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  #1  
Old 05-13-2010, 10:43 AM
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VintagePC VintagePC is offline
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Fleetwood model 4068... Advice?

Cleaned out the barn and found an old tube radio and record player there. I'd like to get it working again.
did some background reading, so I know not to plug it in, until I can replace the caps. The tubes look good on first sight- not obviously cracked, and the getter coating is still shiny. It's not an AA5 (has a power transformer) and appears to have seven tubes on first count. This thing also has two output transformers for the speakers.

Hopefully some folks here can help me out with advice for the restoration-
It's a "Fleetwood Stereo Hi-Fi", model 4068. I can't find ANY info or schematics online (tried justradios, nostalgiaair), and a service manual would be wonderful- the dial string is broken and I'm looking for that particular diagram.

Does anyone know anything about this set, or where to get schematics?

Also, someone slapped a coat of ugly brown paint on top, which is now flaking off- any idea what the original finish may have been? I'm tempted to strip and varnish it; the wood underneath looks like a nice fine-grained sort.

Finally, anyone know about the turntable on this thing? I had a look at the cartridge, and it doesn't seem to have a user replaceable needle- was there ever such a thing?

TIA,
VintagePC
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  #2  
Old 05-13-2010, 01:13 PM
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AUdubon5425 AUdubon5425 is offline
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Well, I'm not familiar with "Fleetwood" - may have been a store brand built by someone else. I'm sure if you posted some pictures it would help folks ID the set.
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Old 05-13-2010, 01:44 PM
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Fleetwood was a Canadian brand based in Montreal which sold both its own
designs and rebranded units either Canadian or European made. Are you
in Canada? Will look up your model number in my (incomplete) collection of
Radio College of Canada manuals.
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Old 05-13-2010, 02:08 PM
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Correct you are! Inside label does indeed say Montreal QC on it, and I'll gladly post some pics once I finish removing the (literal) mouse's nest of fiberglass insulation that was stuffed between the chassis and the cabinet... I think it was the little buggers that gnawed through the tuning cord too.

All in all, the cabinet, grille cloth, and set are in pretty good condition- the room we stored it in was dry- There were some books from the 50s-70s in the same room which were still in near-perfect condition- no mold or mildew on them.

As given by my username, I can sniff out a C64 at 50 paces, but have no experience with old radio equipment

I'll get some snaps of the tube layout diagram too, as it may be of some help.

Cheers, and many thanks,
VintagePC
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Old 05-13-2010, 02:21 PM
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electroking electroking is offline
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Welcome aboard! Unfortunately, I did not find your model number, but by all means
do try this link:

http://www.justradios.com/schematics.html

Even though they don't mention Fleetwood in their list of makes, they might
very well have what you need. Moving from VLSI silicon to old tube radios should
be a rewarding experience, I will be glad to help you with advice whenever
possible, and I trust many others will be doing the same. By the way,
videokarma is the little brother of audiokarma (was actually part of it until last
year), which is a much bigger thing in terms of audience. I spend time on
both, and you could register with the same user name if you wish. Good luck
with all your projects!

P.S.: actually, they do mention Fleetwood in the longer list down the page.

Last edited by electroking; 05-13-2010 at 02:23 PM. Reason: corrected spelling; added note
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  #6  
Old 05-13-2010, 02:56 PM
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Alas, I already tried JustRadios- they don't have any info on the unit.

Looks like we'll be forging ahead blindly... but it's possible I've messed up the model number- it is from memory, and I'm sure of the digits, and that the second digit is a zero (and the first is NOT an 8); it could very well be 6048, 6084 or 4086- though I doubt it was either of the latter two.

I've already registered with AK, they were the ones to refer me here, b/c of the specific "antique radios" section. I'll probably end up lurking in their turntable forums when I get to that part of the restoration. (and I'll be here some more when I finally get around to fixing a wonky Commodore 1701 monitor I've pack-ratted away)

Anyhoo, I'll double check the model number and get some shots of the set this weekend- real life calls and I have a conference to attend, which eats my spare time for a few days.

Also thanks for the welcome and assistance offer- it's what I love about the Internet; bringing people, information, and hobbies together!

VintagePC
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Old 05-13-2010, 03:24 PM
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Honestly, you may get more guidance here on an old turntable. The AK side tends to be more interested in the "audiophile" stuff. Anything tracking a two grams or more is handled like the plague over there (generally.)
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Old 05-13-2010, 03:46 PM
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Heh... right now it's tracking nothing- The tone arm is off of the control tower because someone swiped the spring from it.
Got plenty of springs in my spares so I should be able to find something for it.

Any ideas on needle-less cartridges? There looks to be a permanently fixed copper "fin" with a small point attached to the end.

The mechanisms still seem to operate smoothly, so apart from needing a little lube and TLC, it looks like it will be all right. Might need to oil the motor bearings though. The turntable has a 4-way selector- 78, 45, 30, and 15 rpm...
The other selector is labelled "Off", something indicating play, and "Rej", which I assume advances the record (it has one of those arms that lets you load more than one record at once.

It plugs in to a special socket on the chassis- presumably switched and activated by the knob to change from phono to radio.

There's also another (internal) socket like it labelled "TV only" or something ?!?? Any idea where/why/what that would be for? Set with a built-in TV might be possible- there was more than enough room in the cabinet for a small tube.

Cheers,
VintagePC
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  #9  
Old 05-13-2010, 04:31 PM
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The little point at the end of the metal fin is actually the needle of this ceramic
cartridge. Do post some pictures soon if possible! Bye for now.
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  #10  
Old 05-15-2010, 10:15 AM
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Pictures!

Some preliminary snapshots I took this morning-
I apologize for the fuzziness, as the lighting is poor.

No pics of the turntable yet, since the chassis is currently sitting on the access door.

Pics are here: (large files, so to save bandwidth, they are on my own web host)

http://vintagepc.co.nr/radio/
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Old 05-15-2010, 01:29 PM
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Also, link to the AudioKarma thread: some interesting info there too:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho....php?p=3694720
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  #12  
Old 05-15-2010, 02:23 PM
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schematic, should be fairly close

Hello again,

Here is a schematic that does include single-ended 6AQ5 outputs,
even though the model number is no exact match. Hope this may
help a bit, all questions welcome. By the way, some of your pictures
would be better if you held the camera steady, low light is adequate
but exposure too long to yield clear pictures by just holding the
camera in the hands. Good luck!

P.S.: the schematic is from RCC Supplement No. 59, dated 1962.
Attached Images
File Type: gif fleetwood_2058A_1_of_3.gif (136.3 KB, 35 views)
File Type: gif fleetwood_2058A_2_of_3.gif (93.1 KB, 26 views)
File Type: jpg fleetwood_2058A_3_of_3.jpg (146.5 KB, 18 views)
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  #13  
Old 05-15-2010, 02:31 PM
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From the looks of your chassis, it would appear that the radio is AM only,
is that the case?
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  #14  
Old 05-15-2010, 02:37 PM
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Hmmm.... Looks like it might be close, but there are some pretty big differences- almost certain my set does not have FM, nor does it have as many tubes.

I'll get some shots of the chassis underside tomorrow when I've finished cleaning it up.

Edit: If that is indeed the case, I'll have to see what I can get for AM here... If there's nothing good, looks like I'll be building one of these:

http://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/...ansmitter.html

Last edited by VintagePC; 05-15-2010 at 03:01 PM.
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  #15  
Old 05-15-2010, 03:03 PM
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Correct schematic this time, I believe

Hello again,

This should be much closer. Be careful when cleaning around fragile parts
such as the variable capacitor (plates are easy to bend, just leave them
meshed) and the oscillator coil L2 under the chassis.

The TV outlet is just an unswitched utility outlet with a fancy label!
Attached Images
File Type: gif fleetwood_2057A_1_of_2.gif (128.7 KB, 26 views)
File Type: gif fleetwood_2057A_2_of_2.gif (114.2 KB, 16 views)
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