Hi All, wondering if any one had a replacement workaround for a 6BD7 VALVE. Bowler

Interestingly I have found an Astor BPJ with a 6AN7 in place of the 6BD7 that was working well with only what appeared to be the AGC that was compromised. When you look at the makeup of both valves it can be seen how it does work. I did end up putting a 6BD7 back in its place.

6BD7 can be replaced by EBC80 or EBC81.

What radio is it for?

Good Morning Robert, The radio I am working on is a Philips model 165. Valve lineup is as follows 6an7, 6bh5,6bd7,6m5, 6x4. Bowler

Ah, those sets work pretty well given their unassuming appearance. Weak points:
- speaker transformer will often be found to be open circuit
-.the socket for the dial lamp is rather cheap and can misbehave.
- broken dial cord

You said 6X4 - they normally came with a 6V4, was that a typo?

I have a few examples of this radio, and also a green Fleetwood clone.

Was your 6BD7 missing? The main problem I find with the 6DB7 is it can get noisy. I would have thought that a replacement would be fairly easy to find considering how many radios used it.

If you can't find one you could temporarily convert the radio to a Model 164, which involves bypassing the 6BD7, and replacing the 6BH5 with a 6N8 with rewiring the socket.

An alternate solution would be to replace the 6BD7 with a 6N8, and rewire that socket to suit, not forgetting to add components for g2. And you get more volume as a bonus.

Hi Robert, thanks for the information. Yes the 6X4 was a typo. Any idea where I might get a dial scale for this radio? bowler

I have a spare case, not sure if it has a dial glass (could be plastic). I'll have a look next time I'm out that way next week.

Can you post a photo of your radio so we can make sure I'm thinking of the right radio?

Photo uploaded.

Thanks for the photo, it is the radio I was thinking of. Some, like that one had the chicken wire on the front, and some had cloth instead.

I notice it has a plastic dial included. It's hard to tell, but it looks a bit scratched? Anyway I found my radio and it also has the dial, with the original unique gold-coloured screws to hold it in.

At the bottom (inside) there's a small bracket to hold the dial lamp. It shines onto the edge of a flat plastic piece, designed to send the light evenly to the entire dial. There's also a metal piece there (can't remember what it did).

Hi Robert, are you prepared to sell the dial glass or the whole case? bowler

Bowler
email me your address, I have a 6BD7 I will send you. It has a good filament, unable to test further

Ben

What's the process for retrofitting a 6N8 to replace a 6BD7?

Here are instructions to wire it as a triode.

1. Plug in the 6N8. Do not switch on yet.
2. Remove wire from Pin 6. Connect it to Pin 7 (remove ground connection from Pin 7 if present).
3. Connect Pin 6 and pin 9 to Pin 1.

Simple!

If you want more audio gain, wire it as a pentode - follow on instructions here:

4. Lift connection from Pin 1. (Leave the connection to Pin 6)
5. Connect Pin 1 to B+ with a 1 meg resistor.
6. Connect a 100nF cap from pin 1 to ground.
7. Remove Pin 9 connection to pin 6 and connect Pin 9 to ground.