Bush DAC90A

[mark pirate]

I picked this rather sad looking little set from my local car boot sale for the princely sum of £10, it was all there, complete with its original bush connector, ( have seen just the connector fetch more than that ) although someone had replaced the mains lead with that horrible clear twisted stuff, at the other end was a 'Clix' two pin plug, so obviously had not been used for a while....

Apart from being very mucky, there was a couple of small scratches, the wavechange knob was broken the expanded metal speaker grille had been pushed in.

After a quick check over, applied power via my variac, and it came to life, both the volume pot wavechange switch were both crackly, and the latter intermittent, the sound was awful, both buzzing rattling at the same time!

So to work, as can be seen in the photos, the chassis was covered with a thick blanket of dust cobwebs, so a good sign that it had not been messed with.

After stripping the set down, it became apparent that the set had not been touched since leaving the factory, all original ullard valves still in place.

After cleaning the chassis, gave both the volume pot wavechange switch a good dose of switch cleaner, which worked wonders, the buzzing rattling was due to the speaker, the 'bellows' having come detached from the frame, maybe the reason someone had pushed in the speaker, in a vain attempt to stop the rattling!

This was an easy repair, used a small screwdriver dipped in evostick re-glued the bellows to the frame, the next day ran up the chassis on the bench while working on the cabinet, it now worked flawlessly, the speaker repair was a 100% success

As the cabinet was quite dirty, washed it with washing up liquid cold water, then dried it got polishing it with T-cut, followed by neutral shoe polish, the results are excellent.

Back to the chassis, as it was working so well, just replaced the two AF caps the mains filter cap applied a tiny drop of oil to the tuning cord guide wheels, also fitted two new dial bulbs, these are one of the problem areas on these sets, at best they give a dim glow, but due to the dust dirt in the light tray its diffuser, they could not be seen!

After a good clean, we know had a nice warm glow, a careful clean of the dial glass competed the work, now to the speaker grille, very carefully pushed it out gave it a good clean, it was really filthy, but came up like new.

The set was then reassembled given another polish, luckily had a spare wavechange knob from a scrap set, so it was polished up with the other knobs & refitted, at this point, fitted a new mains lead period brown 13 plug (fitted with a 2amp fuse).

From what looked a real mess, now have a set that works really well looks good for it's sixty years.

Mark

The Before photos.

[mark pirate]

And some more...

[mark pirate]

And the after photos....

[kalee20]

Nice to come across a set like this - no real damage, little rust, no phantom fiddler - good carbooting!

Originally Posted by mark pirate

I... the buzzing rattling was due to the speaker, the 'bellows' having come detached from the frame...

Seems to be a common DAC90a problem - this was the case with mine too.

[ThePillenwerfer]

A lovely set.

Both mine had detached bellows too.

- Joe

[Sideband]

Very nice and now looks superb. I think you may be taking a risk with the remaining caps although you've replaced the most critical ones. Only time will tell.

Excellent job.


SB

[Andrewausfa]

Nice job Mark! I'm going to have to get one sometime. I spy a nice GEC in the background, next candidate on your bench?

Andrew

[Mark the Mender]

Nice one Mark!

cheers Mark

[mark pirate]

Thanks for the positive replies chaps, this little set had a few of the problems common to these, I have repaired/restored quite a few DAC90's over the years.

I have only had the speaker problem once before, and that set was stored for years in a damp shed, this set looks to have been well stored.

The usual problems are rotten rubber wiring to the speaker and dial lamps, chipped or broken knobs (usually by someone who does not know they are held on by screws!) and duff UL41 o/p valves.

I spy a nice GEC in the background, next candidate on your bench?

Hi Andrew, you are of course correct, it is a BC5445, it is in daily use as the workshop radio, unfortunately it is cosmetically rough, it originally had 'wood effect sides, but these are just a grubby mess, I might just strip it and polish the bakelite....one day

I think you may be taking a risk with the remaining caps although you've replaced the most critical ones. Only time will tell.

Hi SB, As the set is working well (and I am running low on caps!) I decided to just replace the important ones, as UL41's are becoming expensive!
It will not get a lot of use, it will go on display with its relatives

I must admit to having a love of all things Bush, I have 2 DAC90's, 5 DAC90A's, 3 DAC10's, in fact I have over 40 Bush sets in my collection

One more photo with it sitting next to a close relative I recently restored....

Mark

[vinrads]

Very nice Mark it's cleaned up lovely, I thought I was looking at my bench even down to the t'cut . Mick.

[SeanStevens]

I don't know what it is about digital cameras - but it makes the bakelite look 200% better than in real life!

I do like the 90a - a great shape and rewarding to work on as they are so much more 'obvious' for the beginner (like me).

If only they had a mains transformer they would be good for the kids to begin on!



A nice job - well done.


SEAN

[ajs37]

Nice job Mark - like you, I love most things Bush - have lots of them!
Cheers
Andy

[mark pirate]

I don't know what it is about digital cameras - but it makes the bakelite look 200% better than in real life!

Actually, the photos do not do it justice, it looks better in the flesh

I do find that it can make wooden sets look better than they are in real life, having bought sets from auction sites
But i am the first to admit, my photographic skills are a bit hit and miss, i tend to take several shots, and pick the best ones.

I thought I was looking at my bench even down to the t'cut .

Hi Mick, I have only just got the new workshop up & running, it has been full of 'junk' since i put it up over a year ago, now fully wired up & carpeted, it is ready for me to tackle my rather large 'roundtuit' pile!

like you, I love most things Bush - have lots of them!

Hi Andy, my love of bush products goes back to my childhood, my parents had bush tv's & radios since the mid 50's, and reliability was second to none, i also like the way they are made, DAC90's have real memories for me, i lost count of how many followed me home from local jumble sales in the 70's, i wish i could buy them for 25p now!

Mark

[HamishBoxer]

Last UL41s I bought were ex military at a tenner on eBay.

David