WANTED: Various Tubes

[LovesZenith]

Hello guys, I figure this might be the wrong forum to post this, but I need some tubes. I recently bought a 1951 RCA 45-W-10 console stereo at a local estate sale. I usually am a fierce brand loyalist, with my heart belonging to Zenith, but I was drawn to this stereo for 2 reasons. 1: It only plays 45s. It's got a RC-1096A changer in it. I'd never seen that type of changer in a cabinet before. 2: It was cheap ($20) and I didn't want some godless hipster to use it for arts and crafts. I figured I'd get it because the turntable wasn't frozen and that the radio dial lit up when I turned it on.

I got home, and once I took the back off, I realized why nothing else worked - it was missing every single tube.

The tube chart (attached) says it requires: a 6BA6, a 6AU6, a 6AL5, a 6C4, a 6AV6, two 6V6-GTs, and a 5AB(?)-GT. (The last one has a ding/scratch over it)

I don't have too much knowledge on this stuff, but I figured I'd plug all the tubes in an see what happens from there. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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[Olorin67]

those are pretty common tubes, the rectifier is probably a 5Y3. Schematics can be found online. You'll at least want to replace the main electrolytics before powering it up for the first time. All the wax capacitors should changed too, they just dont last 65 years. Watch the grounding on the main filter caps, i think they are not at chassis potential in this set, so make sure new ones are hooked up the same. I have the 9 tube version, its the same but has one less tube in the RF section.

[init4fun]

Hi LovesZenith ,

The tube number your missing is "5Y3-GT" . Thankfully , each and every tube you listed is as common as dirt and pretty well dirt cheap (you'll fill that chassis with tubes for the same money it'd cost ya to put one 1L6 into a Zenith Trans Oceanic !)

Please read up in the technical subforum about how to replace (or at least check for shorted) the "B+ filter capacitors" and the use of a "variac" or a "dim bulb tester" to power it up once you get all the tubes .

Nice , Olorin67 beat me to the post by two minutes ...

[Olorin67]

try to find a hamfest near you, most of those tubes can be found at them.

[init4fun]

PS , the 7 pin tube sockets that have those three metal straps sticking up from them are supposed to have metal shields over them , as one of the two remaining tubes has . Sometimes a set will run with no problem without them , and sometimes a set won't run at all without them . In such missing parts cases , I always defer to what the manufacturer built it as , if the metal shields really weren't needed RCA wouldn't have spent .02 cents per radio putting them in ....

[LovesZenith]

Thanks guys! My uncle's got a friend who has a friend that's a shortwave radio fan, so I'll check with him to get them or get me to someone who does. I'm glad the tubes are common, I was nervous they'd be unobtainum