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Old 12th Sep 2006, 11:42 pm   #1
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Default Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

This is my KB Rhapsody, as yet untested, can anyone tell me, what kind of battery it takes, I've never seen a battery connection like this before. It also runs of the mains but it's some kind of two prong fitting that I don't recognise either!
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/124...ure6052tb4.jpg
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 12:04 am   #2
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

Hi Pip,

The LT battery's a 7.5 volt AD38, which plugs on to the two prongs protruding from the chassis beneath the loudspeaker: the larger of the two is the positive. HT... well, the battery/mains Rhapsody data I've found specifies a 67.5 volt B101, but the space in your set and certainly that three-pin plug on red and black leads indicate instead the very widely used 90 volt B126. The matching three-pin socket on the chassis is to accommodate the battery plug and keep it out of harm's way when the set's being used on mains without a fitted battery.

Paul
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 12:09 am   #3
Brian R Pateman
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

This is the Rhapsody MP151 if my memory serves.
Batteries;
HT Ever Ready B101 (67.5 V)
LT Ever Ready AD38 (7.5 V)

Like all KBs a cracking good set, and from your photo yours looks to be in very good condition.

If you try it from the mains take care to set the mains voltage selector to the correct voltage.

Then set the heater current by disconnecting the lead from R19 (the pre-set above the mains connector) to pin 7 of V4.

Connect a milliameter (or multimeter on the milliamps range) between the lead from R19 (+ve) and pin 7 of V4 (-ve) and adjust R19 for 24mA. Re-connect the lead and all should be fine!

Regards,
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 12:12 am   #4
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

Thanks Paul, are these type of batteries stiil available?
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 12:13 am   #5
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

Hello Brian,

There were just so many types of Rhapsody! The data I turned up is for the MP151, but this set isn't it, as the B101 uses snap connectors like those of the PP7/PP9. I'd be in a little doubt as to whether the B126-type plug really belonged if it weren't for the plainly original three-pin chassis socket to hold it when not required...

Paul

Last edited by Paul_RK; 13th Sep 2006 at 12:18 am.
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 12:17 am   #6
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

Hello Pip,

No: I'm old enough to have bought a few in my time, but UK production of the last few valve radio battery types ended in the very early '80s. If you want to run the set on batteries it's a case of making up the voltages using types that are available: five alkaline AA cells in series for LT, and ten (!) PP3s to replace the B126.

Paul
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 12:21 am   #7
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

Hi Paul,

Good point, I was working from memory and I think, looking at the picture again that this is probably the (later?) version with 90V HT. The connectors seem from the photo to be absolutely original.

The comment about setting the filament current still stands, at least this set has R19!

The Rhapsodies are rather confusing and I have several variants - not one of the MP151s I regret to say.

Regards,
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 12:53 am   #8
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

I think I'd better come out of the "closet" and tell you something about myself. I am a woman, a tinkerer, restorer, maker, mainly of wood and metal objects, I've been obsessed by these and many more wonderful and varied "hobbies" since chilhood really (and that's a long time ago!) my latest fling being with old telephones, clocks and of course radios but, on the radio electronics side, I'm what you could call, well practically illiterate really. Brian, Your info is much appreciated but what on Earth is an R19, and where is pin 7 of v4.
Thick Pip.
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 1:39 am   #9
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

Ah: I think it's something in the form of your writing that had already made me think you were a woman. Still, in another place people have admitted coming to the same conclusion in a similar way about me, and I'm not. As you've probably guessed Anyways, edging back toward the topic , there's nothing remotely shameful about being new to these things, and plenty of people around here will be ready enough to try to defuse any terrors they possess.

If your set were an MP151 (and it's not), R19 would be the preset variable resistor mounted just above the mains connector prongs: the thing with the slotted black knob. It's used for setting the current passing through the valve filaments when the radio uses mains power, as the life of battery valves can be shortened dramatically if their filament current is far from what it should be. And V4 is the output valve, which will perhaps be a type DL96: it'll certainly have seven pins, and pin 7 is the furthest clockwise pin before the gap, when you look at the valve or its socket from underneath.

Making measurements on a live chassis, though, isn't something you'd want to be doing before studying the necessary safety precautions, so, if we haven't put you off trying to get the Rhapsody working in the near future, keeping to battery power for now would be a better idea. Those craft skills should stand you in good stead if you're tempted to make up some substitute batteries too. Running valve portables from batteries is a fairly costly indulgence unless you find a very cheap source of PP3s, but then it always was - if the 90 volt battery could still be bought off-the-shelf it would probably cost about £20 these days, and still would last no longer than a PP9 in a comparable transistor set. So, it's all up to you...

By the way, the Rhapsody was a model that spanned the last days of portable valve radios and the onset of the transistor, and there are transistor models around looking almost exactly like yours. Those, though, like your Alba, were made for use with the now defunct PP11 battery.

Regards,
Paul
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 2:42 am   #10
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

A little more ferreting among annual volumes of Radio and Television Servicing, and I think I have your set positively identified as model MP151/2 (1959-60). That at least confirms the battery types, 90 volt B126 and 7.5 volt AD38. Brian's R19 is R24 in this circuit, but the 24 milliamps still apply: only the measurement for this set is made by connecting a meter in place of the wire from the on-off switch to V4's pin 7. (V4 is the furthest right of the valves). That, though, is for the future

Paul
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 11:23 am   #11
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

Pip,
You could try getting in touch with the forum's very own "Batterymaker1" or Bill as he's also known.
He's a chap from the US who makes very convincing replicas of batteries for valve sets that you just fill with the little, modern batteries and away you go!

This is my Roberts R66 with a pair of Bill's batteries fitted and working, his charges were very fair and postage from the USA pretty quick too.


Good Luck,

JPB.
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Old 13th Sep 2006, 11:39 am   #12
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

May I echo the above. I have a very nice set of B126/AD38 from him powering a Murphy BU183.
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Old 14th Sep 2006, 10:14 pm   #13
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Default Re: Battery information for KB Rhapsody.

Thanks all for your very patient help. I'm putting the Rhapsody back in the cupboard for the time being while I re read and contemplate your advice, this may take a some time! For those who helped me with the Alba though, I ordered a battery holder from Maplins, got it today, did a bit of rewiring and it's now working perfectly (I just love it when that happens!) so many thanks, your assistance is much appreciated.
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