Ekco A277 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Sinewave · 28th Mar 2018, 2:14 pm

Hello. I'm now the proud owner of GroovyG's Ekco A277.

It's a lovely set and Graham has done a lovely job on it so far. It sounds great and I listened to it for many hours last night.

However there are a few things I'd like to address which Graham did point out, which makes for a good project for me.

I notice the service data for sale here is Manufacturers Service Data and Traders Service Data.

Is the Manufacturers Data the one I should download?

Thanks.

paulsherwin · 28th Mar 2018, 2:24 pm

They will cover more or less the same ground, so it doesn't really matter. Actually, these sets are so easy to work on that you don't normally need service data.

A refurbishment tip: you can clean off the dirt from the speaker cutouts using some foaming cleaner, a paintbrush and some absorbent rag. The fabric is nylon so won't shrink or distort if you're careful. Just go gently.

Sinewave · 28th Mar 2018, 2:34 pm

It's very clean already. One of the things I'd like to do is get the tuning eye working. Before buying a new valve I should check the grid voltage.

A bit of mains hum, so I'll probably scope the output of the smoothing caps to see if a replacement or another will be needed.

coopzone · 28th Mar 2018, 6:17 pm

Mains hum, on my a277 the hum starts before the set has warmed up. As soon as the power goes on, its the transformer. A daft design has two metal arms directly from the transformer to the from speaker baffle - a perfect resonator!

Just check if this is your issue before you waste a load of time on smoothing.

paulsherwin · 28th Mar 2018, 7:26 pm

The choke in these sets only starts working as the valves warm up, so there is a bit of initial him which should quickly reduce to almost inaudible levels.

28th Mar 2018, 2:14 pm	#1
Sinewave Octode Join Date: May 2016 Location: Oxfordshire/Bucks borders, UK. Posts: 1,604	Ekco A277 Hello. I'm now the proud owner of GroovyG's Ekco A277. It's a lovely set and Graham has done a lovely job on it so far. It sounds great and I listened to it for many hours last night. However there are a few things I'd like to address which Graham did point out, which makes for a good project for me. I notice the service data for sale here is Manufacturers Service Data and Traders Service Data. Is the Manufacturers Data the one I should download? Thanks. __________________ Avometer, vintage Fluke and Marconi collector. Also interested in vintage Yaesu and KW. Last edited by Sinewave; 28th Mar 2018 at 2:25 pm.

28th Mar 2018, 2:24 pm	#2
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,975	Re: Ekco A277 They will cover more or less the same ground, so it doesn't really matter. Actually, these sets are so easy to work on that you don't normally need service data. A refurbishment tip: you can clean off the dirt from the speaker cutouts using some foaming cleaner, a paintbrush and some absorbent rag. The fabric is nylon so won't shrink or distort if you're careful. Just go gently.

28th Mar 2018, 2:34 pm	#3
Sinewave Octode Join Date: May 2016 Location: Oxfordshire/Bucks borders, UK. Posts: 1,604	Re: Ekco A277 It's very clean already. One of the things I'd like to do is get the tuning eye working. Before buying a new valve I should check the grid voltage. A bit of mains hum, so I'll probably scope the output of the smoothing caps to see if a replacement or another will be needed. __________________ Avometer, vintage Fluke and Marconi collector. Also interested in vintage Yaesu and KW.

28th Mar 2018, 6:17 pm	#4
coopzone Hexode Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Cannock, Staffordshire, UK. Posts: 268	Re: Ekco A277 Mains hum, on my a277 the hum starts before the set has warmed up. As soon as the power goes on, its the transformer. A daft design has two metal arms directly from the transformer to the from speaker baffle - a perfect resonator! Just check if this is your issue before you waste a load of time on smoothing.

28th Mar 2018, 7:26 pm	#5
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,975	Re: Ekco A277 The choke in these sets only starts working as the valves warm up, so there is a bit of initial him which should quickly reduce to almost inaudible levels.