Philips black capacitors-historical perspective - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

RadioHist · 2nd Mar 2016, 5:46 pm

Hi,

I am preparing to exhibit a Philips 204U made in occupied Holland in 1941/42 and exported to Sweden.

These sets have coupling and decoupling capacitors encased in what look a lot like some sort of tar. I see that they were in Philips/Mullard sets as well.

My question for the group is: At the time and during the useful life of these radios were these capacitors regarded as good, bad or typical of such devices in the marketplace?

Thanks,
Robert

paulsherwin · 2nd Mar 2016, 6:07 pm

I think they are typical domestic grade waxed paper capacitors, no better or worse than the others that we see. They certainly gave no trouble for the first 10 years, which I suppose is the nominal life of the radios they were in. Nowadays they are usually leaky of course.

They were used by all Philips European subsidiaries in the 40s and 50s, including Philips UK and Philips Ireland.

Nicklyons2 · 2nd Mar 2016, 8:34 pm

I believe these were regarded as better suited to export use being better resilient to damp and hence Philips famed 'tropicalised' sets. Personally I found them to be as good as anything else around at the time I always found the date codes on them interesting in that the month was in 'Romans' e.g. 16XII55.

G6Tanuki · 2nd Mar 2016, 9:13 pm

Under WWII occupation component-availability constraints I guess just being able to produce a 'consumer' radio for export is best viewed as some kind of major achievement! Let's face it - if you're in the middle of a war, worrying about customers claiming on your warranty after a year or so is probably not high on your worry-list.

The capacitors would have been OK for a decade or so. As would the now universally-deprecated Hunts capacitors used by pretty much all UK radio/TV-makers.

Too many of us 'vintage' geeks have horribly unrealistic expectations of component reliability: the historic radios and TVs we're now dealing with are the 1% of survivors - would the purchasers of these really have worried about expecting them to still be working after all these years?

Brian R Pateman · 2nd Mar 2016, 11:23 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by G6Tanuki

The capacitors would have been OK for a decade or so. As would the now universally-deprecated Hunts capacitors used by pretty much all UK radio/TV-makers.

Which comfortably covers the design life of the equipment.

RadioHist · 3rd Mar 2016, 3:17 am

Thanks gents for your comments. I think you have put my query to rest.

All the best,
Robert

2nd Mar 2016, 5:46 pm	#1
RadioHist Pentode Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Charlotte, NC; USA Posts: 165	Philips black capacitors-historical perspective Hi, I am preparing to exhibit a Philips 204U made in occupied Holland in 1941/42 and exported to Sweden. These sets have coupling and decoupling capacitors encased in what look a lot like some sort of tar. I see that they were in Philips/Mullard sets as well. My question for the group is: At the time and during the useful life of these radios were these capacitors regarded as good, bad or typical of such devices in the marketplace? Thanks, Robert

2nd Mar 2016, 6:07 pm	#2
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,964	Re: Philips black capacitors-historical perspective I think they are typical domestic grade waxed paper capacitors, no better or worse than the others that we see. They certainly gave no trouble for the first 10 years, which I suppose is the nominal life of the radios they were in. Nowadays they are usually leaky of course. They were used by all Philips European subsidiaries in the 40s and 50s, including Philips UK and Philips Ireland.

2nd Mar 2016, 8:34 pm	#3
Nicklyons2 Octode Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 1,517	Re: Philips black capacitors-historical perspective I believe these were regarded as better suited to export use being better resilient to damp and hence Philips famed 'tropicalised' sets. Personally I found them to be as good as anything else around at the time I always found the date codes on them interesting in that the month was in 'Romans' e.g. 16XII55.

2nd Mar 2016, 9:13 pm	#4
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 14,005	Re: Philips black capacitors-historical perspective Under WWII occupation component-availability constraints I guess just being able to produce a 'consumer' radio for export is best viewed as some kind of major achievement! Let's face it - if you're in the middle of a war, worrying about customers claiming on your warranty after a year or so is probably not high on your worry-list. The capacitors would have been OK for a decade or so. As would the now universally-deprecated Hunts capacitors used by pretty much all UK radio/TV-makers. Too many of us 'vintage' geeks have horribly unrealistic expectations of component reliability: the historic radios and TVs we're now dealing with are the 1% of survivors - would the purchasers of these really have worried about expecting them to still be working after all these years?

3rd Mar 2016, 3:17 am	#6
RadioHist Pentode Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Charlotte, NC; USA Posts: 165	Re: Philips black capacitors-historical perspective Thanks gents for your comments. I think you have put my query to rest. All the best, Robert