UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Aga Baltic AH37. Need help identifying old capacitor from 1930s radio

PJL · 17th Oct 2018, 3:33 pm

Chris is perfectly correct.

The insulation in a 1932 output transformer will be made of oiled paper and by now it will be very dried out. Driving the radio hard from a guitar to get distortion is very likely to cause the transformer insulation to breakdown. If you are using a pre-amp to create the distortion then driving the radio at sensible levels it should be OK.

I doubt if there are any 1950 guitar amplifiers that have not had the output transformer replaced or rebuilt.

PS: Have you checked the resistance of the transformer windings?

17th Oct 2018, 3:33 pm	#120
PJL Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Seaford, East Sussex, UK. Posts: 5,997	Re: Aga Baltic AH37. Need help identifying old capacitor from 1930s radio Chris is perfectly correct. The insulation in a 1932 output transformer will be made of oiled paper and by now it will be very dried out. Driving the radio hard from a guitar to get distortion is very likely to cause the transformer insulation to breakdown. If you are using a pre-amp to create the distortion then driving the radio at sensible levels it should be OK. I doubt if there are any 1950 guitar amplifiers that have not had the output transformer replaced or rebuilt. PS: Have you checked the resistance of the transformer windings?