Is my 30s Pye past it?

[Colourstar]

Hello All

I snapped up a tatty but appealing mid 30s Pye table radio in a Lincolnshire antiques centre the other day for a mere tenner. The chap at the counter told me the set worked and despite my reseverations insisted on powering the old girl up. Radio 4 LW was soon booming merrily across the shop! A closer examination when I got home revealed that the internal wiring had been replaced with modern plastic type and all the caps were of modern origin- a very neat job too. Alas after ten minutes or so of lovely window-rattling audio, I became aware of a distinct pong from the set and powered off. Removing the power pack and taking it's cover off revealed a rather dessicated looking mains transformer- see photo- which had been running very hot, although the set sounded fine. I suspect the set was restored some years ago and has been stored somewhere less than ideal in the meantime. With a complex looking transformer about to expire presumably this is curtains for my wonderful Pye ... unless anyone can offer a ray of hope?

Cheers
Steve J

[Steve_P]

No, it's not past it! That's the sort of comment my Dad would make...

Leave the set to dry out for a bit then try again. If it still does it, remove the transformer and send it to Ed Dinning or MurphyMad and it can be rewound if needed. Or see what Gerry's got in stores...

While it's away, check the wiring and make sure it's right. You never know....

Cheers,

Steve P.

[PJL]

It would also be a good idea to start it up with a lamp limiter as those replacement capacitors look quite old.

[paulsherwin]

I agree with Steve, the transformer is probably suspect but can be rewound at (relatively) little cost. It's *never* worth scrapping a 1930s set unless it is a complete wreck, which yours certainly isn't

Paul

[chipp1968]

Agreed . I like this range of pye sets , look good and sound good .well worth sorting out

[kestrelmusic]

No Pye set is ever worth scrapping! What model number is this? A replacement transformer should be easy enough to get. If it's 1930s it is presumably 4V LT and around 300-0-300V HT.

[PJL]

I don't know about Pye particularly but I have had very few problems with 1930's mains transformers. Can you confirm the smell is coming from the transformer?

[Tractorfan]

Just my twopennorth, sounds daft, but was the mains voltage selector on the correct tapping? It's a very common thing with old radios here as most of France was on 110volts years ago and when old radios are dug out of attics, sheds, etc. and plugged in the Tx is usually fried because the tap wasn't changed to 230volts. The UK used to have allsorts of various mains voltages before it was standardised at 240volts 50Hz. Good luck with the repair.
Just a thought.
Cheers de Pete

[yestertech]

Chances are that a fault elsewhere is cooking the mains transformer especially if it only heats up over a 10 min. period - ensure that it is cool first, then try removing the rectifier valve and powering up whilst checking the temperature rise ( should be quite quick iff it's a genuine transformer fault ) . Power off and check after say 5 mins.
If it's still cold, then the transformer is probably OK.

I had a similar problem with an old HMV which was on soak test following repairs. Although playing well, I thought I heard something bubbling during quiet passages.
This turned out to be the LS field coil !
The output valve was in some sort of ' thermal runaway' and was drawing increasingly large amounts of HT current. Had the field coil not yielded a clue, it would probably have boiled the mains transformer instead. ( A new OP valve fixed the problem, happily before any real damage occured )

Andy

[Sideband]

Originally Posted by Colourstar

all the caps were of modern origin- a very neat job too.

Those 'modern' caps look to be about 50 years old!

I wouldn't condemn the transformer just yet. Like Andy says, pull the rectifier valve out first and then power up (you could use a lamp limiter as well). If there are no signs of overheating, then look elswhere (rectifier, smoothing caps etc)...and make sure the voltage tapping is correct.

Rich.

[murphymad]

If it does turn out to be the transformer itself, I do have a spare original one here.

Mike...

[Colourstar]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and ideas, all are much appreciated. Don't fear, there's absolutely no chance of me junking a set like this. It's about as likely as me scrapping my beloved but tatty Morris Minor!!

I'll try the set again minus rectifier tomorrow when I have more time and report back. I did check the voltage tapping was correct incidentally. The large grey cap in the power pack is dated 1972, so whilst not quite 50 years old (!) is not exactly new either.

Cheers all
Steve J

[Colourstar]

Right folks, here are a few more details on the Pye. It's a model T20 from 1936 and is covered by Trader Sheet 150. Interestingly it incorporates an orange neon tuning indicator tube which runs most of the length of the tuning scale.

Powering up the set through the lamp limiter made the bulb in series with the set light up brightly and it didn't dim at all as the radio warmed up.

(The resistance across the mains input of the set measures 32 ohms.)

With the rectifier removed the transformer did not appear to become hot, although it began emitting a pong fairly quickly. Not burning, but a sort of sweet smell. I could hear occasional ticking noises too.

I hope the above info may provide some useful evidence...


Steve J

[Steve_P]

Yes it does. The transformer is overheating because it wants rewinding.

Cheers,

Steve P.

[PJL]

Disconnect C26 & C27 just in case but it doesn't sound good...Peter

Steve beat me to it but I think it's still worth a try...