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Old 5th Mar 2019, 1:40 am   #1
Techman
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Default Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

I was given this radio at the weekend along with another item in payment for a small repair I did (or rather diagnosed - I let the owner of the machine fit the actual replacement part which I supplied) on a Philips dictating machine and which is documented in another thread in the tape recorder section of the forum.

I thought it was just a bashed up AM only set before I looked at it properly, and I wasn't initially going to bother with it until I realised that it had VHF/FM, so worth at least giving it a chance.

The output valve and the rectifier were rolling around loose inside, and that area of the chassis was wet with what was probably switch cleaner of some sort, which had mixed with all the muck and dust and likely to now make it more difficult to blow out with the air blower. Its previous owner told me that he'd had mains on it and that it was completely dead with no sign of light or life. A resistance check across the mains lead showed infinity and a check of the on/off switch found it to be open circuit on both poles. I think this may have been lucky, as I noted that the original RF filter wax covered capacitor was still fitted across the switch. It's possible that it could have gone short and blown the switch open circuit, but more likely that the switch is just stuck from being left in the 'off' position for a few decades and may well recover with a bit of luck and fiddling - they often do. I measured the circuitry after the switch and it's still basically an open circuit, so there's no continuity through the heater line. I think the previous owner had possibly tried spaying the valve base sockets with something when trying to get it to power up, hence the wet mess on the chassis top.

I've only had a very quick look at this set so far. I quickly checked the dropper and it was OK. A quick check of the circuit showed that there are several critical capacitors that will need replacing - not that they're anything to do with the open circuit heater line, which could well be just down to bad valve base contacts. There's a wire off one of the ferrite rod coils and the rotator adjuster that protrudes through the back is broken off, however, I found the broken off part tucked down the side of the chassis, unfortunately the piece of broken Bakelite case is missing altogether. The next thing was to take the set out side for a good blow out. I've not done any more to the set at this stage and I'm not going to spend too much time on it, but it will be interesting to see if it's capable of working without too much trouble first, and then we'll see where we go from there.

Below are pictures of the set as found - complete with remains of dead spiders and years of dust etc. :-
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 1:50 am   #2
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

Reading some past threads and posts on this forum, I gather that this model radio is quite a good performer, so we'll have to see how it goes with this one. The case can be repaired if necessary, it just depends on how much time I'm prepared to spend on it.

Some more pictures of the 'innards':-
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 1:59 am   #3
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

It will be a good set when sorted out, I repaired one a few years ago. Quite a few paper capacitors in there as well as the electrolytic in the ratio detector. The valve bases are ceramic not the McMurdo type so that's a good start.
Pity about the cabinet.
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 2:17 am   #4
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

Yes, thanks for that. I had a quick perusal of the circuit diagram and noted the usual output stage coupling capacitor which will be critical to the sets life expectancy. There's a couple on the heater line, but they're not in particularly stressed positions. I've spotted at least one other critical one, plus the one on the AGC line where any slight leakage will affect this high impedance part of the circuit. I'd also noted that electrolytic in the ratio detector that is almost certainly likely to be bad. We'll see how we go and replace those that need replacing - I know many people like to replace all of the paper types and it may come to that in the end, we'll see.

The cabinet nearly makes it a write off, but the dial glass and the grill are still good, and the knobs are complete, so the set is savable, but only just. I'll see if the electronic side of it is salvageable first, and then think about the cabinet later.
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 2:42 am   #5
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

I think its a set made by Ekco, late Ferrantis were.
The case will fix I would think with a bit or re-enforcing inside and could then be sprayed a pretty colour.
They were good performers and the dial glasses were smart.
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 8:41 am   #6
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

I think so too. Very like Ekco U319A in the picture. The case on this one had a date scratched inside, presumably by the people who made it. I later discovered others had it too. Quite hard to spot at first.

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Old 5th Mar 2019, 8:47 am   #7
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

The bottom line says 4/58 - April 1958, which would be about right.

John
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 11:13 am   #8
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

Very similar chassis to my Ekco A320a, except that is an AC only model with transformer & has a wooden cabinet. I should have a look at that again, it's kind of been put to one side.

Will be following this restoration/recuperation with interest to see which of the lovely Hunts give the most trouble!
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 11:45 am   #9
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

It's the Ferranti badged variant of the Ekco U319.
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 12:20 pm   #10
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

The cabinets can be repaired, quite a nice thickness to the bakelite on these sets, here's a link to my set from January 2018:- https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=143293

They do perform very well and sound nice, worth giving it ago, plus they have a Gram input, I used Y-Rated capacitors on that part of the circuit.

If all else fails and your dial-glass is looking for a new home(?)

Good luck, will be reading on with interest.

Mark
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 1:43 pm   #11
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

Thanks for all the information regarding the Ekco connection, something I hadn't realised.

I'll have to have a look for any sign of date scratching, unless it was only done on Ekco branded models for some reason.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ekjdm14 View Post
see which of the lovely Hunts give the most trouble!
That's the way to do it

When the word 'Hunts' is used to describe bad and unreliable capacitors, it's worth remembering that just because it's got the 'Hunts' name on it, it doesn't necessarily make it bad. Hunts made some of the best electrolytic capacitors ever made, many of which are still performing faultlessly as reservoir and smoothers to this day. It's just the (supposed to be) 'dry' paper type that give all the electrical leakage problems and probably had slight moisture in the paper when they were first manufactured. This was probably due to a damp and badly heated factory and the way the paper was made and stored - time has gradually made them absorb more moisture and leak worse, particularly in critical places with HT on one side.

I'll keep you in mind if it all goes belly up, Mark - I guess you've got a busted one?
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 1:55 pm   #12
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

It is a good performer. Sound quality on VHF is well above average.

It's also fairly well ventilated - the roomy cabinet minimises hot spots.

Good luck with it!
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 2:12 pm   #13
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

This was the one a fixed in 2014.
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Old 5th Mar 2019, 11:16 pm   #14
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

Quote:
Originally Posted by Techman View Post
When the word 'Hunts' is used to describe bad and unreliable capacitors, it's worth remembering that just because it's got the 'Hunts' name on it, it doesn't necessarily make it bad. Hunts made some of the best electrolytic capacitors ever made, many of which are still performing faultlessly as reservoir and smoothers to this day.

Indeed, of the 2 electrolytics that tested acceptably in a project I'm currently on with, 1 was Daly and the other, none other than Hunts. (and the Daly was borderline). If the U1003 is anything like my A320 on the underside though, there's plenty of the paper ones in store.
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Old 6th Mar 2019, 1:44 pm   #15
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

I got around to having a proper look at the radio yesterday evening. A second check on the heater string showed that there was in fact a relatively high resistance reading which would obviously be due to the ‘cold’ thermistor in series – I either hadn’t noticed this yesterday, or after re-seating the valves a possible bad connection in a valve base was rectified.

With the set upside down on the bench, I snipped the live side end of the wax mains filter capacitor at the switch and bent its lead back out of the way. I clipped a croc clip from the live side of my Variac onto the radio side of the live pole of the on/off switch and clipped a neutral connection to a handy tag on the chassis. I often just go for full mains, but on this occasion I decided to wind up this particular set fairly slowly on the Variac, while monitoring the HT at the smoothing can. HT voltage gradually came up as would be expected if all was good with the rectifiers and smoothers. There was some crackle and slight noise from the speaker and some noise produced when operating the wave change switch, which was a good sign – remember, there was no VHF aerial connected yet and the wire was still broken off the ferrite rod coil.

I powered down and felt for the slightest sign of warming from the smoothing can and it was pretty much cold. I powered up a couple more times and took a voltage reading on the grid of the UL84 output valve and found around 4 volts positive on it. After snipping the grid end of the associated coupling capacitor, I found that there was still a very small positive voltage on the grid, which isn’t unusual and is just due to an ageing valve with a bit of internal leakage and grid current, although I will monitor this on test, just in case. Out of interest, measuring the free disconnected end of the coupling capacitor showed a voltage of over 30 volts now that it wasn’t being loaded by the grid of the valve, so a very leaky capacitor. Now guess what – it wasn’t a Hunts! It was actually a nice metal encapsulated TCC “Metalmite” - C48 on the manufacturers service sheet. I replaced this capacitor with a modern type and with the back cover single wire aerial plugged into its socket on the rear of the chassis, I powered the set up again. With the radio set to VHF, stations were able to be tuned in loud and clear. I temporarily tacked the broken wire back onto the ferrite rod aerial coil – it needs doing properly so as not to stress the actual coil, as it may do with the way I’ve connected it at the moment. On powering up again, I had full medium and long wave operation. The volume control was really bad, not so much noisy, but just intermittent with dead spots. The radio was working well, but the volume control, when it made contact, was pretty much at full volume setting, as if something was possibly dragging things down. It was at this point that I noticed a wisp of smoke as the sound slightly faded and distorted.

The wisp of smoke was from R34, 330 ohms, and it was running very hot. This resistor feeds HT to the top of the primary of the output transformer and thence on to the anode of the output valve and is decoupled by C61. I immediately suspected C61, as I doubted that even a bad valve and its associated components could conduct enough current to cause such a loading on the supply through R34, as to cause it to overheat to such a degree. However, on another quick power up and before the smoke appeared again, I did check the cathode voltage on the output valve and it was near enough what would normally be expected. I noted that the HT at the junction of the output transformer, R34 and C61 started dropping off quite quickly after the set had warmed up and then the inevitable wisp of smoke from the resistor. C61 is the single 8uf electrolytic which is held to the underside of the chassis by a clamp held in place by one of the output transformer bolts. I disconnected the end connected to the transformer primary tag, and on powering up, the HT rose to a more normal level and the set literally blasted out with good, clear, loud sound on all wavebands. C61 must have been very leaky, although it didn’t feel warm to the touch. I will probably take a closer look at it and see if it will reform, although by the amount of leakage that it seams to have, it has probably ‘had it’ and will need replacing. Obviously, it’s there for a reason, even though the set may seem to work fine without it, there’s likely to be slightly increased hum level and the possibility of instability. This capacitor was yet another TCC, this time a metal clad “Micropack”.

Using a small screw driver with a filed down blade for the purpose, I levered the case of the volume control section of the double potentiometer open enough to just get a good squirt of Servisol 10 into that section of the unit, working the volume control knob on the front of the set back and forth a few times. On powering up the set again, the volume control seemed to work perfectly, which I have to say was a bit of a surprise considering how bad it was before. On trying the tone control I found that it only cuts the treble at the extreme end of its travel, so probably another bad track or possibly an open circuit. I’m not particularly worried about this as I tend to leave this type of tone control set to maximum treble when in use anyway. All this was done with the chassis still in the cabinet. I’ll have to remove the chassis to get to the tone control section and there’s still the on/off switch section of the control to try to sort and also other stuff.

It’s true that this radio model is a great performer, and the volume is so loud that it has to be turned a fair way down for normal listening, and it’s certainly a very lively set. It hasn’t had very much running time and that 8uf electrolytic still needs reforming or more likely replacing. The radio seems to be performing really well, and none of the Hunts capacitors have, as yet, been replaced. I can’t see what make the wax mains filter capacitor is yet as it’s still tucked away behind the switch, so it could possibly be a Hunts. The two capacitors that would have prevented the set working properly and ended up possibly killing it if left in place were both TCC types. I’ll study the circuit diagram a bit more and decide which, if any, of the other mainly Hunts type capacitors may benefit from replacement, although I doubt it will be very many, possibly no more than a couple at most. Listening to the sound on VHF, that ratio detector capacitor seems like it may be alright after all, although I may just lift one end and tack another one in to see if I can notice a difference.

More to come no doubt, but so far, so good
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Old 6th Mar 2019, 2:01 pm   #16
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

An interesting report with some proper testing and fault finding. Well done!
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Old 6th Mar 2019, 2:17 pm   #17
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

Thank you, Graham. I do try to promote good fault finding practice and discourage the blanket "change all the caps, particularly the Hunts" approach that sometimes seems to be so prevalent.
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Old 6th Mar 2019, 3:27 pm   #18
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

Nice work & fairly in-line with what occurred with my A320 on power-up. I think the one behind the switch is likely another Metalmite & probably dying also.

Hats off to you on bringing this set back from the grave!
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Old 6th Mar 2019, 3:47 pm   #19
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

Thanks, yes, that one behind the switch would have been a dead cert to go dead short on power up if the mains on/off switch had been working when the sets previous owner had tried powering it up. It would possibly have welded the switch contacts into the permanently on position before blowing any fuse that hopefully would have been in line. I think the "Metalmite" name indicates that the component is clad in metal, so possibly the wax one may not be of this particular type, but could well be a TCC rather than a Hunts. However, the large wax type seen at the rear of the chassis underside is C35 and is a Hunts brand and should be considered for replacement if the 'gram' input were to be used. This capacitor should really be a 'Y' rated type as has been mentioned previously by another poster on this thread.
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Old 7th Mar 2019, 1:21 am   #20
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Default Re: Ferranti U1003 basket case radio

The 8uf TCC electrolytic wouldn't re-form, it was passing 8mA which was varying up and down around this figure all the time and was actually getting slightly warm at around 130 volts, so it was beyond redemption. I found a nice new and unused Hunts 8uf, 350 volt with 75mA ripple from my old stock of vintage parts. It fits perfectly under the clip and re-formed down to virtually no needle movement on the AVO 7 on the 0.01amp DC range in series with the bench HT supply at a final 300 volts, so should be good to go and is now fitted in the set. By the way, I don't recommend using vintage paper capacitors as replacements - always use new, unless it's those Mullard mustard types, as they're normally good regardless of age.

I've identified another three capacitors, all Hunts paper types, which are C14, C30 and C31, that are likely to cause problems with increasing leakage taking voltages down and eventually the associated resistors, so these will have to be replaced. I actually measured the effect of one of them increasing in leakage as it dropped an associated voltage, altering the performance of the set as it did so. All the rest of the Hunts will probably be fine to be left as they are, but if I identify any further problems with any, then I'll deal with them as necessary. I still haven't checked out the ratio detector electrolytic, but I will do just in case. The set seems to tune up on VHF to just beyond one of our local stations on 102.2 MHz.
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