Tag Archives: capacitor

Huge and Powerful: The 1937 GE F-135 Repair Complete

I’ve finally had the time to finish one of my long-running projects repairing GE’s most powerful radio offering from 1937, the GE F-135. I picked it up from Craigslist back in November but other responsibilities kept me from getting much … Continue reading

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More Strange Coiled Wires [Mailbag]

I had an interesting call the other day with a gentleman about a radio he’s working on, among other topics: That’s a Philco 46-420. They’re nice little bakelite radios with 6 tubes designed to receive the AM broadcast band. He’d come … Continue reading

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What’s that piece of wire, some kind of gimmick? [Mailbag]

I was talking with a fellow antique radio hobbyist on the phone the other day about a repair he was working on. A TrueTone battery radio, he’d taken care of all the important steps – checking out the tubes, replacing … Continue reading

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1942 GE LF-116 Radio Repair Part 4 – Capacitors and Discriminator/Phase Inverter Socket

Part of a continuing series: Part 1 – History and First Looks Part 2 – Tool Prep Part 3 – Capacitor Can Rebuild Part 4 – Capacitors and Socket Replacement  Part 5 – Finished! I’m continuing to work on this … Continue reading

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1942 GE LF-116 Radio Repair Part 3 – Capacitor Can Rebuilding

Part of a continuing series: Part 1 – History and First Looks Part 2 – Tool Prep Part 3 – Capacitor Can Rebuild Part 4 – Capacitors and Socket Replacement  Part 5 – Finished! I’m continuing to work on the … Continue reading

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Refurbishing Vintage Sansui SP2500 Speakers (Crossover Repair)

I’m always keeping my eyes out for interesting vintage hi-fi speakers from the ’60s-’70s, and found a nice set of Sansui SP2500s on Craigslist. Produced between 1960 and 1974, these beautiful walnut speakers are solid and very heavy – definitely … Continue reading

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Old Radio Detective Work

I’m still working on my 1941 Stromberg-Carlson 520-PG and am running into a few new problems I’ve never come across before. Back in the era of tube radios, everything was serviceable on a component level and most people had enough aptitude and … Continue reading

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Antique Capacitor Color Code Chart

I’m working on restoring another radio, and it has antique capacitors with color code markings that are different from the commonly used 3-digit codes found today. It took a bit of searching to find a good chart with these, so … Continue reading

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Refurbishing a Capacitance Tester

Parts Express sent me an advertisement for a $45 capacitance meter today. This actually a pretty good deal, and it’s a useful thing to have around if you’re doing electronics work. I’d probably have bought one myself, if I didn’t … Continue reading

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