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Old 17th Jun 2020, 11:35 am   #1
Manx Nick
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Default Philips 206A

Hi folks I was given this Philips 206A set yesterday and it looks untouched and original, including the ancient power cord from the 40's.

The dial cord is intact, the power/volume control knob is nice and tight as is the band selector.

However, opening it up I felt like Howard Carter opening Tuts tomb. Spiders webs and general muck etc.

See for yourself. One of the valves has dislodged its valve cap, not sure if this can be fixed and there is something hanging down on the left that looks melted or missing and I don't know what that is. Haven't looked underneath yet but will update as I go along.

Any pointers for this set? My oldest radio to date as am used to seeing inside late Valves 50's onwards and transistor sets.

Am an amateur to this so please bear with me.

Thanks,

Nick
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Old 17th Jun 2020, 1:03 pm   #2
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Be very careful with that EBL31, they're scarce. If it's not too late, make sure the wire doesn't snap off flush with the glass pip.
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Old 17th Jun 2020, 1:43 pm   #3
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Default Re: Philips 206A

The conductive paper attached to the wooden base board and the inside top of the bakelite case is very fragile.
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Old 17th Jun 2020, 2:05 pm   #4
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Default Re: Philips 206A

I restored mine some four years ago and did a write-up on another forum. It's here https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/communit...-philips-206a/ (if the moderators don't mind)!

You might find it helpful and give you an idea of what might be involved with yours. I did go the extra mile with mine since I had an unfair advantage of a scrap set for some of the parts. Hopefully yours won't need as much work but do be prepared to replace the black tar capacitors (they are no good at all by now at over 70 years old) and some rewiring if it hasn't already been done.
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Old 19th Jun 2020, 12:09 pm   #5
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Thank you all for your help with this, some more pictures on the way, first thing is to try to fix the broken valve then onto rewiring and re capping. Oh, all after I have cleaned the chassis of course. Yuk.
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Old 22nd Jun 2020, 9:05 am   #6
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Some more pictures of this ancient radio.

The Rectifier valve AZ31 is damaged on the base and I took the risk of just plugging the radio in (yes I know) and all that happened was the EBL31 valve got warm.

So need to replace the rectifier valve
Need to replace capacitors, in particular the mains cap
Some wiring needs either wrapping or replacing
Dial bulb needs replaced

Do you think this radio will be worth replacing? I did get it for free though. Or any suggestions on who might take a look at it for me?

Thanks,
Nick
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Old 22nd Jun 2020, 9:21 am   #7
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Hi Nick I think the rectifier should be ok, just take Great care on the pin orientation. I would suggest marking the valve socket "side" that only has two pins wired with a felt tip pen on top of the holder.

John.
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Old 22nd Jun 2020, 10:29 am   #8
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Hi Nick,


The locating lip is between the left and top pins of the three,as looked
from the top as seen.
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Old 22nd Jun 2020, 11:34 am   #9
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Manx Nick View Post
Some more pictures of this ancient radio.
That's not in bad condition for a radio of that age. Usual repairs will sort that out. Replace all the black tar paper caps with equivalent polyesters. Make good any wiring that has crumbled. No need to replace the AZ31 rectifier just because the locating peg is broken off (the one on mine was the same) unless it is so low emission that it is unserviceable. AZ31's are still available but are becoming a limited source and so the price is creeping up. Similar with the EBL31. I also made up a solid state rectifier in an Octal base for testing purposes but mine ran for a year or so on the original AZ31 (with the missing peg) until I was able to replace it with a really good second hand one.

As long as the mains and output transformers are OK, it's perfectly restorable.
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Old 22nd Jun 2020, 11:54 am   #10
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Hi Folks, this fills me with hope thank you. I will be brave and try to get it restored as best as I can without zapping meself.

So when I powered it on, only the EBL31 got warm and none of the others lit up. I am guessing this is a capacitor or wiring failure then?

Thanks guys

Nick
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Old 22nd Jun 2020, 8:41 pm   #11
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Hi Nick, the EBL31 is quite a powerful valve, so it will appear to warm up first.
Could you see any heaters glowing and did the AZ31 heaters come up/ valve get warm ?

Probably time to get the meter out and do a few simple voltage readings

Ed
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Old 22nd Jun 2020, 9:48 pm   #12
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Manx Nick View Post
Hi Folks, this fills me with hope thank you. I will be brave and try to get it restored as best as I can without zapping meself.

So when I powered it on, only the EBL31 got warm and none of the others lit up. I am guessing this is a capacitor or wiring failure then?

Thanks guys

Nick
Won't be a capacitor. Could be wiring. More than likely you just couldn't see them lit, the metalising makes it difficult but you should be able to see the cathode glowing through the clear glass at the top of each valve.

The AZ31 is best seen in a darkened room....they are not very bright but in any case a simple voltage check on the cathode or perhaps easier to measure at the reservoir capacitor should tell you if it's any good or not.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 8:36 am   #13
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Last night I swapped out a tar capacitor C29 which is the mains one I think. Anyway we have a lit dial bulb now and a lot of humming coming from the speaker. Then it sort of fizzled out and stopped so I can only assume more capacitors to swap.

No valves got warm and I couldn't see any glowing, but then it did fizzle out after about 15 secs.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 8:38 am   #14
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Quote:
Originally Posted by A_W_TYE View Post
Hi Nick,


The locating lip is between the left and top pins of the three,as looked
from the top as seen.
Thanks Alan
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 8:39 am   #15
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Default Re: Philips 206A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Silicon View Post
The conductive paper attached to the wooden base board and the inside top of the bakelite case is very fragile.
Thanks very much that's a novel idea for an arial isn't it.
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