Hi,

My wife has picked up a Kriesler 11-104 s/r. The cabinet is in average condition and will take some work. My main issue is when we plugged it in it smoked! If you take off the back cover and look at the radio side the smoke came from the right side of that. Looks like a wax/varnish filled something. As you can see I know little of what I am about to embark on and that is to get this baby going again. So wish me luck and I look forward to asking some heavy questions that will seem somewhat funny to many of you.

G'day LP and welcome to the forums.

Firstly, some advice - don't plug that radio back in for the time-being. I'm not familiar with the layout of the 11-104 though I can pretty much confirm that if the object the smoke is coming from is about the same shape as a C-size battery then it is a condenser that needs replacing. If it is a big square-looking thing with a round bulge on two sides then it is the power transformer.

A power transformer can be rewound but don't attempt this unless you have done it before and have some experience. It takes some knowledge of wire gauges and lots of patience to be able to successfully rewind a power transformer. If it is just a condenser that needs replacing then that is a slightly easier job but again, not unless you have some previous experience with electronics and working with high voltages. The large filter condensers typically have around 350 volts DC running through them. There's a lot to consider before going ahead with a restoration.

If you take the back off the set and take a photo of the rear view and e-mail it to me I will publish it here for you and it will give me and other members an idea of where to suggest you make a start. Click my username to get to my profile page, my e-mail address is there.

Feel free to ask questions. We'll help all we can.

Hi Brad,

Thankyou for the welcome. I reckon it sounds like the power transformer that was creating the smoke. I will email a few photos to you today sometime and any advice will be great.

Thanks,

Luke.

Hi Luke/Brad,

I have a copy of the 11-104 circuit diagram if you need it to make your discussions easier. The circuit diagram was glued to the inside of the cabinet.

The number of times I have seen this "plug it in to see if it works" syndrome , .............

Old radio's tend to be abandoned, as they broke down.

The electrolytic capacitors loose polarity when they are not used. They then present as a short circuit, This the rectifier & transformer will not like.

In some the insulation on the wires fail, or are along with caps & coils, turned into ratatouille by the rodents.

Always inspect before even thinking about turning it on. I have seen dozens of sets where powering it up after inspection was never going to happen, without repairs.

Marc