1955 Philips 141U 5 valve AC/DC MW/LW transportable radio - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

howard · 23rd May 2011, 10:11 pm

Hello again,

I only bought one radio to restore at the NVCF, this little Philips 141U Handyset in working order for £13. It was grubby but I couldn't find any cracks or marks on it all, and I was right, under the dirt was a mint set. And it worked too but wax was squirting out of one end the mains filter capacitor so that was about to blow ......

I have two of these already plus a Stella ST105U equivalent so I knew what problems to expect. This set had had its dropper replaced at some time with a Radiospares part and it had also had a new Philips switched volume potentiometer. I checked its smoothing capacitor (dated August 1955) and it was fine so I just replaced all its black pitch tubular capacitors which improved its gain. All the old capacitors when checked were found to be very leaky. Its resistors were checked and they too were fine but the volume potentiometer had a dead spot causing it to hum so that was dismantled and cleaned which sorted it out. The IF tested OK and the pointer was still well aligned but the set had less gain, particularly on LW, than another 141U here. I've found that adjusting the aerial trimmers on these works wonders so I adjusted MW and that peaked up nicely but the LW one did nothing, and when I fully unscrewed the LW grub screw and attempted to pull out the attached ferrite rod just the wire link came out. The trimmer box was removed from the chassis, its side panel and wire spring on top removed and eventually I managed to loosen the rod and remove it from its former. It was gently cleaned, the wire link replaced, the trimmer box reassembled with the wire spring superglued back into place on top, the trimmer reinstated and both MW and LW when adjusted peaked up successfully and the set now works very well, better than the other one in fact ! Finally a couple of coats of red paint was put on top of the trimmer box. Ron Bryan checked it over as well and found no problems, and the voltage on the UL41 grid was found to be around 300mv so it had plenty of life left in it. The case and trim was cleaned and then polished with Brasso and it came up perfect. I repainted the gold coachlines around the front and back as it was just starting to peel.

I haven't acquired a set which has come up as well as this one for a long time so I am really pleased with it. These are pretty little sets which when working perform very well. Be careful with their trimmers though, only adjust if absolutely necessary as they do have a tendancy to break ........

Howard

Hybrid tellies · 23rd May 2011, 10:18 pm

Nice one Howard, another supurb restoration. Looks a very tidy straightforward little set especially for a Philips

howard · 24th May 2011, 11:06 am

Hello Simon,

Compared with say the contemporary German built Philips Philetta AM/FM midget set the 141U is a doddle to work on. Its straightforward chassis is similar to that in one or two other Philips GB compact AC/DC sets of the period including the earlier 210U but this one has by far the nicest looking cabinet. They generally survive well although the rear panels and perspex fronts tend to get damaged.

Three of the tubular capacitors are listed in the Philips manual with an 800 volt DC rating, and these were replaced with 1000v polyesters. The mains filter capacitor has been replaced with a 275v AC class X2 capacitor.

Howard

Leon Crampin · 24th May 2011, 4:05 pm

I have a 141U - Howard gave me an undamaged back for it (thanks, Howard!).

The interesting feature of this set is its heavy gauge single turn loop aerial - it's a strip of thick aluminium fitted around the cabinet just inside the back cover. As with any transformer or coupling coil, there's no reason why this should not work just as efficiently as a multi-turn "frame" aerial except that in order to both tune it and to obtain optimum energy transfer, an RF matching transformer is needed.

Howard shows a picture of this transformer with its LW loading coil section. It's an efficient design (if the cores stay on the rods) and peaks up very well on alignment. Consequently, the single turn loop works just as well - if not better - than many conventional frame aerials; the dielectric losses are lower and so it probably has a higher overall Q.

Watch the operating conditions of the UL41 on this set - on 240V mains, the anode current tends to be a bit high, even with everything else within tolerance. I solved this by fitting a less than 100% UL41. The dial lamp can be replaced with a 24V 2.8W MES lamp which used to be the standard for commercial vehicle dashboard pilot lamps. It gives the right brightness at 0.1A.

A neat set - possibly the last of the Philips "whacky" designs - although there was a later set with an 800 Ohm speaker...

Leon.

Andrewausfa · 24th May 2011, 10:35 pm

That looks excellent Howard. I'm quite tempted by some of these Philips sets.

Regards _ Andrew

howard · 10th Nov 2011, 5:57 pm

And yet another 141U .........

Hello again,

While I was in Switzerland and Germany a few months back, I visited a massive collection of European and North American vintage radios (which included a rare Marconi from 1912), there were a few sets there from British manufacturers Ekco, Bush and Murphy etc and in the Philips section dwarfed by big Dutch, Swiss and German built radios was one of these little 141Us in nice condition, still with its UK plug attached. I too like these little Philips Handysets, so much so that I've rebuilt this third one from two scrap sets, the first from a BVWS auction earlier in the year with a damaged back panel and a second original example in fair condition bought locally for £6.

The example from the BVWS auction was found to have been overhauled but not at all well, with radial electrolytic capacitors glued upside down onto the chassis to replace the original smoothing capacitor, the dial cord incorrectly fitted and the pointer firmly superglued onto it, and its tubular capacitors had been replaced with cheap radials tacked onto the wires remaining from the original pitch capacitors. The other example was all original except for a replacement RS dropper so I decided to restore the unmolested chassis from this one and to use the other for spares. The cases and trim were both in good condition except for the damaged rear panel so there were sufficient parts to build a nice case from the two.

I checked the three stage dropper for continuity and that was fine so then the chassis was cleaned up and the valve pins, waveband switch and volume potentiometer all cleaned with DeoxiT. The capacitor across the mains was removed and the set powered up, and once warmed up after a few minutes it was just about working. The volume potentiometer was very noisy and worn though. So all the original black pitch tubular capacitors were replaced with new polyesters and the cap across the mains replaced with a 275v AC class X2. The switched volume pot was replaced with an original one from the scrap set, a new 2 core mains lead fitted and also a new dial cord as that broke. During the course of its overhaul the aerial trimmer box fell apart so to save time I replaced that too using the one in the scrap set. The set was now working quite well after a quick tweak of the aerial and MW high frequency trimmers but it sounded a bit distorted on the strong local County Sound station on 192m MW and the HT at 160 volts was low. So I took it over to Ron Bryan to check it over.

The low HT problem was investigated and it was eventually established that the RS 240+250+538 ohm dropper had been fitted the wrong way around so the HT was low and the LT was too high ! Disconnecting the dropper, turning it around and reconnecting it sorted the problem and the HT then rose to over 200v and the overall LT voltage was spot on. Resistors were then checked and only one was found to be way out of spec which was on the UL41 grid so it was replaced. The UL41 grid leakage had been checked earlier and found to be reasonable but with the new resistor in place it was found to have risen to several volts so that was replaced promptly with another UL41 with a much lower leakage of around 250 mV. Later I did the RF alignment and that worked a treat and lastly replaced the UBC41 which improved the sound quality.

The case was in good condition, even the gold coachline paint was intact so it just needed a clean and polish up with Brasso and a little beeswax.

So a third Philips 141U joins the collection (I also have a Stella 105U equivalent), they are straightforward to work on and like the others it's in good condition and works well. These cute little Philips sets are among my favorite valve sets ........ I want another one to do now !

My thanks to Ron for his help.

Howard

Sideband · 10th Nov 2011, 7:16 pm

Yes I'd like to add one of these to the collection. Nice job as usual Howard. You must have hundreds of sets by now!

Rich.

Leon Crampin · 10th Nov 2011, 11:57 pm

Well done Howard - another excellent job.

I have one of these sets (Howard gave me a back panel for it) and they do perform remarkably well when aligned properly - which is a critical job.

The unusual feature is the one turn heavy gauge frame aerial, visible in Howard's photograph. This has a high Q but needs a tuned matching transformer to give optimum energy transfer - hence the critical alignment.

If anyone has trouble finding the dial lamp for these sets, a 24V 2.8W MES commercial vehicle dashboard lamp fits and works perfectly.

Leon.

23rd May 2011, 10:11 pm	#1
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	1955 Philips 141U 5 valve AC/DC MW/LW transportable radio Hello again, I only bought one radio to restore at the NVCF, this little Philips 141U Handyset in working order for £13. It was grubby but I couldn't find any cracks or marks on it all, and I was right, under the dirt was a mint set. And it worked too but wax was squirting out of one end the mains filter capacitor so that was about to blow ...... I have two of these already plus a Stella ST105U equivalent so I knew what problems to expect. This set had had its dropper replaced at some time with a Radiospares part and it had also had a new Philips switched volume potentiometer. I checked its smoothing capacitor (dated August 1955) and it was fine so I just replaced all its black pitch tubular capacitors which improved its gain. All the old capacitors when checked were found to be very leaky. Its resistors were checked and they too were fine but the volume potentiometer had a dead spot causing it to hum so that was dismantled and cleaned which sorted it out. The IF tested OK and the pointer was still well aligned but the set had less gain, particularly on LW, than another 141U here. I've found that adjusting the aerial trimmers on these works wonders so I adjusted MW and that peaked up nicely but the LW one did nothing, and when I fully unscrewed the LW grub screw and attempted to pull out the attached ferrite rod just the wire link came out. The trimmer box was removed from the chassis, its side panel and wire spring on top removed and eventually I managed to loosen the rod and remove it from its former. It was gently cleaned, the wire link replaced, the trimmer box reassembled with the wire spring superglued back into place on top, the trimmer reinstated and both MW and LW when adjusted peaked up successfully and the set now works very well, better than the other one in fact ! Finally a couple of coats of red paint was put on top of the trimmer box. Ron Bryan checked it over as well and found no problems, and the voltage on the UL41 grid was found to be around 300mv so it had plenty of life left in it. The case and trim was cleaned and then polished with Brasso and it came up perfect. I repainted the gold coachlines around the front and back as it was just starting to peel. I haven't acquired a set which has come up as well as this one for a long time so I am really pleased with it. These are pretty little sets which when working perform very well. Be careful with their trimmers though, only adjust if absolutely necessary as they do have a tendancy to break ........ Howard Attached Thumbnails

23rd May 2011, 10:18 pm	#2
Hybrid tellies Nonode Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: 1966-1976 Coverack in Cornwall and Helston Cornwall. 1976-present Bristol/Bath area. Posts: 2,965	Re: 1955 Philips 141U 5 valve AC/DC MW/LW transportable radio Nice one Howard, another supurb restoration. Looks a very tidy straightforward little set especially for a Philips __________________ Simon BVWS member

24th May 2011, 11:06 am	#3
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	Re: 1955 Philips 141U 5 valve AC/DC MW/LW transportable radio Hello Simon, Compared with say the contemporary German built Philips Philetta AM/FM midget set the 141U is a doddle to work on. Its straightforward chassis is similar to that in one or two other Philips GB compact AC/DC sets of the period including the earlier 210U but this one has by far the nicest looking cabinet. They generally survive well although the rear panels and perspex fronts tend to get damaged. Three of the tubular capacitors are listed in the Philips manual with an 800 volt DC rating, and these were replaced with 1000v polyesters. The mains filter capacitor has been replaced with a 275v AC class X2 capacitor. Howard Attached Thumbnails Last edited by howard; 24th May 2011 at 11:27 am.

24th May 2011, 4:05 pm	#4
Leon Crampin Octode Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Surrey, UK. Posts: 1,870	Re: 1955 Philips 141U 5 valve AC/DC MW/LW transportable radio I have a 141U - Howard gave me an undamaged back for it (thanks, Howard!). The interesting feature of this set is its heavy gauge single turn loop aerial - it's a strip of thick aluminium fitted around the cabinet just inside the back cover. As with any transformer or coupling coil, there's no reason why this should not work just as efficiently as a multi-turn "frame" aerial except that in order to both tune it and to obtain optimum energy transfer, an RF matching transformer is needed. Howard shows a picture of this transformer with its LW loading coil section. It's an efficient design (if the cores stay on the rods) and peaks up very well on alignment. Consequently, the single turn loop works just as well - if not better - than many conventional frame aerials; the dielectric losses are lower and so it probably has a higher overall Q. Watch the operating conditions of the UL41 on this set - on 240V mains, the anode current tends to be a bit high, even with everything else within tolerance. I solved this by fitting a less than 100% UL41. The dial lamp can be replaced with a 24V 2.8W MES lamp which used to be the standard for commercial vehicle dashboard pilot lamps. It gives the right brightness at 0.1A. A neat set - possibly the last of the Philips "whacky" designs - although there was a later set with an 800 Ohm speaker... Leon.

24th May 2011, 10:35 pm	#5
Andrewausfa Octode Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: St Ives, Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 1,180	Re: 1955 Philips 141U 5 valve AC/DC MW/LW transportable radio That looks excellent Howard. I'm quite tempted by some of these Philips sets. Regards _ Andrew __________________ Invisible airwaves crackle with life. Or they should do. BVWS Member

10th Nov 2011, 5:57 pm	#6
howard Nonode Join Date: May 2005 Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK. Posts: 2,593	Re: 1955 Philips 141U 5 valve AC/DC MW/LW transportable radio And yet another 141U ......... Hello again, While I was in Switzerland and Germany a few months back, I visited a massive collection of European and North American vintage radios (which included a rare Marconi from 1912), there were a few sets there from British manufacturers Ekco, Bush and Murphy etc and in the Philips section dwarfed by big Dutch, Swiss and German built radios was one of these little 141Us in nice condition, still with its UK plug attached. I too like these little Philips Handysets, so much so that I've rebuilt this third one from two scrap sets, the first from a BVWS auction earlier in the year with a damaged back panel and a second original example in fair condition bought locally for £6. The example from the BVWS auction was found to have been overhauled but not at all well, with radial electrolytic capacitors glued upside down onto the chassis to replace the original smoothing capacitor, the dial cord incorrectly fitted and the pointer firmly superglued onto it, and its tubular capacitors had been replaced with cheap radials tacked onto the wires remaining from the original pitch capacitors. The other example was all original except for a replacement RS dropper so I decided to restore the unmolested chassis from this one and to use the other for spares. The cases and trim were both in good condition except for the damaged rear panel so there were sufficient parts to build a nice case from the two. I checked the three stage dropper for continuity and that was fine so then the chassis was cleaned up and the valve pins, waveband switch and volume potentiometer all cleaned with DeoxiT. The capacitor across the mains was removed and the set powered up, and once warmed up after a few minutes it was just about working. The volume potentiometer was very noisy and worn though. So all the original black pitch tubular capacitors were replaced with new polyesters and the cap across the mains replaced with a 275v AC class X2. The switched volume pot was replaced with an original one from the scrap set, a new 2 core mains lead fitted and also a new dial cord as that broke. During the course of its overhaul the aerial trimmer box fell apart so to save time I replaced that too using the one in the scrap set. The set was now working quite well after a quick tweak of the aerial and MW high frequency trimmers but it sounded a bit distorted on the strong local County Sound station on 192m MW and the HT at 160 volts was low. So I took it over to Ron Bryan to check it over. The low HT problem was investigated and it was eventually established that the RS 240+250+538 ohm dropper had been fitted the wrong way around so the HT was low and the LT was too high ! Disconnecting the dropper, turning it around and reconnecting it sorted the problem and the HT then rose to over 200v and the overall LT voltage was spot on. Resistors were then checked and only one was found to be way out of spec which was on the UL41 grid so it was replaced. The UL41 grid leakage had been checked earlier and found to be reasonable but with the new resistor in place it was found to have risen to several volts so that was replaced promptly with another UL41 with a much lower leakage of around 250 mV. Later I did the RF alignment and that worked a treat and lastly replaced the UBC41 which improved the sound quality. The case was in good condition, even the gold coachline paint was intact so it just needed a clean and polish up with Brasso and a little beeswax. So a third Philips 141U joins the collection (I also have a Stella 105U equivalent), they are straightforward to work on and like the others it's in good condition and works well. These cute little Philips sets are among my favorite valve sets ........ I want another one to do now ! My thanks to Ron for his help. Howard Attached Thumbnails

10th Nov 2011, 7:16 pm	#7
Sideband Dekatron Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Croydon, Surrey, UK. Posts: 7,567	Re: 1955 Philips 141U 5 valve AC/DC MW/LW transportable radio Yes I'd like to add one of these to the collection. Nice job as usual Howard. You must have hundreds of sets by now! Rich. __________________ There are lots of brilliant keyboard players and then there is Rick Wakeman.....

10th Nov 2011, 11:57 pm	#8
Leon Crampin Octode Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Surrey, UK. Posts: 1,870	Re: 1955 Philips 141U 5 valve AC/DC MW/LW transportable radio Well done Howard - another excellent job. I have one of these sets (Howard gave me a back panel for it) and they do perform remarkably well when aligned properly - which is a critical job. The unusual feature is the one turn heavy gauge frame aerial, visible in Howard's photograph. This has a high Q but needs a tuned matching transformer to give optimum energy transfer - hence the critical alignment. If anyone has trouble finding the dial lamp for these sets, a 24V 2.8W MES commercial vehicle dashboard lamp fits and works perfectly. Leon.