AM Radio Silver Mica Disease Repair Tube Radio

[@HamsterSnr]

That has got to be the cleanest inside of an old valve radio. Is very satisfying to watch these videos, not forgetting the entertaining side commentary.

[@hunter00047]

I just worked it out, the yellow nail varnish was given to you when you had that meeting with Glasslinger!

[@wellusee]

At 16:05 you say "I could listen to this all day long" That just made my day , love that sound of channels coming together. Like first sound of the rebuild. Great video keep up the good work much apricated. Paddy.

[@petersage5157]

14:05 Nice little theremin effect with the antenna coil.

[@bob4analog]

Nice repair! This is the 1st time I've heard of mica disease.

[@rubenproost2552]

Yeah, would not have thrown away my tube radios if I knew it was fixable.

[@isoguy.]

In place of expensive plastic screwdrivers i use ground plastic knitting needles they work really well and you can get a whole bunch of them from a thrift store for a $1 great vid, thanks.

[@isoguy.]

@Southeastern777 I can't claim originality, got the tip from my Uncle who used to repair tv's and radio's back in the 80s. He said that in many cases, when working on an old tv, you could reach into the back of the set with an adapted knitting needle where even the longest plastic screwdrivers wouldn't reach. He also said that for the cost of 1 long reach screwdriver he could buy 100 plastic knitting needles. A wise, wise man.

[@isoguy.]

@Southeastern777 That's real amazing, you ought to make a vid on how to build one and upload it to the tube. I know I learned more electronics from my Uncle during the summer school break when I worked in his shop than I learned in a year in school. Sadly he is no longer with us. I believe in the comment I've posted a number of times before: Fame money and power acquired during a lifetime are quickly forgotten but nothing trangresses generations and is remembered better than passed on knowledge. Stay safe and well, ISO Guy.

[@jimmy_jamesjams_a_lot4171]

AAAAHHH!! It sort of makes more sense to me now after listening to your thoughts out loud, why they used to call them ‘condensers’. THANKS FOR SHARING THIS!! I can really appreciate not just the cool looking aesthetics of your tester / LCR and other fancy tools, but also just hearing you speak out loud about the processes that you have seemingly gone through before. I’ll likely never forget your spool of wire that you’re using as a variable choke/coil, by clipping your lead at different points along the spool of wire. A+ content, and damned well worth the while. Thanks again!

[@jimmyday9536]

Who is giving thumbs down on these videos? These are the best educational videos on vintage electronics!

[@RCAvhstape]

14:10 you've reinvented the Theremin!

[@jsciarri]

That radio sounds fantastic and has great reception considering of how all of the old wax paper capacitors are still installed.

[@donh01965]

"It's like lo-Fi punk rock radio" Awesome!

[@TonyButchT]

Never heard a radio make those funky sounds! Good Lesson!

[@mikaelmcleod4698]

Great stuff! I am tired of all the magic cap replacement videos where the radio works better than new. Real troubleshooting is the way to go. Your videos are not professional but informative. That is the bottom line. Keep the good stuff coming!

[@danielt.8573]

I also never understood that replacement mania people have when the original components are actually good.

[@overbuiltautomotive1299]

@@danielt.8573 their not good leaky

[@dianepeck6189]

Beautiful radio, Shango! Love the copper & purple. Happy New Year to you!

[@bobbysykesjr.354]

nothing like listening to analog radio..... just a few of us guys left....

[@rogerlaurel2363]

Interesting radio! Sold before radios were required to have an FM receiver within the production model if the output wattage was above .25 watts. Must have been sold about 1963-1968. 1969 was when the law of marketing AM band only radios was put into effect. (Done so to promote the development of the FM radio band. I know! I was there. Still have & use an AM band radio my mother gave me for Christmas 1967. I only had to repair it once. (Mom, RIP! I still love your gift to me after 50 years! Every morning it greets me with morning news while I shower, brush my teeth, take my daily medications, comb my hair & shave!)

[@rdmantik]

Very interesting. I've learned a lot. Thrilling to see it working good. have a couple radios I picked up about the same time as that RCA TV I showed you. Will send photos. Merry Christmas!

[@waltschannel7465]

34:00 Low Fi punk rock... LOL. Uh, I think you made a theramin. HAHA. GREAT video as always, shango66 . Thanks for the tour of silver Mica issues.

[@terryblackman6217]

Brilliant what you did with those mica caps. For tuning up my IF cans I use plastic knitting needles shaped to what shape I need. Take care. Terry

[@ETAD-ne8wr]

The natural light really makes a difference! Interesting video.

[@luisreyes1963]

Never thought I hear those radio noises outside of a cartoon. 📻

[@watcher818]

Why not cut the little arms through the plastic. Use a Dremel. 4 cuts. Thin cutting bit, cuts the metal arms right off, through the plastic. No wasting time to disassemble rivet and lower base. Disable the arms, leave the mica inside, it's not going to do anything. Reinstall the can on the chassis,. Add the spec caps on the lugs under the chassis. Done. Specs should be on the diagram, if not start with 100pf each. You can add or subtract if necessary, and no need to remove the can any more. Done many many like that, even cans with 3 caps inside. 2 fixed, and the third output filter. Takes me about 15-20 min to do one complete. You may want to try that way one time. Take care sir.

[@MsCori76]

The inside of this radio looks similar to my old tube radio. I still love the purple & MERRY CHRISTMAS Shango. Xx

[@martinda7446]

Merry Christmas Corinna. And to you lovely kids. Think of us back in the old world freezing. Merry Christmas Shango.

[@MsCori76]

Martin de Angelis same to you & we are cooking here with the hot summer heat. LOL Yesterday it was stinking hot & my air con decided to blow a capacitor but it's all fixed now, thank god.

[@MsCori76]

Martin de Angelis Also I have a busy Xmas as my oldest child turns 16 two days before Xmas on the 23rd, so makes it more expensive. Believe me, he doesn't look 16 either. LOL

[@martinda7446]

Corinna Roberts Haha lovely. I am a Jan 1st birthday, so I know about Christmas / Birthday combos - You win (mum) in the end ))

[@MsCori76]

Martin de Angelis haha cool & Merry Christmas.

[@cttv90108]

Next video: measuring the capacitance of cigarette residue (cigarette paste) on vintage electronics.

[@MsCori76]

Chris LOL

[@wellusee]

Now there's one alright!

[@vinnypapa3206]

Lmao😅

[@glasstronic]

Cool vid. Yep, that (SMD) is becoming more noticeable these days especially. Good to see more vid's showing this and how to manage it. Thanks for posting.

[@TheFurriestOne]

Ha, you and the antenna made a nice variable unit, could almost play it as an instrument!

[@rubenproost2552]

The Shango Theremin

[@petedazer2556]

Much better method with those series 119 cans is to use some small nippers (Xcelite) and cut the rivet off from the top. I've done about 100 of these and have got it down to 30 minutes for both, in out and back in again. Use your LCR meter to measure the inductance to figure out your cap values. Much easier than what you went through.

[@wellusee]

Have you done a video on your method yet? I'd give you a thumbs up if you did.

[@danielsteele7544]

You are excellent, thankyou for the lesson.

[@YMJEONG]

Nice..Nostalgic...I can feel that smell...and what a surprise that Korean broadcasting signal!

[@zidane2k1]

It was pretty cool watching the process of tuning the IF and hearing it dramatically improve by the end. Also interesting, the clock worked for a couple seconds starting at 31:45

[@VoCodebcv]

Always heard about SMD but now I see and understand. Nothing like a good visual.

[@AMStationEngineer]

I've started on a stack of postwar Zenith's and Philco's, most Bakelight, and you are quite correct, time and dendritic deposition is a One Hundred Percent Death Sentence for otherwise well-working radios, it'll be my contribution to getting thru these days without going nutz.

[@StaryiPatefon]

In general, a very cool review of the receiver turned out for you!👍💪 In addition, an overview of broadcast AM stations in the MW medium wave range! In Russia, broadcasting in the MW band is completely ruined ,since since 2010 a decree of the president of the Russian Federation was signed to reduce the cost of broadcasting, in this regard, we have completely broadcast radio stations from Russia in Russian in the MW and SW bands throughout Russia.previously, there were many good and interesting programs in russian from america and europe ,but this was called propaganda)) I am very happy that in America radio broadcasting on medium and short waves is still relevant and a lot of radio stations both music and news broadcast as well as prnzhde 70 years ago ))

[@shango066]

I work on and collect a lot of USSR Russian radios. They are great

[@UpcomingJedi]

This is perfect for the construction worker who cant whisle at the passing women.

[@teacfan1080]

For a minute there I thought you were successfully tuning in some other galaxy. If that was the case, then that radio far outperforms those monster sized dish antennas looking for ET's signal!

[@ercando11]

At 18:42 are we entering our destination time into the DeLorean? Another great video Shango!

[@TonyFleetwood]

for some reason, i really like the way that ugly purple radio looks...

[@jefferyb304]

I'm surprised those old electrolytics are working so good.

[@MsCori76]

Time must of been slow, been 9:00 forever. Haha & it was cool to hear "The Greatest" by Sia, who by the way is Aussie like me. 😀

[@jimdandy567]

Always right two times a day

[@ricardosalesdemello4130]

yeah!! shango meu amigo, olha você é um ótimo técnico de rádio & televisão, por outro lado, eu adoro os seus vídeos Gostei de ver o Radio antigo funcionamento muito bem yeah!! shango my friend, look you are a great radio & television technician, on the other hand, i love your videos I enjoyed seeing the old Radio working very well

[@Radio478]

Great video thanks from England 🇬🇧

[@airplaneengine]

Great video! Does the clock have a Telechron movement (that uses a sealed rotor)? The lubrication in the rotor has probably thickened up. If you pull the rotor and heat it up on a 75-100w light bulb, you can extract some of the old oil from around the gear shaft, and as it cools down, suck new oil into it (repeating a few times until it stops taking in oil). Considering the age, it probably uses an H-3 rotor (newer 60s sets would have S-1/S-7 rotors). I've been coming across SMD more and more in just the last 5 years or so. Really becoming a problem with a lot of these little sets. I have a couple radios that have recently (within a year or 2 sitting idle) developed it as well.

[@animalcorvair]

right on

[@videosuperhighway7655]

Wow the warmth and fuzzy analog AM audio. Audiophiles will pay big money for this. :)

[@luisantoniomarrega3713]

Voltou a ficar novo! Rio Brasil

[@pXnEmerica]

Thanks for doing it this way, got a radio here I still need to figure out values for, had all kinds of crazy noises, figured I might have messed up somewhere, while that still may be true, the video parts without the caps, the squealing and motorboating etc were sure familiar. I'll have to dig back into it. Pretty much identical cans.

[@toltec13]

Greetings! On 4:55 you mentioned that the leads were loose. Can't you put crazy glue to in between the leg of the leads and the plastic where the leads come out? This should prevent the legs from moving and breaking the fine wire.

[@craignehring]

Your good The clock motor can be drilled open and a shot of WD-40 put into it, I"ve done that many times

[@Pyridox]

Good video, nice repair & save of a decent radio. CBS used to make broadcast equipment, we found some old time base correctors that were made by CBS.

[@p.thadeushornswoggler4987]

Cool! you made a theramin ! Beautiful radio. You should sell the stuff you fix on ebay... make a few $$ with your captive audience.

[@donh01965]

I'd buy this one! It's well used but the style is amazing

[@mikemoyercell]

at 31:45 the clock started to work. anyone else notice that?

[@Synthematix]

Shango you just built a theremin!

[@ZERONEVERSEVEN]

clock moves at 31:45

[@ETAD-ne8wr]

What a great looking radio!

[@videosuperhighway7655]

Wow epic cluster of components globbed together. Amazing this stuff worked back then, I guess the lower frequency ranges were much more forgiving for 1950s glob construction.

[@MrUbiquitousTech]

You kind of have that backwards, yesterday's electronics were assembled by hand by technicians, and point to point wiring is almost fail-proof in comparison to circuit boards that cannot handle heat, voltage spikes, age, etc. No radio built today will be around 70 years from now.

[@watershed44]

+shango066 I'm so glad I found your channel, I love seeing old technology being brought back to life. The suggestion about the clock motor someone else posted was a good one. Drill a tiny hole in the motor casing and spray a bit of WD-40 into the case and manually turn the hands to set it to help work the fluid into the bearings. Are you going to give the face a clean up?

[@Zickcermacity]

16:20 Dazzlin' Dan's Amazing Theremin! 🤣

[@frankpitochelli6786]

Did you not put a matching value capacitor to replace the mica caps.?

[@frankpitochelli6786]

....sorry, I jumped the gun on my comment, you did put those tunable caps to find the right value for the permanent caps.

[@larrybaudoin1635]

That speaker sounds good man

[@ericeric6342]

Is this common in 30s, 40,s 50s radios? Or is it specific to a certain decade?

[@kilcar]

Excellent video thanks!

[@Synthematix]

Shango couldnt you soak it in white spirit or similar?

[@AiOinc1]

12:50 if it were my radio, I'd have left it without the IF caps, I always liked the tuning sounds old radios could make.

[@worldwide1376]

Wow, that was tedious work! So, what are the ill-effects of removing the silver mica from the cans? Why are they there in the first place?

[@AntiqueRadios]

Does it matter which I-F can you align first?

[@shango066]

There generally is a specific order. On am radios you would want to start on the last one and work your way towards the front end because the first one on FM it's kind of the opposite because you want to zero the detector last. TVs you want to set the traps first and then they're staggered tune to a specific band pass. It's best to just follow the Sams or service manual. I think I got this one pretty close just by tweaking it by ear which is never the right way to do it

[@cliffjones7868]

please use a tripod and/or panning slower. Do you have a video on using that LCR bridge. Good Video

[@KAFKUBA]

I can't find part 1

[@theogdirkdiggler]

Does this help you with your tinnitus?

[@JeffreyGroves]

Why is it necessary to remove the mica wafer? Also, what about all those horrible old wax capacitors that are likely passing DC and tearing up the tubes?

[@TheDave31london]

31:46 the clocks second hand moved so not totally dead

[@kg4yhr]

great job again MERRY CHRISTMAS

[@petermaxwell2965]

These videos are addictive, I don't know why ..I haven't a clue what he's talking about 😒😯😶🐲 theramin !!

[@joebrock9784]

What takes thw plastice of the wafer u removed

[@KennethScharf]

Without the IF caps, it's motorboating and 'Thermin-ing'! I bet KNX comes in strong enough on a crystal set to drive a small speaker (or even a small car!).

[@cliffjones7868]

I did that back in 1958, with a crystal rocket radio and a audio transformer PM speaker, also pulled in KFI, KHJ,KFWB, Very hard to pick up KRLA. And where I lived In long Beach KFOX.

[@davewm9589]

did you confirm the disc stated values with the cap tester? that is if you used the printed value on the cap. Just curious if maybe the stated value was different from the actual values.

[@shango066]

Yes, the cap tester is almost dead on. the 110pf disc caps matched the trimmer caps and the other values were real close.

[@carlrudd1858]

I presume that you can no longer buy IF Xformers at the local Lafayette ? *hehe*

[@danishnative9555]

4 Arco trimmers to expensive for that POS. Good work Shango. Are Arco's still even made or were those NOS?

[@WolfmanDude]

Why not select the capacitor when the filter can is outside the radio with a scope and frequency generator? Yea the peak frequency will change slightly when you put the filter back in circuit, but you could finetune that with the core of the coil.

[@WolfmanDude]

Also: These noises were awsome! A perfect radio for someone on LSD.

[@dannyasher3259]

Great video Shango!!!!!

[@LyonsArcade]

14:00 that time Shango turned a radio into a Theremin

[@Andrewausfa]

Good repair, Quite like this radio.

[@jonathanprince4206]

I live five miles from KNX and on my 1946 radio, I get a San Diego station Between KNX and Radio Disney. .

[@umajunkcollector]

Not bad a'tall 'go, if you get the clock to work, it would be the cat's meow for sure, make for a nice kissymas gift from ShangoKlauz. Happy holidays and season's greetings, um being PC. The Donold

[@Walczyk]

what happens when you remove the mica wafer? what's its purpose? insulator?

[@jackneff179]

just curious why not use a vtvm?

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Should the capacitors be 47pf or 50pf for 455khz.

[@nor4277]

Is that transformer ,replaceable ,or,do you have to rebuild it

[@anotherOneMore7]

Not sure I understand. You repaired the transformer by removing the wafer?

[@shango066]

Watching the whole video should explain

[@luisdardis5223]

nice work ty!! don't stop!!

[@KAFKUBA]

This video confuses me...how did you fix it?

[@dondesnoo1771]

Theese cans were 10$ a dozen we used to just put in new . back when people fixed this stuff.

[@sting1111]

I get a kick out of his finger poking everything...a highly sensitive, experienced chopstick.

[@chalmerbasham695]

There where some numbers stenciled on the metal frame. “26 1 5” Could this be its manufacture date?

[@matthiasmartin1975]

Concerning the two peaks: I think this trimmer affects the oscillator frequency and so you either send the difference or the sum of the oscillator and the input frequency into the IF filter chain. I might be horribly wrong about this though...

[@buddylight2191]

Do you repair newer stuff like GPS?

[@videosuperhighway7655]

yeah he can de-lid the cpus and do microscopic gate soldering using x-ray laser beam lithography.

[@briansmith2363]

can I replace a 35 volt 3uf capacitor with a 33uf or 1uf capacitor?

[@bdagle]

Hi! It has been my experience that 100 pf caps across the board and then peaking the IF's with the slugs. Usually works. Brendan

[@shango066]

Looks like 110 is close but unless you get the correct value it will never perform at its peak. Im really trying to stay away from generalizations

[@makomk]

Yeah, somehow I have a feeling the originals probably weren't exactly precision capacitors, especially with that spread of values. If it's going to have to be manually aligned anyway, why bother with the extra expense?

[@donh01965]

I learn a lot from these videos. I'm grateful you took the time to go through the steps to find the real values of the caps.

[@daylightbigboy]

Because a 100 PF in place of a 33 PF won't perform as well even after alignment. It was designed to use a certain value and that's what it will work best with.

[@bdagle]

Steamroller: I don't know what your talking about? All those caps measured very close to 100 pf so 100's across the board would have worked OK. Go back and watch his video again. Brendan

[@CoolTim44]

merry Christmas

[@helioshaul3924]

That works very well, Very Very well.

[@SpinStar1956]

Too bad you don't do clocks -- LOL Nice video!

[@rustymotor]

Love your videos, your troubleshooting skills are very good, a true technician with a solid knowledge of electronics. Fascinating to hear four year old news (sept. 2021 at the moment). Trump had arrived in office and now has been replaced by Biden and the world has been overrun by the current plague. So much has happened in four years!