1952 Ultra U696 Troubadour MW/LW 5 valve AC/DC mains table radio

[howard]

Hello again,

I won this pretty little Ultra set recently on eBay, described as not working but otherwise in good condition and on arrival I was amazed how good its case was, considering it dates back to 1951/2. This one is in an ivory urea-formaldehyde case, a material which is not as heat resistant as bakelite, so tends to crack above the dropper, but this one is fine. A weak point of small Ultra sets is print peeling off their dials but again no problem here. Looking inside though the problems started, the first thing I noticed was a lot of bare wires where the sheathing had rotted away, and the coating had come off the dropper which prompted me to ask in the forum whether it was OK to use it like that ...

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=36887

It would have been OK but unfortunately the wiring on the lowest winding on the dropper was found to have a break part way down so then I asked if anyone had a spare one ...

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=37109

No luck there but several suggestions were made about its repair, or replacement including the use of a dropping capacitor.

This early Ultra model was fitted with Mazda valves (10C1, 10F9, 10LD11, 10P13, and U404) but this one had a couple of Mullard replacements in it including a UL41 in place of the 10P13 (similar but not quite identical).

So the hunt for spares started, and I phoned Mike Lewis and asked if he had a suitable replacement dropper. Unfortunately he didn't have one but had a few similar ones which he gave to me at the Tonbridge Audiojumble, where I also managed to buy a load of NOS Mazda valves for £1 or less apiece including a complete set for this one. I also grabbed a dropping capacitor there for 50p, a huge square blue thing, as a possible alternative to a dropper.
The restoration then commenced -

The case.
The chassis was removed from the case - both knobs were broken so those I replaced with identical ones from a scrap Ultra Coronation Twin. The case was cleaned with upholstery cleaner - the leading edges had deeply embedded dirt so those I carefully cleaned with wire wool. The case was then polished with car polish and it came up perfect.

The chassis
- The dropper was removed
- All rotten wiring was replaced using new silicone sleeved cable
- The volume potentiometer was cleaned with Servisol 10 and the easily accessible waveband switch contacts polished with Brasso
- All the valves were removed, pins and bases cleaned with Servisol 10 and the two Mullards replaced with a NOS Mazda 10LD11 and 10P13
- The wax capacitor across the mains was replaced with a Maplins 275 volt X2 safety capacitor
- All other wax capacitors and Hunts mouldseal capacitors replaced with new original value polyester capacitors
- A couple of other small torpedo shaped capacitors were also replaced - three 100pf - 300pf's remain in place as I don't keep those
- A new white mains lead and plug fitted

Ron Bryan very kindly offered to help sort out the dropper and the rest of it. Luckily amongst the new droppers from Mike Lewis was one suitable in size and appearance, all it needed was a small resistor added to one stage to match the original.

- Resistor soldered to the dropper and then fitted, and the set started to work. It was rather insensitive and very quiet though.
- A NOS 10C1 valve was fitted, only a slight improvement, so realignment was then attempted and adjustment of the core in one end of one of the IFTs improved things greatly but adjustment of the core in the other end did nothing, and it wouldn't screw in very far
- The set then started humming, when the 32+32uf smoothing capacitor suddenly expired - I later managed to get a good secondhand one at Harpenden for 50p and once fitted the hum went
- Ron removed the faulty IFT, took out the cores, cleaned the bore and managed to screw both cores back in properly, put it back and successfully realigned the set
- The set was now playing loud and was sensitive too but sounded a bit distorted. This seemed to be coming from the volume potentiometer as the distortion changed when it was operated so Ron removed it, took it apart, cleaned and adjusted it, put it back and the distortion was gone and the set was working fine at last.

The set came back to me for finishing
- The frame aerial on the rear cover was stuck back on with Evo Stik
- A new 3.5v 0.15a bulb (which lights up the badge, not the dial) was fitted - 50p from Harpenden
- A new rubber grommet was fitted under the base of the 10C1 as the original had rotted away
- Finally a new connector was fitted to one of the aerial wires

It took an awful lot of work to restore this Ultra and we spent many hours on it. I think it was worth it though as this is a pretty little 57 year old radio in superb condition and it works very well picking up just about everything on MW/LW and sounds good too and rather better than my other early Ultra, a Coronation Twin. Many thanks again Ron.

Howard

[MALC SCOTT]

Hi Howard, another superb job. Well done

[Tim]

Nice one Howard

[newlite4]

Hello Howard, what a pleasant looking little set. Often, AC/DC sets like these show some evidence of heating, but here, the internals look very good indeed.
Nice One,
Neil

[howard]

Thanks all,

A pic below of the set before restoration.

The original knobs on this one were painted white, but I have another ivory Troubadour with unpainted knobs, the same as those on the Ultra twin models, so I've left the replacement knobs unpainted as it would take some time to airbrush several coats of paint on them.

I've also posted a pic of one of the little torpedo shaped capacitors, I'm not familiar with these. As there are three of these still in the set, does anyone know if they're reliable or not ?

I'll get on with the other Troubadour eventually, sadly its rear cover has a hole in it so I've got to find another one.

Howard

[Steve_P]

Nice little sets these Ultra's. I've got 3 here, including one like yours. Have you got an Oscillator Coil going spare?

Cheers,

Steve P.

[howard]

Hello Steve,

I've only got one other Troubadour and I don't really want to break it up for spares as its case is as nice as this one, it's just got a damaged back cover. So I've got to find a scrap set to enable me to complete it so maybe you could have bits off of that for yours. I'll let you know when I find one.

Howard

[maitiustandun]

Hello Howard.

That little set is a beauty, your second example that you speak of could be finished with a back made up from an old radiogram back, like my famous Marconi. I was lucky to get an old one in an auction room for free and cut out a perfect back with holes ready punched in it. It looks very authentic, colourwise etc.

Regards Matt.

[thermionic]

I've also posted a pic of one of the little torpedo shaped capacitors, I'm not familiar with these. As there are three of these still in the set, does anyone know if they're reliable or not ?

Hi Howard. Another fine restoration - as usual!


Those torpedo shaped caps can cause problems - like all the rest. Ive had to replace many over the years. They can 'leak' and also drift in capacity. They don't seem to appear that much in radio sets - more to be found in Tv's of the period. If they are used in a de-coupling application in your radio I would not worry.
They can sometimes be confused as resistors, as some are colour coded. Some have their value marked on their bodies. They were manufactured by TCC - I think! but I stand to be corrected here.
SimonT.

[howard]

Originally Posted by thermionic

Those torpedo shaped caps can cause problems - like all the rest. ....... SimonT.

Thanks Simon,

Next time I order capacitors from N. America I'll get new 100pf and 300pf Styroflex capacitors to replace these two, which are described in Trader sheet 1038 as 'IF by-passes'. They're not giving any trouble at the moment.

Howard