Power up old Radio Rentals radio

[wirralman]

I found a Radio Rentals radio in my deceased father's loft and in the absence of a mains lead I wondered how to power it up ( safely ). Please could someone advise. Photos are attached.

[paulsherwin]

The short answer is don't do it! The radio will contain components which will have deteriorated by now. If you power it up, it's very unlikely to work well if at all, and damage may be caused.

It doesn't seem in too bad a state so should be restorable, but this will require a certain amount of expertise which you may or may not have.

To apply power, you will need to source a cable with the appropriate connector, or modify the radio to use a permanently connected cable. You should only do this if you are confident you have the expertise to do it safely.

[Half a Mullard]

I would agree with Paul, best not to try powering it up. It is very unlikely to work. Many radios ended up in lofts when they developed a fault. Looks a nice set though.

[Heatercathodeshort]

Probably manufactured by E.K. Cole [EKCO] at Southend-on-Sea. John.

[Silicon]

If your radio has an FM (VHF) range on the dial you may find that the Baird 232 service manual has the schematic and component position diagrams.

It has an AC/DC power supply and uses the UCC85, UCH81 series of valves.

[Edward Huggins]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

To apply power, you will need to source a cable with the appropriate connector, or modify the radio to use a permanently connected cable. You should only do this if you are confident you have the expertise to do it safely.

And if this is an AC/DC, set it's eassential that the Neutral mains connection is to the Radio's chassis. Can the OP advise what skills he has in using a Digital Multi-Meter and soldering?

[Herald1360]

Not essential surely? The set was designed to be connected either way round.

Desirable, yes, especially if the set is being used or worked on with any of its original safety measures removed or missing.

[AC/HL]

Can we have an internal photo please, to be able to better help your query. Information on Radio Rentals sets is a bit patchy.

[TrevorM6TSE]

I would mirror others views here. Don't power it up unless you have sufficient safely and electronics knowledge. It'll either not work, work badly, or most likely work then die. At which point vital parts may be damaged. It's not designed to modern electrical standards either, so there is a safety factor.

Perhaps if you don't have the skills a local member here could help?

[Nickthedentist]

Almost certainly like this one of mine, Bill..

[AC/HL]

Looks like it. That makes it a Baird M232, AC/DC and Bradford built!
https://www.service-data.com/section.../1/m232-series

[Nickthedentist]

Ugly as sin, un-necessarily small speaker, but at least it has VHF and is very accessible for servicing

[McMurdo]

bet it's a decent enough performer, Nick? In my experience Baird stuff usually is?

[wirralman]

Thanks to everyone for all your replies

Paul Serwin said
To apply power, you will need to source a cable with the appropriate connector

That is the info I was looking for

Edward Huggins said

Can the OP advise what skills he has in using a Digital Multi-Meter and soldering?

Yes, I can solder and have a digital multi-meter

Nick the dentist showed a photo of the inside of a ( possible ) identical model and so here are photos of the inside of this one for comparison

N.B. I was brought up in Blackburn and it is no surprise to find that most of the valves are Mullards.

I would just like to power it up safely and if it doesn't work then so be it.

[ekjdm14]

Wow, that has an even smaller 'speaker than Nicks! It does look to be very similar to the Baird M232 & likely the circuit will be very close.

To power it up relatively safely will require at least replacement of coupling caps & reforming/replacement of electrolytics not to mention taking care that the chassis is connected to the neutral side of the mains. (coupling capacitors more from a point of safety for the valves & output transformer, but the electrolytic can/s are a physical, personal safety concern also since they can potentially explode quite violently if the set were used without adequately reforming them).

Quite an interesting little set, being a rental unit that's survived & doesn't look in bad cosmetic shape at all.

[paulsherwin]

At a guess, this radio uses a BS73 5A two pin female plug as its mains connector. These are quite difficult to find today, expecially in their 1950s versions. This connector was quite widely used from the 30s to the early 60s, but has the major drawback that it isn't polarised, so there's no way of knowing which way round the mains is connected.

As Dan says, ex rental sets are quite rare because they were seen as having no value once they came off rental, so were scrapped.

You can't just power up valve radios that have been sitting in a loft for 40 years and hope for the best. Think about finding a car that has been in a garage for that length of time. Would you give it some petrol, charge the battery and try to start it and drive it off? Of course not. Your radio will not work if you just try to use it without any restoration.

[McMurdo]

My 1960 Baird has a small speaker just like that but the sound is actually pretty decent.