Hey all I have come into possession of a Kriesler Beehive radio which is dead and I need the valves in the radio tested but have no idea where to go. if anyone knows of some places in Sydney where I can test my valves it would be greatly appreciated.

What suburb are you in?

It's not usually a bad tube that would cause your radio to be dead nowadays. Usually capacitors or resistors may have failed. We always replace all the wax paper caps (surely electrically leaky today) and electrolytic filter caps. Ideally you should try to find a fellow radio collector who knows tube electronics to join forces with. I'm on the other side of the planet, so I'm not a candidate.

My experience with at least a dozen Krieslers says that these have the worst attrition rate of speaker transformers, that Ihave ever seen, with a black pitch coated one in some Little Nippers, not being much better.

It really is not a goood idea to plug these things in to see if they work. That can cause damage. If it has not already been recapped.

If it has not there are "procedures" before powering it up. As indicated all paper caps & electrolytic caps will need replacing. There are about 26 variants of this set from memory. We actually had three at a radio club fixit day & none were the same. Normally on the 6V6 the grid resistors will be out of spec.

Take a 9V battery (216) and strike (not hold onto) across Pin3 (plate) and pin 4 of the 6V6 (output valve) which will have the primary of the speaker transformer across them. (do not have fingers on the wire)

You should get a sharp crackle in the speaker. This may be weak if the speaker is electrodynamic.

If that fails to produce noise use an ohmmeter to check for continuity (can be done with the OP trans still wired in) If there is continuity and no noise remove the plate bypass capacitor & recheck with battery.

Feed back result.

Marc

I am in the Oatley/Mortdale Suburb

Good stuff on the beehive here

http://vintage-radio.com.au/default.asp?f=2&th=228.

Yeah, I saw that the pdf helped me determine what mine is but I need to get the valves tested and have no clue where to take them.

My radio is still dead and I have had the valves tested as OK.

I tried Marcc idea of the 9 Volt battery across Pin3 (plate) and pin 4 of the 6V6 (output valve) but heard no sharp crackle.

I tried the 9 Volt battery directly across the speaker contacts and heard the crackle.

I then disconnected the primary of the speaker transformer from pins 3 and 4 of the 6V6 output and tried the battery again, still no noise and could not measure continuity.

I guess the audio transform might be dead, any ideas where I would buy one?

The output transformer you require has a primary of 5K and a secondary of 3.5 ohms. Short of ratting one from a wreck, someone here may have a spare. Or you can
purchase a new Hammond universal type from Evatco.

http://evatco.com.au/hamunispec.htm.

or

http://evatco.com.au/125SE.htm.

7K may be better I do think that apart from quality issues, at 5K they may be runnning too hard & that is yet another accelerant to failure and why there is such a high attrition rate.

Marc

According to valve data on 6V6, it says its load resistance for single ended use is 5K. I know that there are a lot of variations on the Beehive circuits. If it has a EL3NG, EL33, 6M5, etc, then the load resistance would be 7K. Regardless, the Hammond universal output transformer would cater for these variations.

Cheers.

The OP transformer impedance on 6V6 is also depandent on the voltage applied to the plate.

Another killer is the OP plate bypass cap. These work extremely hard and were one of the most common capacitors to let go. This did place extra loading on the transformer.

Marc

Now, I've come in a bit late on this discussion. Are we talking about a Kriesler 11-4?

There are 39 variations of this radio. Of these 39 variations, 2 different part numbers are used for the speaker transformer: Part No. 18-26 & 18-28. The circuit diagram shows Part No. 18-28 and is shown as having a primary of 12K. The 18-26 speaker transformer is used on models with a PM speaker.

Cheers.

Its a Kriesler 11-4D
it has a 18-26 speaker transformer

I'd look at the Hammond 125B for a replacement. If the Beehive (11-4) original speaker transformer is 12K primary & 3.5 ohm secondary, then you would connect the speaker voice coil to lugs 1 & 3. (See table on link.) The Hammond 125 type transformers are designed for push-pull operation. When used for single-ended purposes, disregard the red centre tap wire.

http://www.hammondmfg.com/125.htm.

P.S.
One question that wasn't asked. Does your Beehive use a permanent magnet (PM) speaker, or one with a field coil (electro-dynamic)? The 11-4D is supposed to have a PM speaker. A electro dynamic speaker is shown the circuit. The 9 volt battery test on the plate and screen of the output valve will only work on PM speakers.

P.P.S.
Sorry, I just read that you had stuck the 9 volt battery across the voice-coil & got a crackle. So you do have a PM speaker.

Cheers.