Trying to fix a "1950s" Crosley radio

[@dadecoza]

I like Aging Wheel...errr ...Technology Connections visual clutter.

[@5argetech56]

I actually did fix a real Crosley AM radio.. From 1950.. Oh that Brown Bakelite! Replaced a bunch of capacitors and The Rectifier Tube was replaced as well as the Filter caps... Please keep making your great videos. I look forward to watching them.. :)

[@5roundsrapid263]

Wow, thats the best Crosley knockoff I’ve ever seen.

[@Jojobizzare80]

It's not a knockoff it's a reproduction

[@jameslatini]

J C r/woooosh

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

1:58 At first glance i actually read 1958 on that sticker :O

[@jhonwask]

I am still bewildered as to why they don't make copies of cassette transport systems that were actually good. I love your videos.

[@vwestlife]

The solenoid-driven Tanashin mechanism that I showed *is* actually good.

[@moeta486]

@@TD070VA1 If those cassette enthusiasts are like some of the turntable enthusiasts I've seen, it might be best *not* to take their advice...

[@dglcomputers1498]

@@moeta486 On the SOS forums one of the magazine employees who is ex. BBC reckoned that a lot of the "snake oil" sold to Hi-Fi nuts does work but only because the equipment is so poorly designed in the first place, with designs that wouldn't be tolerated on even the cheapest/lowest end professional equipment. At ten end of the day you are only hearing what the artist wants you to hear if you are using the same equipment in a similarly treated room.

[@paulstubbs7678]

Their object is not to copy the best, but to copy the cheapest, then undercut them. The good old race to the bottom, RIP HiFi.

[@scottls]

The way to fix that 'dial cord' would be to pull the cord to the longest area between 2 pullies and attach a small spring with hooks on both ends so that the spring action keeps strong tension while tuning the radio. Be sure to wrap the cord at least once or twice around the tuning knob sprocket and once around the tuning indicator sprocket so those two are sure to turn with the movement of the cord. If the cord is too short then good quality dental floss (unwaxed) should be strong enough to be a good substitute.

[@jamesslick4790]

That it lacked springs for tension in the first place shows that great Chinese attention to "quality".

[@RightWing1]

@@jamesslick4790 Yeah it didn't pass QC check 3 lol

[@curtchase3730]

Very impressed the authentic look of that radio! Before watching, I wondered why 1950's was in quotes! Alas, I learned why.

[@seamusoblainn]

These retro tech channels are a real joy 💖

[@DriveInFreak]

I'd be so tempted to stick the AA5 tube chassis out of an old radio with a beat us case inside of it just to mess with people. I don't blame you for not restringing the dial. I'd rather slam my fingers in a door than restring most dials.

[@xaenon]

The heat from the tubes would ruin that case lickety-split. The 1950s model was probably bakelite and could handle that kind of heat. Plastic cases in modern consumer products? I have my doubts.

[@DriveInFreak]

@@xaenon Good point. It wo0uld wind up looking like a melted candle that used to be in the shape of an old radio..lol It is a good looking set, though. A lot of those "reproduction" things had those stupid tag/plaque on the front of them..not to mention the modern "Crosley" stuff. Somewhere Powel Crosley Jr. is rolling over in his grave.

[@xaenon]

@@DriveInFreak You know, it's funny you should mention that. I had a discussion with a fellow just a few days ago who had an interesting opinion on the matter. He was of the opinion that Ol' Crosley might not object as strenuously as you and I are prone to think. He agreed that a lot of modern 'Crosley' stuff is just cheap crap, but Old Man Crosley's whole strategy was to provide inexpensive consumer goods. Nobody had access to ultra-cheap Chinese labor, and plastics were not really quite the thing in Crosley's day that they are now. America had a labor force because it absolutely HAD to. Importing stuff was slow and expensive. If the original Crosley was still in business, and building electronics of the quality that was expected decades ago, he'd be bankrupt in a week. He'd almost HAVE to resort to branding cheap Chinese stuff with his name. Not many people see past a low, low Walmart price anymore, and that's a crying shame. If we're become complacent with poor quality, cheap, disposable plastic crap, it's because as a whole, we've ALLOWED ourselves to be.

[@michaelturner4457]

11:15 Technology Connections...ha ... Including his brown jacket.

[@vwestlife]

That's his set, but that's not him.

[@thevictrolaking]

That was the guy from Aging Wheels.

[@the8-bitbaby967]

@@thevictrolaking yeah, that's Rob

[@patrickchubey3127]

I have one of these, it makes an interesting looking garage radio.

[@wilkes85]

I remember seeing things like this in the Sears Wish Book at the beginning with all the "stocking stuffers", except usually they were Thomas... this one is probably the most authentic looking one I've ever seen.

[@jsciarri]

On those cassette motors that usually have the speed control adjustment inside the motor, there is usually a capacitor that either leaks or opens up over time, which causes this same exact issue. The only way to fix is to actually open up the motor and replace the capacitor. It's somewhat tedious, but can be done in most instances.

[@und4287]

The cassette adapter makes it a 1950s styled speaker.

[@Musicradio77Network]

Nice radio. I recently got off of eBay is a very interesting cassette player called the Superscope Storyteller portable cassette player, and it was from around 1975 and was only cassette made by Superscope where it was designed for kids. It plays a variety of cassettes along with the Superscope Storyteller cassette tapes and hardcover books to go with it to follow the story. Not only that, it can also play music that are not kid friendly, and it can also use a cassette adapter to plug into a device, or use a Bluetooth cassette adapter to go with it, or an SD card cassette adapter to play MP3’s using a Superscope Storyteller cassette player.

[@hydorah]

Ooh nice little light-hearted jab at Aging Technology Wheels Connections. I think that radio is one to re-donate. Let someone else have a play who has more time / lower standards. You know what, if you put that in the background in something someone would spot it was a repro. Looking at KZbin comments I'm sometimes amazed by the things people spot!

[@Tall_Order]

8:56 I have one of these cassette adapters. Got it from a Radio Shack years ago. I use it in my 2007 town and country because it has a tape deck. I plug my phone into it and play MP3s or iHeart stations.

[@uxwbill]

I'd like these a lot better if they would just leave the silly tape player out (or sell a version with it deleted). Those little DC motors are prone to internal shorts, but with care they can be taken apart, cleaned up and made to work again. If you want to spend another hour on it, that is!

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Mhmm was kinda wondering if you'd do the Tape motor oil-drop treatment as you once demonstrated with another cassette motor, about half a year ago :) Perhaps it would have made an improvement on this motor too?

[@JacGoudsmit]

If you plug a portable radio into that cassette you can still listen to all stations :-)

[@CARLiCON]

Cool vid. Replacing a radio tuner string is a PITA & most times I've tried it, it doesn't stay fixed very long. I wouldn't have bothered trying to restring it either but I like your idea of the tape adapter. If it didn't have a tape player, another hack would be buy an fm transmitter & set the Crosley radio to the transmitter frequency then you could plug the transmitter into anything with an 1/8 earphone jack. It's interesting that when you played the old vintage music thru it magically looked like a real vintage radio.

[@coondogtheman]

I would wire a line input into this radio and a switch to change from radio to aux. The cassette adapters work ok but if the head isn't lined up properly the audio will be either muffled or tinny. Direct hookup sounds better. I'm sure there is line level audio in this radio somewhere.

[@urbanodagrippino8433]

Great vintage look

[@saintmichael1779]

My Mom had a Crosley clock radio from the early 50's. Chartreuse. It had a phono input and a plug on the back. I suppose to hook your coffee maker up to start the brewing before you were out of bed.

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

Although nostalgic by looks 👀, this is a reproduction. Radiotvphononut often talks about the car 🚗 type tape player failing on any of these. I bet one ☝️ of the plastic posts are broken 😞 to the dial cord. Alignment of the dial needle 💉 can be hard. I think 💭 I’d put this in your junk pile. I’d salvage all the capacitors, speaker 🔊, and motor, to use in other radio 📻 resurrection projects. Dial cords are too hard to fix. Even the belts fail on these newer tape players. It’s like 👍 everything manufactured 👨 today is built to fail. Your friend, Jeff.

[@ActionRetro]

Vintage modern vintage remake

[@michaelturner4457]

10:22 DCC and minidisc compatible cassette adapter. ...i wonder if Dr DCC at the DCC Museum has one of those?

[@vwestlife]

I don't think it would actually work with any DCC player, because none of them are slot-loading.

[@dashcamandy2242]

Technology Connections just did a short video on the hilariously-labeled cassette adapters.

[@TechGorilla1987]

One of our local rock stations (when radio was still radio) used to have a spot that said "Crank it up! - and rip off the knob!"

[@lovelyheiferdev]

Lmao

[@bluetech7753]

One thing you forgot to mention is that you could also use a Bluetooth cassette adapter and turn this radio into a Bluetooth speaker with a vintage look. I found a couple of Bluetooth cassette adapters on Amazon as low as $11.95. So with a radio that can only be set to one station pretty much and a cassette player that doesn't work however but can still be used with a cassette adapter if you use the Bluetooth cassette adapter basically what you would have would be an old vintage looking Bluetooth speaker. I wonder if you could restrain that radio dial with any other type of string. It could also be a good radio for a workshop or a garage where you're basically not going to be changing the radio station very much anyway. Overall it's still usable to a certain point.

[@dougbrowning82]

Hi-Fi died with the introduction of home computers and home theater. There's only so much you can spend on expensive toys. Even in the 60s and 70s, most people got by with entry level gear.

[@bluetech7753]

@@dougbrowning82 yeah I really enjoyed the good old days 2-channel stereo hi-fi. I really liked having that good old component rack system upgrading your stereo system at home was very easy just as easy as buying upgraded components and switching them out. I had a Hi-Fi system at one time 350 watt power amp AM FM tuner Pioneer turntable Optimus speakers rated at 300w from Radio Shack. The only way that I could get something like that in these days I would have to go with pro audio equipment the same gear that live bands and DJs use. I may do that one day sometimes these little Bluetooth speakers just aren't enough I like big sound. And I've never been one for 5.1 home theater surround it's great for movies but not very good for music.

[@ME-ci8zi]

@@bluetech7753 i know this is an old comment, but i've been really happy with a set of Edifier 1280t powered bookshelf speakers i got used. Only 42w RMS, but sound plenty loud in a sitting room and the 1280db are essentially the same, but with Optical, Coax and Bluetooth in addition to RCA. they aren't audiophile-grade, but they've sounded great with movies and all sorts of music from classical to drum-and-bass or hip-hop.

[@danhughes6332]

Gotta love that crosley quality control

[@drwolfpoint]

I used the tune to your favorite station repair trick on my first car when the tuner broke and it worked fine.

[@oldhouseredux7733]

Hi Kevin, that was quite the slam there at the end. I gave the man nod at it.

[@oldhouseredux7733]

KZbin is dead tonight, so I’m going back and rewatching videos

[@markyastion3860]

Keep up the great videos man.👍

[@GobotWars]

Featuring a short Technology Connections cameo

[@Madness832]

"The Shadow knows...that your radio is kludgy!"

[@Jacob-yc1uo]

I can"t tell if VWestlife likes Technology Connections or not.

[@stonent]

Yeah I wasn't sure either.

[@frazzleface753]

love/hate, most likely.

[@RaynorTheShyLion]

Me neither. I love them both and was like "Oh, yay, Tech Connections! .... wait..?" 🤔 lol

[@wa27]

"Yellow tag thrift store"... uses blue and red tags...

[@EndarkenShrine]

That motor is what nightmares are made of. It's awesome.

[@rogerb5615]

When you change drive belts, you might also clean the grooves on the pulleys with isopropyl. Removes built-up residue and may help reduce speed irregularities.

[@dayvancowboy9833]

Would it be possible to connect that Crosley cassette mechanism to an aux in a car? Since I have that same mechanism laying around for years.

[@sunbeam8866]

I remember when you could find REAL vintage radios (and German cameras, and American open- reel tape-recorders) in the trash. It's so hard to find good junk anymore! 😞

[@sonic2000gr]

What you would normally do (before the string broke anyway) would be to remove the PCB, turn the variable capacitor by hand all the way to one extreme of the band and then - with the PCB still not attached - turn the dial to that end. That would re-align the dial.

[@jeepguy95]

Being that it has many of the traits (including the same cassette player mechanism) and the fact that it reads 'Collector's Edition Radio' on the back panel, I would think that this came out of the same Chinese factory as the Thomas radios of the same time period. Of course, Thomas has long gone out of business, and Crosley seems to be the only manufacturer that dedicates its manufacturing exclusively to retro-styled radios, including making reproductions of its own products from the past. It's also weird that the AM/FM selector is simply a simple toggle switch on the back panel, and there's no FM AFC function like most of these replica radios had. Still a neat find for the price you paid for it! :)

[@dougbrowning82]

We have the same thing in Canada, it's called Electrohome. Used to be a good manufacturer of electronics and appliances, now it's just a brand of cheap retro knockoffs from China.

[@sunbeam8866]

You realize 'Crosley' has also been "long gone out of business"!

[@jameslatini]

My guy just roasted technology connections!

[@notsofunnynowisit]

Prime candidate for a bluetooth audio mod.

[@WillOnSomething]

You should give it the 1 grit treatment... oh wait wrong channel

[@The_Wayfaring_Smuggler]

RIP headphone users when the dial screeches

[@vwestlife]

I wear headphones and I wasn't bothered by it.

[@The_Wayfaring_Smuggler]

@@vwestlife My bad

[@liammusgrove6334]

cheap radios will destroy your radio signals

[@kareno8634]

Thanks VWestlife! Hope all is well in NJ. Turn up the Tunes and let Benny Play! = )

[@rozanylas]

As always interesting video on this channel ;)

[@jamesslick4790]

Well....It DID make "The Shadow" sound even creepier than intended! 😂

[@paulstubbs7678]

wow, no KZbin music copyright strike, that Crosley played it so bad the copyright boys didn't spot it!

[@jamesslick4790]

@@paulstubbs7678 😜

[@xaenon]

I'd just bluetooth it. That way I could have a 'vintage looking' radio (that doesn't look modern 'vintage-cheesy) that I'd listen to (Radio sucks anymore anyway, and those cassette mechanisms aren't really worth repairing).

[@Damaniel3]

That tape player sounds absolutely cursed.

[@wfukfm]

Send it to Shango 066 - He fixes Crosleys real good - by the judicious use of high voltage "repair " equipment.

[@paulstubbs7678]

yeah, connect a microwave transformer to it, nothing like a 1000dB overdrive.

[@tonymanzo3766]

Looks nice for 8$ I’d add it to my other crosley reproduction radios, I have four that look nice.

[@stephenwilliams5201]

Used to sneak off some fishing line and it works well.

[@REXXSEVEN]

7:50 LMAO

[@frankzappa3834]

Always great to hear Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling on WFAN-FM!

[@jsciarri]

They are the worst broadcasting team in sports history. Waldman's voice sounds like nails scratching a chalkboard, and John constantly makes mistakes left and right. They both should have been replaced decades ago.

[@frankzappa3834]

Archie Bunker then stop complaining and don’t listen. Simple as that. KZbin Comments on a radio are not a place to complain about WFAN’s broadcast operation decisions.

[@jsciarri]

@@frankzappa3834 LMAO wow.....nobody's complaining I was just stating facts. Here's a refresher - there's something called freedom of speech, which means anyone can say anything at any given time as long as it's not extreme. You're most likely a brainwashed libtard that's probably voting for Biden.

[@BessieBopOrBach]

Oh snap -- vwestlife going to war with Tech Connections...

[@TheGreenDoggoOfWisdom]

Crosley is a very interesting brand.

[@marvingarden4587]

Those dang kids with their turning the dial too much! btw my Mom had one of these in the early 2000s, loved it! thanks :)

[@MetalTrabant]

So Crosley still made shit 22 years ago... good to know. Better to just avoid any Crosley made in China... They might look good, but are not very usable or durable. Although this still worth that 8 bucks for having fun with it. At least it's a decorative external speaker with the adapter.

[@romandjma.recordplayers7806]

I hate having to restring old radio dials from the era Crosley was trying to make that radio look like it's from. I'm working on an old radio right now, and it refuses to work right. Even with its service manual that tells you how to restring it. Though that's probably down to the last owner messing with the spring that holds in one side of the tuning cord.

[@VoxelPrismatic]

Fun fact: that Technology Connections image you showed was not with the host of Technology Connections, but instead the host of Aging Wheels

[@SupraWes]

Its a vaporwave cassette player.

[@tjlee1595]

on my crosley radio from 2014, that kid was me

[@josephsirois2353]

Well this zenith wanna be outta keep you busy with each consecutive week that it breaks down , make a nice shelf queen thou👍

[@bf0189]

Oh man I broke a tuning dial or two the same way the person assumingly did when I was a stupid kid in the 90s. Good thing my dad's Yamaha reciever was well built so you couldn't do it on his main reciever haha

[@theincrediblehulk2865]

I like how your new content keeps the same style as your older videos.

[@hestheMaster]

If it is a solid state "Crosley" it is probably cheap crap made in China. Those cassette player parts have all kinds of problems. Poorly designed motors is one of them.

[@jamesslick4790]

It WAS made in China. That's clearly stated AND shown in the video.

[@ajaugenti1976]

Nice!

[@SpeakerFreak95]

This newer Crosley reproduction is actually one I want to find. I’ll put it next to my original of this radio.

[@LightTheUnicorn]

Pleasing to look at, very unpleasing to work on! Quite agree it'd be a very good set decoration.

[@twocvbloke]

Looks to be the same mech as is in my Neostar everything-in-one POS, it's crap, don't fix it, cos it'll be just as crap repaired as it is broken, unless you like excessive flutter that is... :P

[@paulstubbs7678]

install a stick of dynamite and stand back

[@urbanodagrippino8433]

Slide in tape deck Is cool

[@IvorySoul696]

Was that a serious shot at Technology Connections? Hopefully, it was just a playful jab.

[@Liofa73]

I've noticed some buzzing/overloading in the right channel of your audio in the last few videos. I'm sure it's not my headphones as other videos from other channels are fine. It's mostly a problem when you're talking, not when you play music.

[@vwestlife]

My camcorder has a stereo microphone so it is normal for the audio to be slightly louder on the side of the camcorder that I was when speaking. But I don't hear any buzzing or distortion.

[@TheComputerGuy96]

Almost thought this was a My Mate VINCE video, except "fix" isn't written in all caps.

[@morganrussman]

Oh, it's crosLEY? Some reason I thought it was crossLEAGUE when I heard the name from the caresel of progress.🤔

[@kevintjeuh8888]

You can take the cassette mechanisme out and make an aux Jack instead if you hook the wire to the output of the preamp of the cassette mechanisme

[@raymondleggs5508]

and the cassette goes ooouuuwwwwaaagggaaa eeuuuuuuooouuuuwwwwwwwwwww!

[@markhesse2928]

I wonder if that brown sportcoat might just end up in the Smithsonian someday.

[@Marshallpuppy]

Good job

[@randyab9go188]

You're one comment puzzles me. If the radio wasn't worth restringing the dial cord, how could it possibly be worth working on the cassette player?

[@AMDXplusplus]

kid that wants to go to the shortwave 160m band.

[@tvtruck5350]

Why the crosley company decided downgrade quality from his product ? This haven't sense.

[@RoastBeefSandwich]

Plug the cassette adapter into the line out of your walkman.

[@nslouka90]

11:15 what on earth happened to Alec?

[@vwestlife]

His wheels aged.

[@MetalTrabant]

That was Robert from Aging Wheels. They did some collab recently.

[@jamesslick4790]

They actually did do a decent visual job on this. I wasn't paying attention to the quote marks, and thought it was a REAL 1950s radio in the thumbnail, And I collect radios! If I had one of these, I'd use it at work with an FM micro transmitter and play some OTR through it, "Johnny Dollar" or "Dragnet" would be era appropriate on this!

[@FSCforal]

my dial string went on my original 40s sobell set :/ not looking forward to that job

[@Pisti846]

Visual clutter! I love that(so true),

[@ModMokkaMatti]

@11:15 does that character have just one jacket, or does it have a closet full of the same jackets?

[@ToTheGAMES]

Yes.

[@ShadowsOnTheScreen]

Broken dial cord and dead cassette deck? Parts pile time!

[@Frank_42]

Or you can plug the cassette adapter into a bluetooth receiver and make it a fake 90s retro bluetooth speaker...or plug a cassette deck/radio into the into the cassette adapter and it will be fully functional....lol

[@Musicradio77Network]

Or you can put an SD card into a cassette adapter and play MP3’s on this one. I guess “Techmoan” made a video about it 4 years ago. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqHSZHydfbx3sKM

[@lenovovo]

Do you have any past videos that you show your face in? I would just like to see what you look like.

[@BricksTVArchives]

Watch his coming out video.

[@lenovovo]

@@BricksTVArchives Thanks thetoonman, I just viewed it, and I have to add, he's a handsome guy. :-)

[@jessieoskins3389]

Maybe take the motor apart clean and regressed?

[@howtobebasic2122]

remind me of Radiotvphononut

[@luisbasteri2951]

1998 o1950?

[@TechGorilla1987]

When you were turning that tuning dial, it brought me back to the etch-a-sketch days when you turned the dial too far....that clickity-clackity sound.

[@kepler666]

looks metallic to me