Vintage Radio Repair

[kmac912.livejournal.com]

Hi all!  I bought a vintage shortwave radio while on vacation in Europe- looks to be from the 40's or 50's.  The shop owner promised me that it worked, but I failed to take the voltage difference between here and Europe into consideration.  I would really love to get this up and running, but it will probably need to be rewired to run on our lower voltage.  Anybody have any idea where I could take this to have that done?  Any idea how much that would be (just expensive or my-firstborn-child expensive)?  Thanks for any advice!

Comments

[neuroacorn.livejournal.com]

Could you get a voltage converter/transformer instead?

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

Um, that was my first thought too.

[inahandbasket]

Rewiring it will be a MAJOR project.
Figure out what the wattage draw is and get a step-up converter/transformer, I doubt the wattage draw will be extreme.
Make sure your converter is rated higher than the draw of the radio and you'll be fine.

Here's an example:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NK4TNG/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000IMM26U&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=07N3PDGZAQG4C3DBNFR0

[kmac912.livejournal.com]

that seems much easier! Any tips on how to tell what the draw from the radio would be?

[eclecticavatar.livejournal.com]

On Mass Ave in Arlington, just before the Capitol Theatre, on the right, there's a place that repairs and sells old radio equipment and stereo equipment. I'm sorry that I can't remember their name, but a Google search for radio repair in Arlington will likely turn it up.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I think you mean this place:

Audio Video Plus
(781) 648-2430
159 Massachusetts Ave
Arlington, MA 02474

Still, they may not do shortwave radios.

I myself would take it to the next MIT Flea (http://w1mx.mit.edu/flea-at-mit) and see if anyone has any brilliant ideas.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

Three years ago Sam Petnov fixed a vintage antique radio I inherited from my grandmother. I'm not sure if he's still in business (or even still alive) but he did a great job. The only downside is driving all the way to Medway, MA for service however it's worth it to see his basement which is more of a museum than a workshop.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/bellingham/news/x21528618#axzz1FxVksnlL

[olszowka.livejournal.com]

If there is a tag on the radio that says how many amps (A) it draws, multiply by 240 to determine the watts. If not, you will have to measure. If it is transistor, it is almost certainly under 50 watts which is probably within any size convertor you'd find. If it is tube, it could be more.

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

There's a decent chance that it can be set to run on 120V just by changing a jumper setting in the back. Most old European radios had transformers that could be set for the local voltage, which was much more variable back in those days. It will most definitely have settings for various voltages in the 200-250 volt range, and it's quite likely that it has settings for the 100-130 range for the Americas and Japan. If there are multiple settings in the 110-130 range, start with the highest one and only go lower if the radio won't run correctly - that will be easier on those old tubes and capacitors.

If it can't be adjusted for 120, a step down transformer should do the trick. In that case, you should pick the highest voltage in the 200-250 range, if that can be set, for the same reason as above.

Take a look on the back, and you might find something. It may require removing the back panel to do it, to, but as long as it's unplugged, this will be perfectly safe to do. Back in those days, people were expected to want to replace tubes on their own, and radios were meant to be "user serviced". At 42 years old I'm just barely old enough to remember those tube testing machines in the local drugstore...

One safety suggestion: try to only touch the radio with one hand at a time when you are working on it. This makes getting shocked much less likely, should you accidentally touch something you shouldn't, since there's a lower chance of a direct path across the heart. as there would be if you were using both hands. Don't get too worked up about this, though. The chances that anything will happen to you if you pay attention and don't get distracted are very, very low.

Radiomuseum.org is a good place to research this sort of thing. You can probably find out a lot more information about your radio - the database is quite extensive. You'll probably even be able to figure out when it was built, and see circuit diagrams

One thing I would like to point out: if there's any significant humming noise when it's on, this likely means one or more of the capacitors in the power supply section is going bad. DO NOT IGNORE THIS!. If they aren't replaced, they can wreck the power transformer, and those are really expensive to replace, and can be hard to find replacements for. At this point, you need to either learn how to work on your radio, or find an old-timer who can do it for you.

BTW, may I ask what brand/model it is? I have about a half dozen of these myself, from ~1950-1965, one of which i'm listening to right now: http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/blaupunkt_santos_2310.html
In my office, we listened to the last inauguration on it when the streaming video got overloaded - it was fun listening to the speeches being given on a radio older than the president himself ;-)

If you get really stuck, pm me and I'll try to help out further. These old radios are great to listen to, and have a really nice warm sound. I love 'em.

[eredien]

It is possible that the owner over at Citylights might be able to help you or else recommend somebody. He specializes in old lamps but it can't hurt to call him and ask if he also knows about anyone who does old radios.