Cossor 501 AC radio - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Phil Pearce · 26th Oct 2016, 9:55 pm

Hi chaps and chapesses, I am new to this forum although I have been using the north American one for a number of years.

I recently purchased a Cossor 501 ac (bakelite cab) while I was visiting the UK and have re-capped and "resistored" it. It works extremely well. However the bezel around the speaker and dial glass was damaged badly. I managed to repair it (it's not perfect), but noticed that there is a gap between the glass and the plastic bezel. This appears to be caused by the rubber mountings which secure the glass. I have not been able to determine from pictures whether there is something missing that would fill this gap. I added some felt to the strip of metal dividing the speaker and the glass, and that seems to fit nicely. But something appears not right. Any help would be much appreciated. Regards to all....Phil

Boater Sam · 27th Oct 2016, 9:48 am

The 4 rubbers are like photo album corners, they hold the glass about 2mm away from the mounting and the front bezel. There is nothing in between but there should be a screw in the top of the dial assembly into the rear of the front panel to hold it all slightly forward.
The frame bezel in cream plastic is often broken or distorted.
IMO the woody is better, same chassis but less cabinet hassles.
Beware cleaning the inside of the glass, the printing will simply wipe off! I have had to do a few with waterslide transfers off a good scan.

Phil Pearce · 28th Oct 2016, 10:21 pm

Thanks Boater Sam.

I have had bitter experience with being a little "gung-ho" when cleaning the painted numerals on dial glass in the past. A very gentle soap and warm water and dabbing with a Kleenex seemed to remove the dirt without damage.....good point though!

The space between the glass and the front panel appears to be more than 2 mm but I filled this gap with a soft felt material and it looks better. The dial lamp does not illuminate the scale as well as I would expected but it is what it is, I guess. Nice radio,it worked fairly well in the hotel room with no aerial other than the built in one. At home it pulls in tons of stations with an aerial. No long wave here though! I shall look out for another radio on my next year's visit.

Thanks for the tips.

Phil.

crackle · 29th Oct 2016, 6:28 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Pearce

I have had bitter experience with being a little "gung-ho" when cleaning the painted numerals on dial glass in the past. A very gentle soap and warm water and dabbing with a Kleenex seemed to remove the dirt without damage.....good point though!

A DRY light dust over is the safest way, I have found many dials loose their printing if rubbed.

This is a photo of a 501 that I repaired. Once working they sound very good, but are not known for their sensitivity.
They all seem to suffer from the plastic bezel shrinking with age and distorting, eventually all the clips pop off as the locating tags snap away. If you are lucky and the bezel has not distorted too much you can glue it back on using epoxy glue.
The cabinets polish up very well though.

Mike

crusher19860138 · 30th Oct 2016, 8:18 am

I had the wooden cabinet version and agree that they aren't the strongest performers, although living near Droitwich tends to mask performance somewhat.

Phil Pearce · 30th Oct 2016, 7:24 pm

Thanks for the feedback guys. You have just confirmed my suspicion that the bezel had in fact shrunk which broke off one of the molded plastic pins at the back. I suspect it also had an "accident" judging from the way the bezel was damaged. However I reinforced it with epoxy and thin patches at the rear and then repainted it. It's passable so long as the lights are down a bit and you are not wearing your glasses. Very good sound though. In general I think it was worth 25 pounds and lugging it on and off a plane.

Thanks for the help. Phil Pearce.

paulsherwin · 30th Oct 2016, 10:37 pm

Next time you visit you'll have to buy something a bit smaller, such as an Ekco U245 or a Philips B2G81U. There are plenty of those around, they are very typical of their eras and they will fit in your hand luggage (if the security people let them on).

kalee20 · 30th Oct 2016, 11:07 pm

See post 4 of this thread.

Really, the IF, Detector, AF stages and the loudspeaker are let down by the front end.

crusher19860138 · 31st Oct 2016, 12:30 am

Or an Ekco U159 'toaster radio' , 110v to 230v selectable.

Phil Pearce · 2nd Nov 2016, 9:50 pm

Actually, I do have an Ekco battery set, model P 150 (ish) which I rescued last year. Some well intentioned individual with a set of plumbing tools had made an adaptor to plug it into the wall. We have all seen the efforts of the "previous tech" at one time or another and this one took the prize! The components were nailed to a piece of plywood floating about in the bottom of the set, the various parts connected with 1 kilo solder blobs....horrible. I was able to reuse the tranny and a choke but the filter caps 5000uF jobs @ 12 volts went into the hotel dumpster (skip) 'cos I know what they would look like under the X-ray unit at the airport. They were about the size of a jar of coffee and with wires coming out of the one end they would have been suspicious for sure. They were to be changed anyway so it made the whole thing a bit lighter. The set is a wonderful performer for only 4 tubes and it got lots of stations even in my basement...no ext aerial.
Well made too! I shall be looking around next year for sure. Phil

K1lndown · 6th Nov 2016, 12:10 pm

I used thin strips of the white self-adhesive rubber draught excluder strip to seal and hide the gap on a GEC set with similar metal grille and glass arrangement. It filled the gap and stopped vibration rattle well.

26th Oct 2016, 9:55 pm	#1
Phil Pearce Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Oshawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 6	Cossor 501 AC radio Hi chaps and chapesses, I am new to this forum although I have been using the north American one for a number of years. I recently purchased a Cossor 501 ac (bakelite cab) while I was visiting the UK and have re-capped and "resistored" it. It works extremely well. However the bezel around the speaker and dial glass was damaged badly. I managed to repair it (it's not perfect), but noticed that there is a gap between the glass and the plastic bezel. This appears to be caused by the rubber mountings which secure the glass. I have not been able to determine from pictures whether there is something missing that would fill this gap. I added some felt to the strip of metal dividing the speaker and the glass, and that seems to fit nicely. But something appears not right. Any help would be much appreciated. Regards to all....Phil

27th Oct 2016, 9:48 am	#2
Boater Sam Banned Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Middlewich, Cheshire, UK. & Winter in the Philippines. Posts: 3,897	Re: Cossor 501 ac radio The 4 rubbers are like photo album corners, they hold the glass about 2mm away from the mounting and the front bezel. There is nothing in between but there should be a screw in the top of the dial assembly into the rear of the front panel to hold it all slightly forward. The frame bezel in cream plastic is often broken or distorted. IMO the woody is better, same chassis but less cabinet hassles. Beware cleaning the inside of the glass, the printing will simply wipe off! I have had to do a few with waterslide transfers off a good scan.

28th Oct 2016, 10:21 pm	#3
Phil Pearce Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Oshawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 6	Re: Cossor 501 AC radio Thanks Boater Sam. I have had bitter experience with being a little "gung-ho" when cleaning the painted numerals on dial glass in the past. A very gentle soap and warm water and dabbing with a Kleenex seemed to remove the dirt without damage.....good point though! The space between the glass and the front panel appears to be more than 2 mm but I filled this gap with a soft felt material and it looks better. The dial lamp does not illuminate the scale as well as I would expected but it is what it is, I guess. Nice radio,it worked fairly well in the hotel room with no aerial other than the built in one. At home it pulls in tons of stations with an aerial. No long wave here though! I shall look out for another radio on my next year's visit. Thanks for the tips. Phil.

30th Oct 2016, 8:18 am	#5
crusher19860138 Hexode Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Stourbridge, West Midlands, UK. Posts: 434	Re: Cossor 501 AC radio I had the wooden cabinet version and agree that they aren't the strongest performers, although living near Droitwich tends to mask performance somewhat.

30th Oct 2016, 7:24 pm	#6
Phil Pearce Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Oshawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 6	Re: Cossor 501 AC radio Thanks for the feedback guys. You have just confirmed my suspicion that the bezel had in fact shrunk which broke off one of the molded plastic pins at the back. I suspect it also had an "accident" judging from the way the bezel was damaged. However I reinforced it with epoxy and thin patches at the rear and then repainted it. It's passable so long as the lights are down a bit and you are not wearing your glasses. Very good sound though. In general I think it was worth 25 pounds and lugging it on and off a plane. Thanks for the help. Phil Pearce.

30th Oct 2016, 10:37 pm	#7
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,970	Re: Cossor 501 AC radio Next time you visit you'll have to buy something a bit smaller, such as an Ekco U245 or a Philips B2G81U. There are plenty of those around, they are very typical of their eras and they will fit in your hand luggage (if the security people let them on).

30th Oct 2016, 11:07 pm	#8
kalee20 Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK. Posts: 7,088	Re: Cossor 501 AC radio See post 4 of this thread. Really, the IF, Detector, AF stages and the loudspeaker are let down by the front end.

31st Oct 2016, 12:30 am	#9
crusher19860138 Hexode Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Stourbridge, West Midlands, UK. Posts: 434	Re: Cossor 501 AC radio Or an Ekco U159 'toaster radio' , 110v to 230v selectable.

2nd Nov 2016, 9:50 pm	#10
Phil Pearce Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Oshawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 6	Re: Cossor 501 AC radio Actually, I do have an Ekco battery set, model P 150 (ish) which I rescued last year. Some well intentioned individual with a set of plumbing tools had made an adaptor to plug it into the wall. We have all seen the efforts of the "previous tech" at one time or another and this one took the prize! The components were nailed to a piece of plywood floating about in the bottom of the set, the various parts connected with 1 kilo solder blobs....horrible. I was able to reuse the tranny and a choke but the filter caps 5000uF jobs @ 12 volts went into the hotel dumpster (skip) 'cos I know what they would look like under the X-ray unit at the airport. They were about the size of a jar of coffee and with wires coming out of the one end they would have been suspicious for sure. They were to be changed anyway so it made the whole thing a bit lighter. The set is a wonderful performer for only 4 tubes and it got lots of stations even in my basement...no ext aerial. Well made too! I shall be looking around next year for sure. Phil

6th Nov 2016, 12:10 pm	#11
K1lndown Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: Canterbury, Kent, UK. Posts: 14	Re: Cossor 501 AC radio I used thin strips of the white self-adhesive rubber draught excluder strip to seal and hide the gap on a GEC set with similar metal grille and glass arrangement. It filled the gap and stopped vibration rattle well.