Philco Peoples Set Battery Model 333 Never had a Back?

[Hit and Miss]

Just purchased a 1936 Philco Peoples Set Battery Model 333 from a charity shop. Good value and nice amount for charity shop. Pleased and happy with that.

Thought back was missing but after researching online appears to have not had one.

To enable easy battery changing?

No holes for screws.

Perfect cabinet, knobs, tuning scale and very good original speaker cloth.

No valves or chassis securing bolts, surface rust on chassis and speaker/battery wiring trimmed off.

Am I right in thinking in didn’t have a back?

If your going on a bus ride take a big strong bag!

[Cobaltblue]

Backs were generally to stop Joe and Josephine public from sticking their hands in and getting an electric shock.

That's far less likely with a battery set and less likely to be fatal.

I don't recall seeing a 333 with a back many battery sets 1930's Cossor for example had "half backs" the Battery section (inside the case) was not covered.

Cheers

Mike T

[vinrads]

Nice find I have one in my collection, to make it more presentable I would make it a project and totally strip it ,repaint the chassis and speaker then it will look good inside and outside. If you need any help just ask. Mick.

[Hit and Miss]

Thanks Mick.

At least I won't have to make a new back.

[FERNSEH]

The attachment shows the difference in cabinet size between the Model 444 and A527 (at left) and the 333 battery model.

DFWB.

[Hit and Miss]

Interesting comparison.

My 1936 333 left and 1937 B537 right. 1936 333 battery and 444 mains sets seem to share the same cabinet. 1937 smaller with rounded speaker aperture sides rather than straight on earlier set.

I thought the 1937 cabinet looked older and 1936 looked uprated. Actually it's the other way round.

Cabinets come in brown and black but mine, depending on lighting, looks very dark brown but suppose its what counts as black.

Nice to have an example of both cabinets.

If your buying a cabinet no screw holes in back denotes 333 battery model without a back.

[Hit and Miss]

Chassis securing bolts missing. As I suspected-middle lower wave change knob stuck and won't come off. Maybe they couldn't be bothered to screw bolts back in or refit valves. Shame. Never mind the rest of it survived.

No grub/pinch screws I can see so applying penetrating oil overnight with radio facing downwards on wooden strips.

The others just pulled off OK. Try again tomorrow.

[vinrads]

Good idea ! try using the two screw driver method don't forget some protection on the case good luck. Mick.

[Hit and Miss]

Thanks Mick. Take it you mean lever off with screwdriver both sides on protection pads?

Nice when a plan works. Wiggle pull, wiggle pull until gently off after overnight soak. Rusted on.

So solid last night I thought it might have been glued on! Oh no always display only! Treat with Acetone maybe only chance?

Other ideas I had were nylon cord tied around back of knob and other end tied into a loop. Hook on to a slide hammer and very gently tap it off. Risk of breaking switch though.

Freeze the spindle with aerosol spray and a thin tube. Steel probably contracts more than Bakelite. Very last resort.

[radiomobile]

We used to meet this problem quite often and if none of the above remedies worked, the last resort was to crush the knob in a large vice. With care this avoids damaging the switch and/or the cabinet but it requires two people, one to support the radio and the other to operate the vice. Of course only possible if you have a spare knob but desperate situations require desperate remedies. I would leave it for a few more days to allow the penetrating oil to work first. These are the sort of problems customers did not appreciate when you told them how long a repair took.

[stevehertz]

Get yourself a proper knob puller. They're generally available as guitar technician/luthier tools. Obviously they're not suitable for every shape and size of knob outside of those used on guitars, but the beauty about them is they pull smoothly and equally all around the knob so there's less chance of breaking it. Here's a link below, but do a Google search for knob puller tool, there's various options of the same/similar type of tool.

https://www.gluedtomusic.com/product...ushing-puller/

[G6Tanuki]

Another trick is to drill a hole in the centre of the knob until it hits the end of the spindle.

Then tap it appropriately and screw in a grease nipple.

Then put a grease gun on the nipple and pump it so the hydraulic force jacks the knob off the shaft.

Then use car body filler to repair the hole.

[stevehertz]

That assumes an airtight fit of the knob onto the shaft. I personally doubt that that would be the case in the case of push fit knobs. In any case the method does seem a bit 'fanciful' if not long winded and teetering on disaster from a number of standpoints. Sorry, just my opinion!