I have about 5 of these and have began restoring them. The first one went fairly smoothly with all of the integrated RC networks being good. I replaced all paper and electrolytic caps, a few resistors, a couple of tubes, and cleaned the controls and all was well.

As I do not expect this to always be the case, does anyone have hints that they would like to share about these.

Are they Seventeener I, II or III? They are very different.

Seventeener I is the original E and F series with the teardrop style cabinet.
II is the box style with F series model numbers and 8H## chassis numbers
III is the briefcase style that was the most popular.

Don

The five that I am presently working on are briefcase style, made in 1958 and 1959. There are some minor differences between the two years such as using a solid state diode array in the horizontal section in 1959 and a twin diode tube (2EN5) in 1958.

I also have a somewhat thicker Philco that is similar to the Seventeener that I also want to restore. It was also made in the late 1950s.

The briefcase Seventeeners are fairly reliable. It has improved sound and a cooler chassis layout than earlier models. Troubleshooting is straightforward. Check out electrolytics and a couple of black caps in the vertical. Align the horizontal oscillator. Check tubes as usual.

The "box style" Seventeener 2 is a little more troublesome. It runs hotter and needs to have yoke wiring rerouted around the 15 watt filament resistor and damper to avoid fire. Virtually every original yoke (made by RCA-274 code) went bad. If it works at all, it must have been replaced. A 12K 2w resistor in the B+ power divider, caps in vertical, PC grounds, input electrolytic filter, AGC divider resistors, sound IF can and horizontal diode are all trouble spots. It will have some intercarrier buzz so don't spend a lot of time trying to get it perfect. The chassis was reworked for the first-year low end Predicta. That one can keep you busy.

What years were the box style made? I have a thicker Philco TV, but the styling indicates it was made in the late 1950s. It is similar to the Briefcase ones that I have. I have seen the earlier Philco portables that are thicker. I do not have these-are they the box style?

Any hints about replacing the RC networks used in the sync, vertical and horizontal sections of these sets? Sams shows the internals, so I had planned to use individual components if replacement is necessary. I did this on an Admiral metal Square Box TV made in 1955 and it worked ok.

I have noticed that the contrast control on the Philco Briefcase TVs is unusual. It controls the AGC instead of the video amplifier gain.

I took another look at the thicker Philco I have. It has different knobs than the briefcase models, but has the same built in antenna in the handle. The metal case is in two pieces with a plastic back. The horizontal hold, vertical hold, and brightness controls are in the same place as on the briefcase models, the top of the back.

I would try to get the model number, but it is kind of hard to get to at present.

I am presently working on my second briefcase model. So far, the bigest pain has been unsoldiering and unwiring(where necessary) the pc boards to change the capacitors, etc.

I just noticed you comment about intercarrier buzz. I got it pretty well out of the sound on the first one that restored. Not completely, just pretty good.

It seems that is one problem with all of these early sets-all brands), either with a ratio detector or the pentode detector. You could probably do better if you completly re-aligned the set, but I do not have time for that at present.

I have a couple early 1950s RCAs with the limiter, discriminator setup which I hope to get to soon. I want to see how this works. (That these sets used this circuit is supprising considiering the fighting at that time between Sarnoff and Armstrong).

Don, those tips may be helpful for me. I have a Seventeener II which I took apart some years ago. I had it running but then something was killing the HV. I didn't have the Sams at the time so I stuck all the parts (I didn't want to go to the trouble of putting it all back together) in a big box. Has been up in the attic waiting for me for quite a while. With these tips, maybe I'll start with checking the yoke. That Philco is far from the easiest set to work on.

Also check for leaky/shorted caps from boost to B+.

Don

Are they Seventeener I, II or III? They are very different.

Seventeener I is the original E and F series with the teardrop style cabinet.
II is the box style with F series model numbers and 8H## chassis numbers
III is the briefcase style that was the most popular.

Don


Don, weren't the teardrop sets called Transitone or something like that?

I always wanted one but never found one in the right place at the right time or price.

Eric:

Yes, the 1957 "E" line portables were called Transitone. They were available in a 14 inch and 17 inch version. The chassis were quite different. I have both versions. They were continued over for first half '58 "F" line, with some improvements. The rotating handle-antenna is the most noticeable. Philco did not offer a 14" after 58.

Transitone was originally a car radio manufacturer in Philadelphia that was bought out by Philco. Philco continued to use the Transitone name on some low end home electronics products and auto radios into the 50s.

I am replacing all electrolytic and paper caps, including the boost to B+ one.
One question is the rating for this cap. The Sams and the Philco manual indicate 400 or so volts. I am using a 600 volt replacement. One of my friends indicated that this should even be higher.

In the vertical circuit, there is a 1000 volt cap, I have been replacing this with 5000 volt ones that I have. I am aware that this is an overkill, but these are the only caps of that value with a voltage rating above 1000 volts that I presently have. I could wire two caps in series to double the voltage rating, but have not done this yet.

The boost to B+ cap will be OK with 400-600 volts. The boost on that TV is about 350 DC and the cap returns to B+ so it sees about 150 volts or so plus some AC. I recommend 600 volts, if you have them. Higher voltage caps in that circuit should not be necessary.

The vertical output plate feedback should be 1000-1500 volts rating. I would use a tubular, not a ceramic disc. That sees some big spikes and will affect the vertical frequency. Discs will likely cause drift.

I am using a tubular capacitor in the vertical feedback.

After looking at the 5 TVs that I am going to try to restore, I noticed one of them is called a "New Matic" not Seventeener. It has only a handle on top, no antennas. A single antenna comes out the side of the TV. It is a briefcase style TV.

I am aware that Philco produce some kind of squeese bulb channel changer about this time, but if this set had one, it is long gone.

Right. The new-matic was a later version that used a squeeze-bulb and a small piston and rachet wheel on the back of the tuner. The single rod antenna indicates a lower cost version. The handle-antenna was expensive to build because it had so many parts. It was clever since it was directly connected without wire, making it was shock and fire proof.

There were several TV derivations to provide varied packages for the dealer network. Independent dealers could offer a different version than department stores and Firestone stores to prevent shoppers from making direct price comparisons. Unlike cars, new TVs were rolled out every six months so the manufacturers strained for product differentiation.

Is that one of those "instant on" sets that kept the tube heaters lit even when turned "off?" They must have been a boon to the tube manufacturers.

I had a briefcase style TV like that in graduate school. Can't remember offhand whether it was a Philco or some other make.

Phil Nelson

Philco engineers were not sold on instant on. I don't recall any US made tube-type Philcos that were instant-on.

The one that I have restored and the one that I am working on now do not have instant on. I do remember GE having this in the 1960s.

On thing I did notice is that the 1958 versions have plated solid metal channel/volume knobs while the 1959 version that I just finished has painted channel/volume knobs that are 1/2 plastic. The 1/2 plastic tuner knob on the 1959 one is cracked. I glued it, but am not sure how well this will work. Manufacturers have always tried to cut costs.

I have not had any luck with glue as a permanent solution.

I have found some thin wall brass tubing, in a model shop, that works for holding knob shafts together. It comes an a variety of sizes so I take the knob to make sure I get something to fit.

I have not had very good success with glue either. I will give your suggestion a try.

Thanks.

I have some NOS replacements that may be what you need. I don't think that they're too brittle due to age. PM me.

Larry

Don makes mention of Philcos being sold by Firestone, and someone recently posted a scan of a print ad with Firestone bragging that they were the "world's largest Philco dealer". Up to that point I did not know of that connection. What was the timeline on the relationship? I know that Firestone had their own brands (Air Chief or just plain Firestone) but they don't seem to show up much in the later years. I know this gets things off-topic but I do find it interesting. I used to think that dealers were given exclusive territories, so that if you were selling GE, for instance, you would be the only one in town doing so. Now I know better. It would seem to be a real kick in the pants to a loyal dealer to have to compete with the chain store down the street offering almost the same product. Just what were the conditions of being, say, a Philco dealer? Were there binding contracts or was it just a matter of "buy 10 TV sets & we will give you a sign to hang out front"?

Philco made the Firestone deal in 1956. Goodyear Tire stores sold GE TV and appliances. Philco bought the Bendix Home Laundry and Crosley Radio-TV from Avco in 1955. Firestone was branding Raytheon and some others, but the stores needed a full line supplier to compete with Goodyear stores. As discounting eroded margins, most tire retailers eased out of TV and appliances. There were very few remaining by the early 70s.

Distributors were given exclusive territories. The distributors established their own rules for the dealers in their markets. Dealers that were meeting volume targets were generally left alone. Those that did not soon had company. Exclusives were usually given more slack than multiple brand retailers. Furniture and department stores typically handled high-end consoles and combinations. Discounters specialized in portables and low end consoles. The distribution usually figured out its own formula for the market.

There were two shows a year where dealers were expected to "renew their franchise" with a buy-in order. There were packages consisting of a quantity of products at package price. Once the dealer took delivery, the distributor's salesman was back for another order.

The Seventeener III was one of Philco's best sellers. The factory line rate was 5,000 a week.