[David G4EBT]

I'd be very cautious about operating this set without a very careful examination, which will most likely reveal that it needs to undergo considerable restoration work, which I'll outline.

I've restored three A22s - one for myself - two for one of my sons. In each case, most of the rubber insulated wiring had perished and become brittle, including that in the wiring loom around the chassis, which contains both high and low voltage wires running alongside each other. In each case, I made up a new wiring loom using heat resistant silicone rubber insulated flex (obtainable in a range of vintage colours from forum member Phil Marrison 'SWB 18'). Also, the wiring to the dial bulb in the tuning wand had perished, and as the tuning wand is swung around the dial, the leads to the dial bulb are constantly flexed.

If the set draws excess current, as it may well do due to leaky capacitors, the mains transformer is quite small and only really up to the task. The smoothing choke is quite small too. In two of the sets I restored, the mains transformers had burnt out - no doubt because of excess current due to leaky capacitors (in the electrical sense), which can also damage the output transformer and the rare and expensive EBL31 output valve. Because that valve lies horizontally in the set, it must be a genuine original Mullard valve. So called 'EBL31' valves on offer as New Old Stock valves from UK valve dealers are - in my experience, EBL1 side contact valves which have had an octal base skilfully fixed over the original valve base. The consequence of this is that the valve is too tall to fit in an A22 and will not allow the back to fit on the set. Also, the converted valves have a 3/8" top cap - not a 1/4" top cap as do genuine A22 valves. (You can find genuine EBL31 valves - I saw a used one today at Golborne for a sensible price, which had been tested and was good).

The beauty of the A22 is that almost all of the resistors and capacitors are on a neat tag strip fixed around the outer edge of the circular chassis, making it particularly easy to test and replace any components. In each set I restored, I had to replace several out of spec resistors (for which I used 1 Watt metal film resistors as they're similar in size to the original carbon composition ones), and I replaced all of the waxy paper caps. Unsurprisingly, the output valve bypass capacitor (25V 25 uF) was duff and needed to be replaced. As it's in an upright can above the chassis, and modern ones are so tiny in comparison, I 'stuffed' the original can with a new cap.

The makers' own Service Data (either on Paul's CDROM from the top of the screen for £1.99) is clearer than the Trader Sheet and has detailed drawings of the chassis. If you do a search on the forum for 'Ekco A22', look out for any posts by Robert Darwent, who has extensive experience on totally re-building them and has had articles on his experiences published in the BVWS Bulletin.

The A22 is in my view by far the best of the circular Eckos - it's AC only, and unlike sets such as the AD65, the chassis of which is a bit of a rat's nest, the A22 is very easy to work on and performs very well. If you intend to use the set regularly rather than put it on display, it's well worth restoring it rather than risking damage by leaving the rubber wiring in place etc, but it's not my set - it's yours, to do with as you please.

Enjoy the set, come what may!