Philco Model 60 - plays from one speaker only. - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

kopperdrake · 6th Jan 2018, 7:32 pm

Hi all,

First post as we've been given a Philco Model 60 stereo record player by my father-in-law who bought it new back in the 50s. It's in pretty good cosmetic condition, works when fired up, except the only speaker to really work properly is the detachable lid speaker. The built-in speaker is barely audible, not much louder than listening to the needle on the record!

I'm not hugely conversant with electronics, but I can solder and buy the right bits if they are available, and I don't mind giving things a go to get it working in both channels.

Could anyone help me by pointing me in the right direction to start? Or maybe something like this is a fairly easy thing to pinpoint?

As far as I can make out, it has two valves - would that be one for each speaker? (I'm probably showing my naivety already!). Each speaker has its own control knob - one an outer ring and the other a central knob within that ring. The knob controlling the volume of the speaker that isn't functioning correctly doesn't seem to have any 'dead' spots that crackle. I have an old Stereoscope (Marantz) amp from the 70s from my dad, and one of the channels crackles until you hit a 'clean' spot and the volume bounces back. This has nothing like that - it's just *very* quiet.

Having said that, I just spent a lovely half hour with the dog and an old record I dug out and I'd forgotten just how lovely a record sounds, even through one speaker!

Thanks in advance for any advice

Duncan

ms660 · 6th Jan 2018, 9:21 pm

Yes, two valves, one for each channel, according to some data I'm looking at the valves used are UCL83's.

For your own (and possibly others) safety you need to be aware that the record player you have is of the Live Chassis design, that's to say that if for any reason the mains lead is not connected correctly, the internal chassis of the record player can become Live with respect to earth when switched on, a potentially lethal situation which must be absolutely avoided if yourself or others intend to do any work on it.

Lawrence.

Station X · 6th Jan 2018, 9:40 pm

I wouldn't normally suggest this, but swopping the valves over would show whether they're both working. An easy test which can be done without test gear.

My money's on the cartridge having failed on one channel though.

kopperdrake · 6th Jan 2018, 10:31 pm

Thanks Lawrence, should I be safe if it's unplugged from the mains, or is it like the old TV sets where you can still red receive a shock from the components?

Graham, thanks for the suggestion - if I can work on it safely if it's unplugged then that sounds like a good place to start for someone like me!

Thanks for the replies.

paulsherwin · 6th Jan 2018, 10:42 pm

You can receive a belt from the smoothing caps until they discharge themselves, but this should just be unpleasant rather than dangerous if you are in good health. If you have a meter, measure the DC voltage between one of the tags on the bottom of the cap and the chassis. If there is little or no voltage indicated then you're safe.

You will need some sort of test meter if you're going to do any fault finding at all, but even the sub £5 eBay ones will do for this sort of job.

kopperdrake · 6th Jan 2018, 11:12 pm

Thanks, will a smoothing capacitor look like a modern capacitor, cylindrical and dead obvious? I'll borrow a friend's multimeter, cheers!

Edward Huggins · 6th Jan 2018, 11:20 pm

Check the connectors on the BSR TC8S cartridge. The pins on the main record player channel may have oxidised. Take off the connectors with tweezers, spray them with Servisol and push them back on noting the correct location of each connector.

kopperdrake · 7th Jan 2018, 9:12 am

Thanks Edward. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some oxidisation. Despite it being stored in the house since new, they don't have heating upstairs and the catches and chrome handle elements have oxidised. I'll give that a go too.

Herald1360 · 7th Jan 2018, 10:57 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by kopperdrake

Thanks, will a smoothing capacitor look like a modern capacitor, cylindrical and dead obvious? I'll borrow a friend's multimeter, cheers!

It'll probably be an ally cylinder, chassis mounted with two or three capacitors in the same can and a common negative terminal.

Edward Huggins · 7th Jan 2018, 1:06 pm

The service sheet for this can be downloaded above for £1.99 - it may be part of a set including other Philco models. All Philcos from this period used large speakers and amplifiers designed to give a good bass repsonse.

6th Jan 2018, 7:32 pm	#1
kopperdrake Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Derby, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 4	Philco Model 60 - plays from one speaker only. Hi all, First post as we've been given a Philco Model 60 stereo record player by my father-in-law who bought it new back in the 50s. It's in pretty good cosmetic condition, works when fired up, except the only speaker to really work properly is the detachable lid speaker. The built-in speaker is barely audible, not much louder than listening to the needle on the record! I'm not hugely conversant with electronics, but I can solder and buy the right bits if they are available, and I don't mind giving things a go to get it working in both channels. Could anyone help me by pointing me in the right direction to start? Or maybe something like this is a fairly easy thing to pinpoint? As far as I can make out, it has two valves - would that be one for each speaker? (I'm probably showing my naivety already!). Each speaker has its own control knob - one an outer ring and the other a central knob within that ring. The knob controlling the volume of the speaker that isn't functioning correctly doesn't seem to have any 'dead' spots that crackle. I have an old Stereoscope (Marantz) amp from the 70s from my dad, and one of the channels crackles until you hit a 'clean' spot and the volume bounces back. This has nothing like that - it's just very quiet. Having said that, I just spent a lovely half hour with the dog and an old record I dug out and I'd forgotten just how lovely a record sounds, even through one speaker! Thanks in advance for any advice Duncan

6th Jan 2018, 9:21 pm	#2
ms660 Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Cornwall, UK. Posts: 13,454	Re: Philco Model 60 - plays from one speaker only. Yes, two valves, one for each channel, according to some data I'm looking at the valves used are UCL83's. For your own (and possibly others) safety you need to be aware that the record player you have is of the Live Chassis design, that's to say that if for any reason the mains lead is not connected correctly, the internal chassis of the record player can become Live with respect to earth when switched on, a potentially lethal situation which must be absolutely avoided if yourself or others intend to do any work on it. Lawrence. Last edited by ms660; 6th Jan 2018 at 9:49 pm.

6th Jan 2018, 9:40 pm	#3
Station X Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4, UK. Posts: 21,289	Re: Philco Model 60 - plays from one speaker only. I wouldn't normally suggest this, but swopping the valves over would show whether they're both working. An easy test which can be done without test gear. My money's on the cartridge having failed on one channel though. __________________ Graham. Forum Moderator Reach for your meter before you reach for your soldering iron.

6th Jan 2018, 10:31 pm	#4
kopperdrake Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Derby, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 4	Re: Philco Model 60 - plays from one speaker only. Thanks Lawrence, should I be safe if it's unplugged from the mains, or is it like the old TV sets where you can still red receive a shock from the components? Graham, thanks for the suggestion - if I can work on it safely if it's unplugged then that sounds like a good place to start for someone like me! Thanks for the replies.

6th Jan 2018, 10:42 pm	#5
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,971	Re: Philco Model 60 - plays from one speaker only. You can receive a belt from the smoothing caps until they discharge themselves, but this should just be unpleasant rather than dangerous if you are in good health. If you have a meter, measure the DC voltage between one of the tags on the bottom of the cap and the chassis. If there is little or no voltage indicated then you're safe. You will need some sort of test meter if you're going to do any fault finding at all, but even the sub £5 eBay ones will do for this sort of job.

6th Jan 2018, 11:12 pm	#6
kopperdrake Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Derby, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 4	Re: Philco Model 60 - plays from one speaker only. Thanks, will a smoothing capacitor look like a modern capacitor, cylindrical and dead obvious? I'll borrow a friend's multimeter, cheers!

6th Jan 2018, 11:20 pm	#7
Edward Huggins Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Southwold, Suffolk, UK. Posts: 8,340	Re: Philco Model 60 - plays from one speaker only. Check the connectors on the BSR TC8S cartridge. The pins on the main record player channel may have oxidised. Take off the connectors with tweezers, spray them with Servisol and push them back on noting the correct location of each connector. __________________ Edward.

7th Jan 2018, 9:12 am	#8
kopperdrake Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Derby, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 4	Re: Philco Model 60 - plays from one speaker only. Thanks Edward. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some oxidisation. Despite it being stored in the house since new, they don't have heating upstairs and the catches and chrome handle elements have oxidised. I'll give that a go too.

7th Jan 2018, 1:06 pm	#10
Edward Huggins Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Southwold, Suffolk, UK. Posts: 8,340	Re: Philco Model 60 - plays from one speaker only. The service sheet for this can be downloaded above for £1.99 - it may be part of a set including other Philco models. All Philcos from this period used large speakers and amplifiers designed to give a good bass repsonse. __________________ Edward.