safe as far as the mains side goes.
Repair any obvious faults, like wire insulation ect.
Fire up with a series 230v globe and observe again.
Fault find in a logical way, replacing only faulty components at this stage.
Then when it’s repaired to a going stage, it’s time to go through all the high value resistors(only replacing out of tolerance ones).
Then in the interest of reliability replace paper caps that are connected to HT.
Then if performance is poor and you have the equipment and skills, attempt an alignment.
I repeat, a total recap unless you have years of experience is not a good idea.
JJ

I concur. Follow that procedure and save yourself a lot of pain.

In that context. that's good advice but I would at least replace the electros first.

Yes for that device, sure, unless they are already, say, 70's vintage, in which case I'd dim-bulb them.

I've been doing just this on an HMV F3 chassis for a couple of days now. Reason - the electros look intact and it would cost a few hundred dollars to replace them, so it's worth a try to see if they'll come back.

So far, it's looking good. After 2 days, the bulb has pretty much extinguished and the B+ has gone from 50 volts to 250V. It's taken 2 days for this to happen so the electros stayed cold.

What I normally do is remove the deflection and audio bottles and fire it up with the bulb in circuit. Leave it for a day, remove the rest of the valves (except the rectifiers of course) and run it for another couple of days. Always resisting the temptation to rush things once the bulb is nearly out and apply full power. The best strategy I've found is to let the B+ level out for a day at least before applying full power.

The same chassis is chokka full of UCC paper caps and they are ALL bad, at least all those I've been able to test in-circuit as the B+ came up.

Do not agree with replacing electros first.
An open circuit electro as everyone knows will cause severe hum from the speaker.
And will show up immediately on first series globe power up.(Apply fix faults as they are diagnosed).
The rare instance of shorted filter caps will also show up immediately on initial power up.
Again fix or go through maybe a reformat/repair to the electros.
Of course this also depends on how old the radio is to start with, and other variables.
But mainly experience, which unfortunately textbooks do not teach.
I don’ wish to tread on other people’s toes, but there is so much miss information about.
But most on this forum is well intended. And there are some very talented and knowledgeable people.
JJ

Photo uploaded to Post 13.

Regarding the wire... If the loud speaker is mounted on the chassis or it is at the same potential as the chassis and that wire shorts to the hole in the loud speaker then it's goodnight Irene to the transformer. It'll just overheat and belch smoke. Might be worth meggering the transformer to be sure.

Firing the radio up is never a priority here: If the wiring is unsafe there are other ways of making sure OP transformer & Power transformer are operational.

Never will I power a radio with paper caps (& a lot of oil filled ones) and old electrolytics in it. Once I assess it as a viable repair & most are commercial ones. The wiring is repaired as necessary, All but Mica, or Ceramic caps are replaced and all resistors checked as I go. I have been doing that for over fifty years with several hundred sets & 95+% of the time they fire up & only need adjustments.

The owner had replace the electrolytics in the STC I have here, there was an issue & I got it. seven resistors & all paper caps were replaced & one dry joint eliminated.

Despite claims I have seen written, of wax paper caps being good, I don't believe it: A good one is rare. The only way to test them is at their rated voltage. Lafayette (RC Bridge) says 50Meg, or less for a cap renders it unsuitable for a screen decoupler & under 200Meg unsuitable for coupling. I use an insulation tester for the Non polarised caps. Normally I do not test Wax papers but.... The ones in the STC ranged from 1Meg to 17Meg: Many are worse & under 100K is quite common. Irrespective of the "B" Voltage of the set, as far as I am concerned, if an NP cap leaks its a dud.

I would also note that consensus within the American "Antique Radio Forum" (10,000, or so members) Wax Paper caps are not reliable & are to be replaced on sight. Cap leakage can seriously impinge on a sets performance: I get paid to restore performance.

What I don't get is why did he do it at all.

What I don't get is why did he do it at all.

I can't recall a monkey ever being asked that, but the answer is probably "because I could". In the same category as screwing down "loose" IF slugs.

Yeah each to their own, I used to prefer leaving original bits if they were working fine, until one which was working good as gold for a couple of weeks waited until I popped out into the back yard to have a hissy fit and burn out the power transformer and fill my kitchen with smoke, so now I routinely replace the electrolytic caps and all of the paper ones regardless. I usually dim bulb it first to see if it works or offers to, but then replace the caps and bad resistors regardless and several that didn't offer a peep through the dim bulb have burst into song after a full re-cap!. I don't know how to do an alignment and I believe it's not something you can do by ear like twin carburettors, so I don't touch RF slugs or anything else adjustable with a screwdriver! One day when I get my hands on a sig gen I'll have a go as I've got my head around the theory, just not equipped or ready yet.

Yeah each to their own, I used to prefer leaving original bits if they were working fine, until one which was working good as gold for a couple of weeks waited until I popped out into the back yard to have a hissy fit and burn out the power transformer and fill my kitchen with smoke, to find one of the electro's had gone oc, so now I routinely replace the electrolytic caps and all of the paper ones regardless. I usually dim bulb it first to see if it works or offers to, but then replace the caps and bad resistors regardless and several that didn't offer a peep through the dim bulb have burst into song after a full re-cap!. I don't know how to do an alignment and I believe it's not something you can do by ear like twin carburettors, so I don't touch RF slugs or anything else adjustable with a screwdriver! One day when I get my hands on a sig gen I'll have a go as I've got my head around the theory, just not equipped or ready yet.

An O/C electro would not have caused the power transformer to burn up.
Probably too far back now to work out what really happened.
JJ