Hi Guys, I am restoring a radio for my father that has been in the family since new (it was my grandfather's originally). It been sitting in the shed for years, and I plugged it in (probably very silly thing to do), but it worked ok, but was very temperamental. I've restored the case and dial glass to look like new, but need the schematic to complete the job. If anyone could help, it would be greatly appreciated. Vintage radio's arent really my thing I must admit, I'm more into vintage motorcycles, but I am doing this for my dad, as he has wanted me to restore it for years. Any tips also on where I can get the brown/white speaker grill cloth would also be appreciated. Thank you all for your help.

It been sitting in the shed for years, and I plugged it in (probably very silly thing to do), but it worked ok, but was very temperamental.

Perhaps silly but understandable - I'd say most people won't realise the problems doing this could cause although most of us live to tell the story. Whilst it doesn't help the radio much, curiosity is something we all have to an extent. That said, yes it is best to leave the set turned off until it has been serviced. All the electrolytic condensers will have dried up by now and will require replacing and these are probably the reason for the erratic operation of your receiver.

Grille cloth is a different story. It is rare to find good grille cloth here in Australia as most textile manufacturing has shifted off-shore. There is a grillecloth site, http://grillecloth.com/, based in the United States that specialises in the sale of grille cloth. Most of their products are quite heavily patterned though and are thus unrealistic for Australian radios. Something is better than nothing however.

I've emailed you the schematic. The original scan is not of great quality, however it prints okay.

GTC - many thanks for sending the diagram, and Brad, thanks for not slamming my stupidity too hard. Curiosity is a fantastic thing, and as always, it was only after I was marvelling at all the glowing valves that I realised how dangerous that could have been..........always seems to be the way of it though.
The extent of my electronics experience is limited to classic cars and motorcycles, so I am wondering whether I should get this radio rewired (as such) by an expert. It doesnt look too daunting on the inside, not like PCB is........
however, I dont want to kill it - and bearing in mind that most electricians wouldnt know about this vintage style of electrics (although, a lot more than I would), is there someone in Brisbane who I can take it to?
I looked in my trusty Jaycar catalogue, and found no suitable capacitors...........Im sure there is someone that has parts on hand and the knowledge to do this, without having to risk shipping it interstate??

E-mail Steve Savell at savell.combigpond.com for capacitors. Steve also sells bags of these things on Ebay. Jaycar do stock some high voltage caps but in some cases the working voltage of these isn't high enough.

Visit our services directory at http://vintage-radio.com.au/default.asp?id=directory-state#QLD to locate a serviceman near you.

As mentioned above, you'll need to replace the electrolytic filter caps (usually metal cans), and also you need to replace all the wax paper capacitors. Where these were used the circuits were not that critical, so new caps within 10% to 20% of the capacitence will work, and any new cap with a voltage rating higher than the original will be fine. The caps involved with LC circuits (mica) usually don't go bad. And oddly enough, tubes are usually not at fault, tubes that sat in an unused radio or in boxes on a shelf will last forever. Not so wax paper caps. See http://www.wa2ise.com/radios/repair.htm and http://www.antiqueradio.org/recap.htm for more info. Though I would not attempt to unwrap an old cap wire lead from a terminal, you risk breaking the terminal. Just clip the wire.