Teletone 6 tube AM radio diagnosis for repair

[@AnOfficialAndrewFloyd]

Got to encourage the up and coming younger generations to learn these skills otherwise they could be lost.

[@joewoodchuck3824]

A Floyd They won't learn it. You're talking about the millenials generation here which means that they don't know how to change a tire or how to make a camp fire and cook on it. The ONLY thing they want to know is what's on the computer or phone screen. Getting a college degree in this or that which may or may not even be remotely connected to their career path doesn't help the situation either. Nice radio. I'm the generation of building your own regenerative receiver with a single tube all mounted on a leftover piece of lumber found in the cellar. In my own case I built that receiver when I was no more than 11 or 12. I came INTO semiconductors after working with hollow state technology for several years. I made my career in electronics based in part on my early building experience. And you know what? It was a hobby when I was very young, made a reasonably successful career as a designer, and still play with radio as a ham radio operator, and I still make stuff in retirement. Millenials don't even know what most of that relates to! Everything is disposable to them and it all comes from some mysterious unmarked building on a back street somewhere in Asia. You're very nice tube radio is a museum relic to them belonging in a display case right next to an 800 years old dugout canoe. Now where did I put that roll of magnet wire? There must be a piece of plywood somewhere too ...

[@damonbravo9896]

Well Joe Woodchuck it was you boomers who gutted US manufacturing and sent it to China and pumped your own portfolios with the throw away economy. How would you expect millennials to know anything different when it was all gutted before they were old enough to take an interest in it? BTW I am a Millennial on the cusp of Gen-X and have a Grundig 2025 sitting on my kitchen counter that I repaired myself, and I suspect I am among the very last who would have had an opportunity to gain exposure to such things.

[@direct78broadcast26]

joe woodchuck I'm 16 myself and repair my own televisions and radios for my personal use, however yes the vast majority of millenials are incapable of even the most basic of tasks without their phones telling them.

[@vihaanabdullah6107]

I know I'm kind of randomly asking but does anybody know a good site to watch new movies online ?

[@richkudlick7815]

the MacGyver of vintage electronics.. very cool

[@wrnchhead76]

Definitely. THIS is the guy you want in some post apocalyptic scenario!

[@racecar_spelled_backwards868]

This must be a kid after my own heart! I was a big AM radio guy when I was 17 (...when dinosaurs roamed the earth). It's great to see young people getting in the hobby! Thanks, again, Shango, for the encouragement to all of us.

[@chakathewolf]

Sometimes when we criticize repairs we need to consider that the 'tech' may have been in high school (or in my case, junior high) when the work was done and still learning how to solder. I wish this young man all the best!

[@morse.500thomas6]

Give that man an A+ for trying that looks like good work

[@me3333]

Better than some of my work at 14

[@pafoofnic]

Metal = vacuum canister? I was an old school analog electronics tech for over 30 years, tubes to transistors and even immigrated circuits. Your resourcefulness never ceases to amaze me. Thanks for the creative video.

[@MsCori76]

Alameda Repair Shop - Thanks for reminding me that I’ve got to vacuum my house today. LOL

[@lonnieparks5037]

Hey Shango; 1970's TV & Radio repairmen here; great video; reminds me of some of the jerry rigs I would do; back in the day on things for customers who couldn't afford much. More like this; please.☺

[@45AMT]

I had no one to show me anything about electronics. Nothing was offered in school. Thanks to the military and my interest. That was a neat experiment with the transformer. It really shows the flexibility of this old stuff. It's great stuff to learn on.

[@_Ramen-Vac_]

I have SO many wallwarts hangin around here.. coooool knowledge imprinting

[@MsCori76]

Malcolm Wolfe - Same. I’ve got tons of them!

[@_Ramen-Vac_]

wow that little box sounds gOOd with just that side/side transformer.

[@MsCori76]

Malcolm Wolfe - It sure does & who would of thought to use one out of a wallwart because I know I wouldn’t of as I just collect them in case one day they come in handy for other appliances etc when the ones supplied bugger up.

[@_Ramen-Vac_]

All of these , and I still can't find one for the Casio MT100 mini keyboard w/ Graphic Equalizer.. 7.5 volt DC.. so I guess it's really a rectifier? I'm a packrat with the know of a caveman, so...

[@MsCori76]

Malcolm Wolfe - Just had to buy one for my laptop as I didn’t have another one in my collection that was compatible. Still not 100% if it’s the charger cord or the charger port on the laptop that’s died as at the moment I can’t charge the battery in it. The new charger cord only cost me $16 + free P&H on eBay, so fingers crossed on Thursday when it arrives in the post........I’m so hoping that is the problem as I can’t afford to have the port replaced just yet! 🤞🏻 Have you tried the transformer wall warts that come with adapters & the voltage selector? I had to buy one of those for my Rhythmic 8 keyboard & it worked well.

[@UQRXD]

I always use flux and 50/50 solder. I miss the sound of a tube radio. I had a collection of about 200 at one point from 1920's to 1950 model years. I always liked the loctal tube ones.

[@skycarl]

Another great tip,,, makes perfect sense but who would think of using an old wall wart for an audio transformer.

[@ScottTV-yq2wu]

Shango

[@RoughJustice2k18]

12voltvids and radiotvphononut as well maybe.

[@andygozzo72]

i've even used a bog standard mains transformer for the output in a quad 2 hifi amp...works reasonably ok!

[@billgueltig6136]

Transformers are about turns ratio. The 120 volt primary is about what the plate voltage of the 50L6 should be. If the output voltage of the wall wart was 6 volts or less then you have a decent match for the secondary .. But a proper audio transformer will have a core structure more appropriate for the audio circuit

[@dr.detroit1514]

I had some problems trying to get into the radio tv repair field even in the late 60's early 70's. My father was against it, he had a bad experience as a radio repairman in the 30's, didn't teach me anything, and my high school electronics shop saw the old instructor retire just before I got there. So we had a teacher who knew nothing about electronics, all we did was book work and take tests, never set foot even once in the large and well equipped lab. Wound up being a computer repairmen for 30 years.

[@MsCori76]

Oh what the hell.........I wasn’t going to bother to comment but some people start getting worried if they don’t hear from me! LOL Anyway Shango, Thankyou for uploading a fresh new weekly video , I needed my Shango066 fix for today. It’s such a shame this radio has had a buster on the front with the dial display missing! This radio was made the year my father was born, 1947........Looking forward to your next video. Cheers, Corinna xoxo

[@quantumleap359]

Wow, Sams on a Samsung! cool beans Shango! These are the radios I used to repair many years ago!

[@me3333]

Just the fact that he is interested in electronics or am radio's at all impresses me to no end. I know two 17 year olds right know that would look at you like you had two heads if you even showed this radio to them, that is if you could pry them away from their phones... Good on ya kid, keep it up and you will go places with a skill that most wont possess!

[@MrHBSoftware]

amen to that

[@defconzero]

I'm 18 and I have several radios and a roached out tube TV. I've done a few repairs on some of my tube stuff and shangos channel has been a primary learning resource for me.

[@heath7766]

Hello, i'v been fixing record players since i was 8.I started soldering in my own components at age 10.Today i'm 11.

[@SierraJohn]

Glad you posted that. Inspired me to get my Tele-Tone five-tube radio off the shelf and working again. Last time I tried to fire it up, it gave me a shock. I haven't forgiven it yet.

[@ronb6182]

you can let him rewind the output transformer. that would be a good lesson. my friend had an electronic teacher that didn't like radio shack transformers so he rewound them. 73

[@mikedrz]

Viewing the sams on the 'Sams'ung.

[@danmackintosh6325]

Finally, another Shango vid :D been looking forward to your next upload for what seems like months now! Good stuff, might as well hit like before I've even watched the damn thing...

[@danmackintosh6325]

Oh... Was I first? lol well may as well join the sheeple and cry "FIRST!!!" then...

[@jameslucas6589]

dan mackintosh I agree. He is Amazing and you can learn more from his approach in 5 min than 5 hours from others. I like Radiotvphononut a lot too! But he spends 1/2 the time ranting ( often justified) but let's fix the stuff. Love Shango he is the real deal.

[@mrnmrn1]

In some cases, I also used wallwart power transformers as temporary audio outputs. I found out that the best for that purpose are the crappiest, non UL-recognized Chinese ones with universal output. The multiple secondary taps help to find a more optimal impedance match, and their lack of safety as a wall-wart helps as they don't have a split bobbin like yours, the primary and secondary are wound on top of each other (the isolation is often paint masking tape.... :-) ), so the magnetic coupling is better than with split bobbins, which greatly increases the high frequency response. Though, even these are only suitable for AM radios, because of the lack of the higher audio band (about 6-8kHz roll-off was the best I found).

[@TimPerfetto]

Thank you for all your videos. Perfect amount of constructive criticism on this one

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you Shango for showing the audio transformer trick, I needed one on a radio awhile back and didn't completely understand how all that works, I read you could use a power brick like that but didn't understand it. I can pick those things up at thrift stores for 50 cents all day long, i'll look for some low voltage ones for backups.

[@RODALCO2007]

Brilliant video. Great fault repair. Great to have the younger generation showing interest in tube radio's.

[@kaa522]

I have this exact radio, the second 12SQ7 is strictly there to get the tube count up to six. They are using the triode section of one of the 12SQ7's and the diode section of the other one. Like you I never found a schematic.

[@andymouse]

The description says it all....cheers !

[@felixcat4346]

Way more fun to break open those wall warts with a hammer. Put the thing on a concrete floor and wack around the seam it will come apart without denting the case. I always amazed at the quality and usefulness of Shango`s test equipment.

[@pvc988]

Nice idea using power supply transformer. I would've never thought of that.

[@LakeNipissing]

Too bad someone smashed out the dial scale... nice good performing radio.

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

Yeah. Big oof when i saw that.

[@zundfolge1432]

@@qwertykeyboard5901 unless the customer has a replacement dial, or the radio is sentimental to him

[@maplewoodsp]

My father taught me about mechanical connections long ago. He would be 100 this year, and that makes me old. 😎

[@just_a_norwegian]

The things i learn from this channel. Thank you for all the videos you put out

[@jameslucas6589]

I really have to commend you on your intuitive approach. No matter how I were to learn electronics, you and especially you have forgotten more than I'll ever know. Well done.

[@ricardosalesdemello4130]

your work is shango jewel, i love it

[@davewm9589]

there will now be a run on those transformer power supplies on ebay.

[@chetpomeroy1399]

That's a pretty smart idea--it never occurred to me that you can use the transformer from a "wall wart" to replace an open audio output transformer! I remember having a radio where the speaker was disconnected, and I could still hear audio from the audio output transformer. When I was 17, I listened *quite often* to AM radio stations--of course, that was 40+ years ago when AM had many, many more Top-40 radio stations on the air.

[@dwightpilkilton7870]

Neat trick and a great video. I was enrolled in electronics in HS in the early 1970"s...out instructor always preached..mechanical connection first then the silver

[@akkudakkupl]

Wouldnt have thought to use a power transformer in a single ended stage (magnetic saturation), but I have built a push pull with a split primary power transformer as the output - works great.

[@ricardosalesdemello4130]

yeah! shango I loved having you put the radio on, it even played the Beatles song eh eh eh I liked it

[@ricardosalesdemello4130]

yeah!! shango gostei velho amigo, muito bem gostei de ver yeah!! shango I liked it old friend, very well I liked to see

[@bborkzilla]

The extra 12SK7 in that radio is probably an RF amplifier in front of the 12SA7 pentagrid converter. To compensate for that the 50L6 audio amplifier was usually replaced with a 35L6

[@Atomshamradio]

Kids should get involved in vintage electronics

[@teacfan1080]

Cool repair using that Radio Shack adapter! Bass sounded good as well. Too bad the dial is broken out of it.

[@gtb81.]

its cool that i actually have an older wooden one right next to me xD but i am only 18 and have re-capped a few radios myself as well as built my own amplifier and the people i have learned a lot from would be you, Uncle Doug and Mr Carlson as well as a few other random people on youtube i happened to watch

[@millercroger]

I would have sworn the secondary was open on that transformer. I've worked on consumer electronics since 1965 and am amazed.

[@wyattunderclass9051]

I had a 1955 RCA radio with two metal screws at the bottom just like that one. We were staying at the beach and I decided to put the radio on my lap with my feet in the sand. It shocked me so bad, my father had to knock it out of my lap; he cut the cord off the radio which was almost brand new not understanding that it had a hot chassis.😲

[@danieldyer1]

I was actually paying more attention to the birdsong in the background than the sirens.

[@BillyLapTop]

I was looking for the cat!

[@RoughJustice2k18]

Just like in the Philco Predicta B&W TV repair video Shango did - there were birds chirping in the background galore. The same video where he mentioned the owner paid $1000 for the set and the seller had told him it was restored and working (when in fact it was dead and buzzing). Seems whenever he works on any project and uses a camera, there are either birdies making noise in the trees or aircraft flying around or both.

[@racecar_spelled_backwards868]

By all the sirens and airplanes in the background, I'm starting to think Shango must live in a demilitarised zone!

[@chetpomeroy1399]

@racecar_spelled_backwards--North Korea has some nuclear ICBM's targeted to strike greater Los Angeles, so there may be some activity from the U.S. Air Force and other armed services in response to this. I hope the North Koreans don't decide to launch!

[@MattExzy]

It's the Recappers Brigade. They sensed Shango was making a new video.

[@MsCori76]

Chet Pomeroy - Gee I hope not either.

[@teacfan1080]

Don't forget, there were some birdies tweeting in the background too!

[@danilorainone406]

if we go daown,daown undah will carry the toach

[@SusanAmberBruce]

Great to hear you in educational/instructional mode.

[@iamdarkyoshi]

Fantastic idea! I might have to pull the old halicrafters radio out of storage and try to get something out of it :D

[@MsCori76]

Luke Den Hartog - I might have to get my fat arse into gear & do something with my 2 old vintage radios. ;)

[@jeffshaw6518]

Another great video!

[@VegasCyclingFreak]

Using a transformer based wall wart as a test audio xfmr is a very clever idea!

[@snake_hole2886]

you always amaze me

[@MsCori76]

Snake_ Hole - Never doubts anyone either. His one clever guy.

[@MichaelBeeny]

Many many years ago as a kid I had a educational kit that eventually made a complete six valve radio. as part of the early experiments the audio output transformer was used as a mains transformer to get six volts.output from the secondary. The primary was for UK 240 volts. Similar to your use but in reverse.

[@jacktheripper6716]

Another great video shango always like learning tricks of the trade from you :), just a shame in the uk its impossible to find little sets like this without costing an arm and a leg.

[@PaulaXism]

I always love your videos.. look forward to them. Cars, drains, mines, cabins, road trips, electronics, weird stuff.. plus that just epic lawnmower..... this must be the most varied content channel there is. Last year the live fireworks in the street were just awesome. I must have watched it 10 times and shared it with all my friends. Keep up the greatness.. But.. what became of "here we have" ? .. always made me smile... It's got stuck in my head.. It comes out when I'm teaching students how to use their brains to fix things.. and they look at me like I'm mad or infectious (I'm Tide Pod chan, not Ebola chan ffs).. so I tell them to watch your channel. EOL for the Squirrel.. Can we borrow your cat.. We need some rodents dealing with in our insane government.. he looks like just the ticket :D More people should also subscribe to Chris. I think he is lonely.

[@dave1135]

12:30, using channellocks to bang on a screwdriver. A quote from Steve Smith, aka red green, from Canada's the new red green show; " any tool can be the right tool." Keep your stick on the ice.

[@tectalabyss]

Great to see another video. Thank you for sharing Beep. :)

[@leesanders6490]

This is one to remember. Thanks.

[@iamrichrocker]

if i lived in LA, i know what station i would listen too...

[@LakeNipissing]

Genius substitute for the audio output transformer!!

[@MrGigi-dz9cv]

It looks good inside.

[@bobtk2352]

I found a schematic for a Teletone "Series D". Six (loctal) tubes, probably similar design. 14Q7, 14A7, two 14B6's, 35A5, and 35Y4. The two 14B6's form the most peculiar circuit I ever saw - looks like the first is the detector - cathode, grid and plate are tied - and the second is the first audio. Both diodes are tied on each of them. But it also looks like the cathodes are all tied and float above ground. If there's an AGC line, I'm not seeing it - at least no time-constant capacitor. For line AC. Don't think I've ever seen loctals in a non-mobile set.

[@jwl9286]

wonderful video! can always depend on you! thanks

[@GadgetWusky]

You were getting audio out of the output transformer's core because of the same reason you can hear 60 Hz coming out of some power transformers. Magnetic fields transferring power through the core are magnetizing the core, making magnetic field push it back-and-forth at the frequency of the signal passing through it. If the core is not very solidly adhered together and to the chassis, it will vibrate and make sound.

[@hql400]

yes thats true, it is called "magnetostriction" and this is common in all transformers... but in shangos case the primary winding is open and this alone explains not the effect. The arcing over the broken wire is one possibility, but I think, a short in a winding-section can also explain this (no transformation to the speaker but sound from the transformer), but then the primary is not measured "open". I am not sure, if shango definitaly measured the primary open. He only speaks about low plate voltage on the anode of the output-tube... The static plate-voltage without signal should be normal in case of winding-shorts... The mains-transformer sounds pretty good, I would not expect this, because of the missing air-gap in the core, which is important, when DC is flowing thru the primary winding (A-operation)... But this is a good result, neverless. Like this kinda videos...

[@superhet7281]

Metal tubes can be called Vacuum Cans. Was the sixth tube an untuned RF stage? Excellent, educational and fun to watch!

[@jackjowett902]

15:32 "if Doug can do this, I got a hunch that you can to" Sure thing Doug.

[@martinda7446]

Great to see your views count creeping up.

[@Amp497]

Hammond has some great audio output transformers for about $30. I'm using a pair on my single ended 2A3 stereo amp until I spend the big bucks on the really nice Hammonds. They sound great, but are 30hz to 20k+. So, the bottom end is not optimal. For the price they're a great inexpensive way to bridge the gap until one can pay for the really nice ones.

[@dondesnoo1771]

Amp Amp have a t250"acrosound new old. 20w ultra linear xfmr 100$ +shipping supposed to be for 2 2a3 s if interested.

[@jamescorvett]

shango, love your stuff ! It is hard to find those real transformer adapters these days. every time i see them for sale in thrift stores i typically buy them working or not. they usually are pretty easy to fix... unless the wingdings are fubar . but thats rare unless they've been trying to jump start a car battery with it. lol

[@keithbrandaw7229]

Looking forward to watching it

[@radiotvphononut]

I'll bet they are using one 12SQ7 for the audio driver stage (triode section) and they are using the other 12SQ7 for the detector stage (diode section). They could have used one tube for both functions; but, by using two tubes, they could advertise the set as having 6 tube performance (sort of like the later 16 transistor radios with 5 tube performance).

[@scratchback2001]

As a gay 60 year old Aussie....I thought id put that bit in, it is inevitable that some of todays generation will need nail polish remover to remove their mobile/cell phones stuck to their foreheads. I'm a DJ too by the way. The valve stuff I grew up with was mostly junk anyway but I do have quite a few beautiful radios and amplifiers I restored but new valve or tubes or toobs as you guys call them are coming back in a big way. I have a Leak Point One Stereo 20 and a brand new Primaluna stereo push pull integrated amp running 6 12AU7s at the front and 8 EL34s with auto bias at 100 watts a side at the business end. I've yet to get an Akai cassette deck GXC46D serviced but in Australia with Covid 19, we have severe lockdown so there is a lot of stuff I cant do at the moment. With the new tubes/valves being made, in my opinion Shango, don't give up on this generation just yet. I went to my 15 year old nephews school for 2 hours of free time teaching them the basics of tubes and how they work and the girls were just as interested as the guys. There is gonna be a massive resurgence in tube tech and its growing. 99% of Musos I know use Marshall tube heads for their guitars and tube driven HIFI amps are selling well. Kids today were never given the chance unlike you or me to experience anything except digital streaming. They were fascinated with the orange glow of a tube and how clean and loud valve amps are. Solid state solved a lot of problems but I believe both analogue and digital gear can run side by side. My nephew loves my man cave running 7.2 surround and my gear in my bedroom he just loves it. The Primaluna, the Technics SL1200MK2 Turntable I bought brand new and a CDJ for CD playback running into a pair of Wharfedales in my bedroom he thinks it's really cool. The turntable is brand new fitted with an Ortofon cartridge for playback only. I reckon there is a future in tube technology. How old are you mate? I need to know so I can comment on our youth and what decade was your favourite....nothing more. Cheers, Andrew Collins, Melbourne Victoria Australia.

[@rdsledge]

Do not forget the air craft noise too!

[@devashishjbobby]

Awesome 👍👍

[@billgueltig6136]

Tele tone used the diode part of the one 12sq7 as a detector and the. Other as a triode only triode as the first audio . They could have used it as a multi purpose tube but then it would only be a 5 tube and you could charge more for 6 tubes . Cheap postwar set . Tele Tone based their designs on what components were cheap at the auction that day.

[@1995voyagerES]

Finally a new video :-) I've watched almost all of your videos now and was running out of "new" videos that I haven't watched - can't get enough of them :D btw don't let the city noises annoy you too much - at least you are sourrounded by a nice big property with some nature, not like concrete block after concrete block (yes, I found your house on google maps, but I will not post or say anywhere what your address is) QUESTION: Is there a common reason why the primary side of the output can go open or is it just age?

[@lonnieparks5037]

Higher voltage on the primary; shorts out; or opens the winding's over time.

[@billgueltig6136]

Tele-tone took the basic AA-5 , wired an extra 12sq7 in parallel with the one that was supposed to be there and pawned it off as a 6 tube chassis. Tele-tone -Putting that "K" back in kwality

[@ldel6054]

Clever, have to remember that!

[@FelixTheHouseFreak]

Wont the lower impedance of that new transformer cause the bias on the tube to shoot up real high?

[@tonyturtle5805]

cool video thanks

[@colintodd222]

Shame the front is damaged. Odd that the rest is intact when front took a hard hit though.

[@waltschannel7465]

Love the tip! 😉

[@DanaTheInsane]

I wish WE had an AM oldies station.

[@RuneTheFirst]

I wonder if that poorly-connected capacitor had something to do with causing the failure. Arcing and sending jolts through the transformer, maybe?

[@sludge-en9on]

cool videos man, is there any other schematic websites u know of?

[@jakep8484]

Those solder joints were some of the worst I've seen to be honest, I think common sense plays a large role in electronics. I know I read a lot and watched a lot of videos before I ever messed with more than 12 volts and it really paid off.

[@beefchicken]

Jake P common sense is a misconception. It only comes from experience. The kid that fixed this up was 17, lots of kids wouldn’t know which end of a soldering iron to hold at 17.

[@wilstjb3122]

It was sort of interesting that one of the few cap leads the kid had tied down was cold soldered and loose. I'm working on a Philco Transitone what looks like an old pro tack soldered new parts in on stubs. It isn't just kids who do that.

[@kareno8634]

COOL! Thanks

[@TechneMoira]

That was a fun repair. Why don't you call those metal tubes vacuum transistors, like you did a couple of years ago? Thanks for sharing the video :)

[@ronb6182]

a 6 tube radio has an extra RF stage for weak signals. much better than a 5 tube radio. 73

[@davids8449]

Mmmm here in England they are valves. Unlike many sites on KZbin, Shango06 puts the element of interest back into wireless, and valve Television

[@vicmabus1532]

metal tubes are vacuum cans?

[@notarookee778]

Not a lot of AA6 radios were built as they cost more. The 6th tube was typically an RF amp, a push-pull audio power amp tube or a BFO for Morse code and single-sideband. Would 'valves' be a good word for them?

[@watershed44]

Nota Rookie I don't think SSB was even around back in the late 40s? At least for consumer or civilian use? But it could have been useful for CW true I wonder if this company made any amateur radio equipment? That might explain this.

[@DrDroogkloot]

Thats one cheap fix. Nice video. Keep it going.

[@ronb6182]

when changing capacitors it's ok to go higher in mfds and voltage within reason no room for overkill. 73

[@kennynvake4hve584]

Usually, but not always...6 tubes means it has an RF stage, which is the sixth tube's job...or a tuned RF stage...

[@dondesnoo1771]

Kennynva rf amp would have 3 tuning condenser sections .

[@jeffadams5510]

Metal tubes are called vacuum cans :)

[@wolferlsrepairshop7519]

Nice job! This radio seems to be a model "113A": housing looks different, but the inside picture and tube types match what you found: www.radiomuseum.org/r/tele_tone_a_113.html (has schematics, no need to sign up).

[@1McMurdoSilver]

I don't think its a "match". The 113A link shows only 5 tubes

[@wolferlsrepairshop7519]

Oh, you're right. Seems to be an error in the database. Thx for the heads up.

[@jefferyb304]

Vacuum Cans for metal tubes ?

[@LakeNipissing]

Vacuum bulbs and vacuum cans??

[@Evan420]

Also 15... my dad won't let me recap my radios because he's afraid I'm going to "kill myself" by shock. Both of my parents support the hobby, but my dad won't let me get near a capacitor!

[@felixcat4346]

Have your father help you do it!

[@Evan420]

He's usually at work during the day but during the weekend I might be able to catch him

[@richardhz-oi8px]

I'm 18, explain it using as much technical mumbo-jumbo as possible, have the explanation sail over his head. I own an RCA CTC-17XE tube color TV set, I don't think I will say thousand volts again after I explained the HV circuitry to him. He panicked, say "KV". Just an example of how to explain things without drawing alarm. I've gotten myself shocked before, HV isn't that bad, don't let the OSHA-nazis scare you or him!

[@MattExzy]

To be fair to your dad, when I was teenager at your age, I was incredibly dumb enough to go probing around an old turntable when it was plugged in and running with the cover off. Left arm caught a massive jolt, but I wasn't grounded, so I lived to fool around with yet more junk (unplugged from that point onward). So long as what you're working on is unplugged (seems obvious to me now lol) and you *short out* those capacitors first to discharge them, there's little danger. And if they're battery powered only radios, there's obviously utterly zero chance of any shocks at all.

[@fredfabris7187]

Just show them Shango videos