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Success Stories If you have successfully repaired or restored a piece of equipment, why not write up what you did and post details here. Particularly if it was interesting, unusual or challenging. PLEASE DO NOT POST REQUESTS FOR HELP HERE! |
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27th Dec 2020, 10:09 pm | #1 |
Hexode
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Hohenroda, Eastern Hesse, Germany
Posts: 462
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Philips Philetta
Hello,
This Christmas Eve drove my mother-in-law's 1962 Philips Philetta "kitchen radio" to me for service. "It is as always was: It may do it for a while, then it will shut up suddenly, and the other day it will do it all day long or not. Must be a minor fault, please have a look at it! It think it is becoming worse by the time" It is the E-series valve type version (ECC85, ECH 81, EABC 80, EL 95), so indeed rather straightforward design. Well, about 20 years ago I did a recap and put new valves in. Today I found sticky pots and defective scale illumination bulbs. Nothing else? A close look behind the dial: The Dutch Philips crew did not solder the + and - terminals of the selenium rectifier! Just the wires put through and bent! And this way the set has been in operation ever since! Soldering the terminals correctly did help: Now it does not shut up any more. Regards, joe Last edited by Joe_Lorenz; 27th Dec 2020 at 10:10 pm. Reason: Typo |
28th Dec 2020, 10:27 am | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK.
Posts: 3,767
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Re: Philips Philetta
Well done Joe it's nice to find a definite cure, when the fault is intermittent love these little radios. Mick.
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28th Dec 2020, 12:06 pm | #3 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Charmouth, Dorset, UK.
Posts: 3,601
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Re: Philips Philetta
Yes, well done, intermittent faults were the Bain of my life for the 50 years I was in the trade. It quite amazing though how long sets will go on working with them, often its until the wire or tag oxidises and creates a high resistance.
Peter |
28th Dec 2020, 1:13 pm | #4 |
Hexode
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Hohenroda, Eastern Hesse, Germany
Posts: 462
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Re: Philips Philetta
Yes those little radios are nice but sometimes too many components crammed inside.
Though the Philetta models are still no hassle to fix, there are much worse sets around. The mains transformers tended to go open circuit in many cases as I remember. Regards, Joe |
25th Jan 2021, 9:35 am | #5 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Ashhurst, Manawatu, New Zealand
Posts: 571
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Re: Philips Philetta
Which brings us to the question that you can never answer. "How do you know that you have fixed an intermittant fault?"
Yes, I found a fault that would display all of the symptoms of the defect. Yes, but how do you know that there isn't another defect with a longer MTBF?... ...and so on ad infinitum.
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Cheers - Martin ZL2MC |
25th Jan 2021, 9:53 am | #6 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK.
Posts: 3,767
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Re: Philips Philetta
Quote:
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25th Jan 2021, 11:49 am | #7 |
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 27,970
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Re: Philips Philetta
The Philetta models are really nice radios, but for some reason Philips GB never made their own version or imported the German ones, so they were very rare sets in the UK. Some were bought by British military personnel stationed in Germany in the 1950s and 60s. They were allowed to buy them without paying German or British taxes.
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25th Jan 2021, 12:15 pm | #8 | |
Nonode
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Gloucester, Glos. UK.
Posts: 2,150
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Re: Philips Philetta
Quote:
As you say its pretty rammed inside which puts me off a bit, ive never even switched it on although its been there for quite a while now.
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Oh I've had that for years dear!! |
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26th Jan 2021, 8:59 am | #9 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Bewdley, Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 4,748
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Re: Philips Philetta
Nice to find that long-established ‘fault waiting to happen’ and it’s very satisfying when you can track it down. I once traced a dry joint in a valve tester that had been present since it was built in 1946, but as it only showed up when testing one specific type of valve it’s perhaps unsurprising that no-one had found it before!
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Phil Optimist [n]: One who is not in possession of the full facts |