Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

This set was destine for the skip, on the off-chance the owner called around my place on the way to see if I wanted it for spares.
The set had been in his loft for countless decades and looked in appalling condition, I couldn't say no, I felt sorry for it......so it found a new home.
This was about 15 years ago, at that time I was quite content in doing up the cabinets and having old radios that didn't work but just nice to look at because I hadn't got a clue how to fix them.
The case was completely stripped and some of the missing veneer replaced it came up very nicely. It then sat in the corner silently until (fast forward) a few days ago when I thought I'd have ago at breathing life into it again.
I must admit when I had a look inside I'd forgotten how rough it looked, the chassis quite rusty and a lot of crumbling insulation on the wires.
I replaced the worst ones (going up to the speaker) and put on a new mains lead. What completely surprised me with this set is there are absolutely no wax capacitors, this is a new one on me! Just a wax box with 2 electrolytic caps inside (8+8) and a tubular paper 25uf. I decided to replace the box but left the paper one as it looked in good condition.
The variable capacitor was all lose, I manged to secure that and replace the broken tuning cord, luckily that was a simple affair. The speaker needed some attention but again all went well.
I powered it up and it actually worked, and not sounding too bad either, I think it must be a fairly cheap set for the day, the quality of construction and sound certainly don't match Murphy sets of the same period.
But I like the set, I've been gradually breaking it in, had it on for half an hour today with no problems.

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

That's a really nice looking set, I like the speaker aperture more than the one on my SAC35. The internals look similar, so I have to wonder isn't the block on the right of the last photo a bank of PIO caps? I had thought so with my set & they appeared to have spewed everywhere too.

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

So that's were they are! What are PIO caps and should I replace them?

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

Just a guess, PIO = Paper In Oil?

Lovely looking set, the underside of the chassis reminds me of the Ekco RS3 I restored last year, that had 3 large cans underneath, containing various coils.

Regards
Lloyd

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

Thanks for that, I think you're right, I was wondering why that area was slightly oily. I guess they are still functioning ok as the set is still performing well.....at least at the moment!

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

Great job and those caps certainly will not get any moisture in them.

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

Yes paper in oil, I haven't looked that closely at what their functions are but if they're working OK for you & don't have any coupling function I'll be tempted to keep mine in-situ as well. I was thinking of restuffing them but perhaps they've stood the test of time after all?

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

I do like the angled tuning scale, very Murphy.
My favourite radio is a Perdio, a "cheap" set from the 60's, brought portable radio to the teenagers.

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

Interesting. My Bush SAC21 seems to have the same chassis.

That 25MFD at 25VDC cathode capacitor for the audio output is surely leaky.

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

As it looked in such good condition I didn't bother measuring it, Now you've got me thinking.
BTW I've just looked up a SAC21, it looks like the same radio but in a diferent cabinet, I wonder why they did that!

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

Both cabinet designs are attractive / handsome / good-looking. Perhaps to appeal to different tastes, to hedge their bet on which would sell better, or to obtain cabients from two different suppliers?

Re: Bush SAC 31 (1936) Almost lost forever.
 

I checked the said capacitor and it had indeed failed, so it's been replaced, I cant say the radio performs any better but my mind is put to rest, thanks.