1955 Ekco U245 5 valve AC/DC MW/LW table radio

[howard]

Hello again,

I got this set on Sunday at Harpenden, it was one that I won some time ago on ebay for £4.99 which Horris very kindly collected and brought along to to the event, arranged though the forum courier service. It was still wrapped up in a box so we took it out and had a look at it to find a set in really nice condition, absolutely unmarked and original. When I got it home I had a look inside and it was very dusty inside but no marks at all on the case. It was still full of its original wax capacitors so I decided to replace those. The Ekco and the Trader service sheet for the U245 are available here for £1.99 each...

http://www.service-data.com/section.php/2195/1

I worked from the Trader sheet. The replacement capacitors required are ....

C1 0.01uf
C4 0.1uf
C21 0.1uf
C23 0.01uf
C24 0.1uf
C27 0.002uf
C28 0.002uf
C29 0.002uf
C30 0.02uf
C31 0.05uf
C34 0.05uf

I used new Vishay, Justradios and LCR 630v polyester capacitors. I cleaned all the dust off the chassis and washed it down with white spirit, replaced capacitors C27, C28 and C29 around the UL41 and the grotty looking C34 capacitor on the top side of the chassis, cleaned the volume potentiometer, waveband switch, valve pins/sockets and earth clips in the tuning capacitor with Servisol 10, fitted a plug, switched it on and it worked quite well on both wavebands. So I then replaced the rest of the capacitors apart from C23 which had a metal band around it soldered onto a chassis earth tag - I left that one to test later as replacing it could introduce a bit of hum. I also replaced the tuning cord as it had stretched and was slipping. The waveband lever was cracked around the spindle so I glued it back together again with Superglue, fitted a spring clip around it to strengthen it and stuffed a little Milliput in between the spindle and lever socket to take up the slack.

I removed the grille and dial from the case and cleaned the inside of the case, dial and trim using B&Q upholstery cleaner and when dry polished the outside of the case with Brasso. The grille cloth I gently cleaned with a damp cloth with a little cleaner on it. The set was then reassembled and as it was failing to pick up County Sound on 192 metres MW took it over to Ron Bryan to check over and realign.

C23 was checked first, unfortunately it was very leaky so that was replaced - no hum was evident from the new one. The HT was checked and it was found to be excellent, so the UL41 grid voltage was then checked - that measure around 320mA, not perfect but good enough and rather better than some UL41s of late which had climbed to over 10 volts.

Realignment next, nothing wrong with its IF, and RF was almost spot on too but still no County Sound on 192. The MW range on this set is 192 - 566 metres so County Sound is right on the limit but a small adjustment to C12 brought it on loud and clear.

This was a cheap and cheerful Ekco model in its day, it has no tone control nor even a dial bulb. 54 years later though it still works very well and needed very little doing to it. This is an early example with no handle, I already have a later one with a carry handle and that too needed little doing to it. Good little sets these, they pick up just about everything on MW and LW, sound very good for their modest size and this one is almost mint. My thanks again to Horris for collecting the set, and to Ron for checking it over.

Howard

[Paul LS]

These are nice little sets. The U245 was the first radio that I ever worked on... and so I have a fond spot for it. I must admit the one you have there is in really excellent condition, nice.

[howard]

Hello Paul,

These Ekco U245s are ideal sets for a novice, most of the capacitors are soldered onto standoffs and chassis tags so their wires once heated just slide off. This example certainly has a good cabinet, one of the glossiest I've got. Its grille cloth has shrunk a little in the middle but that's all part of its charm, but Sid Chaplin keeps this cloth so if I wished it could be replaced in the future. He also keeps the brass plated handle trims for the portable U245, I fitted a new pair recently to mine, see below.

Howard

[benjamin77]

Nice little sets those ones, I have a fond spot for them as my Aunt worked at the EKCO factory for over 40yrs. She had one of these sets as a "second" in her bedroom. As usual they clean up well and are good performers...

[JoshWard]

One of my favourite sets. I love my brown one.
They do run hot, I've drilled holes in the bottom of mine and fitted a heat deflector with very good results.

They certainly seem to sound better than the far more expensive DAC90As (same valve lineup I think) to me .

Well done!

[howard]

Originally Posted by JoshWard

One of my favourite sets. I love my brown one.
They do run hot, I've drilled holes in the bottom of mine and fitted a heat deflector with very good results.

They certainly seem to sound better than the far more expensive DAC90As (same valve lineup I think) to me .

Well done!

Hello Josh,

Yes they do get very hot, the rear cover could have done with a few more holes in it. I think the DAC90A sounds a little better than the Ekco U245, it has a bigger loudspeaker and a bit more bass.

Originally Posted by howard

The HT was checked and it was found to be excellent, so the UL41 grid voltage was then checked - that measure around 320mA ....... Howard

Oops I just noticed this error above, the UL41 grid voltage measured 320mV

Howard

[Retired]

Hi Howard, Stunning condition; just lovely. Col.

[paulsherwin]

The U245 was a good economy design, and seems to have sold in large numbers judging from the many survivors around today. They don't seem to appeal to collectors and are usually available for little money. They make a good first AC/DC set for restoration since they are relatively easy to work on.

I have two, one an early model in good basic condition and one a later model restored from a complete wreck thanks to replacement cabinet parts from Paul Stenning. Both are excellent performers given their 'second set' status, pulling in RTE R1 very well here in Oxford on the built in ferrite rod aerial.

I'm a big fan of 1950s Ekcos.

Paul

[FIXITNOW]

i like them got one at a local boot sale for £3 nice but sadly one damaged foot
cleaned up very well

[Horris]

That certainly was a good looking example of that model. I am pleased to see that you have had another success.

Dave

[Hunts smoothing bomb]

Well done howard, I've had one of those for around 18 yrs now, it was my first propper valve radio given to me by a teacher at school!, It's still unrestored and was working before put away, I must get it out the loft and get on with it.

Cheers

[howard]

Originally Posted by FIXITNOW

i like them got one at a local boot sale for £3 nice but sadly one damaged foot
cleaned up very well

Both bearers were damaged on my other U245 but luckily I managed to obtain spare ones from forum members. Try an ad for one in the Parts Wanted thread.

Originally Posted by Horris

That certainly was a good looking example of that model. I am pleased to see that you have had another success. Dave

Hello Dave,

If it had been sent through the post it may well have not looked so nice now but thanks to you it arrived in perfect condition.

Originally Posted by Hunts smoothing bomb

Well done howard, I've had one of those for around 18 yrs now, it was my first propper valve radio given to me by a teacher at school!, It's still unrestored and was working before put away, I must get it out the loft and get on with it. Cheers

It should only take a few hours to overhaul your U245 so go for it.

Howard

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by howard

Both bearers were damaged on my other U245 but luckily I managed to obtain spare ones from forum members. Try an ad for one in the Parts Wanted thread.

The same feet were used on several small bakelite Ekco sets from the first half of the 50s, and the bakelite cabinets often suffer severe damage resulting in scrapping, so restorers do sometimes have spares kicking around. As a last resort replacement feet can be fabricated from wood and painted dark brown.

The feet have an important safety function in that they cover the potentially live screw heads securing the chassis in place.

Paul