I was wandering around my neighborhood today and went into a new vintage resale shop. They have lots of cool stuff - furniture, albums, jewelry, and nick-nacks. A few early Polaroids too. Way up on top of a bookshelf I spied this Philco 46-420 "hippo". The price was right so I picked it up. http://www.bobandersen.com/images/smileys/fruit.gif

The cabinet is in fantastic shape. No cracks - just needs a good cleaning. The inside look pretty clean too. The back is missing, but I think someone out there makes reproduction backs :scratch2:

I hope to get it working real soon :)

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-01.JPG http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-02.JPG http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-03.JPG http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-04.JPG

I picked up a 48-460 in Lansing in July. Same cabinet, different chassis. Did they originally have backs? Mine didn't and I can't recall seeing one that did on any net searches. I take it the tube compliment was rather fluid through the production run. Yours is the second 46-420 I've seen posted about that had a miniature output tube (50B5?) whereas the nostalgia air schematic shows a 50L6 octal.

Retro-Tronics (http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Retro-Tronics__W0QQ_armrsZ1) has a back for this model. I don't see any screw holes. Maybe friction keeps it in place?

Yep, 50B5.

Philco service bulletins for both hippo versions are on my page: http://www.audiophool.cjb.net/Philco.html

Awesome! You have the service bulletins for almost all my other Philcos too :D 15DX, 37-60, 38-10 and 39-30.

Now I just need to find one for a 37-10 & 643.

Man, the marbling is GORGEOUS on yr set ! I can't wait to see it after you've cleaned/polished it up...It'll be a Honey, that's fer shure !! (grin)

Thanks! Here ya go - enjoy :)

I found a nice label on the bottom.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-101.JPG

I used a little windex followed by Novus #2 to clean it.
There's still a little gunk on the knobs. I've been using a toothpick to clean out all those grooves, but my hands are pooped. :drool:
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-102.JPG http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-103.JPG

There's a little crazing in the clear plastic, but I don't think it's worth messing with.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-104.JPG

Next up - the chassis. The audio transformer has broken off the speaker but looks intact. Other than that it looks pretty easy.

Octal, loktal and miniature tubes in the same radio. Weird!

I have a similar one with two octal tubes (rectifier and audio output) and three
loktals, but I have never seen one like this.

Interesting indeed. Philco's TVs have a weird lineup too including loktals.
Here's what Reece had to say before my thread was "purged":

On various tube lineups: right after The War consumer demand was high and manufacturers couldn't make radios fast enough. Sometimes in mid-stream they subbed equivalent tubes according to what was available and what they could buy. Sometimes you'll see a mix of three or more types of tubes, octal, loctal, large pin, or miniature.

Reece

I started working on the electronics last night and ran into a few issues. First, someone has replaced the original field coil speaker with a PM one.
Now instead of a 500 ohm coil, there's a 220 ohm resistor feeding the audio output tube and output transformer and a 1.2 K resistor feeding the other tubes.

Wouldn't a single 500 ohm resistor be more appropriate? Were they trying to boost the output power?

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/sch-01.jpg

The other issue is with what is labeled C14 and L1 on the schematic connecting the chassis ground to earth.
The existing parts are a 0.02 uF cap with a few turns of plastic insulated wire. Does anyone know the purpose of this? Maybe a noise filter ?

My modern 0.022 uF caps are a lot smaller and a rewound coil won't have the same inductance.
Any thoughts on how to replace it?
Here's the old one behind that big yellow cap.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/01-01.jpg

I had the same cap wrapped in wire in my Philco Bing Crosby phono radio, and I just inserted the much smaller modern cap through it, and just left it that way. My radio doesn't seem any more prone to interference than any of the others in my house. Perhaps this was to cut down on noise from car generators?

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

Must be my lucky day.
I have a friend in Boulder, CO who's picking up this Philco 46-420 for me tonight. It's exactly the same even - has the little audio output tube and a good back! It has a cracked case, but I should have no problem making one complete working radio now :D

Backs are available from Radiobacks.com. Also, I have a couple spare cases for these.

I have several of the late 1940s Philco radios that use this case. Some have all loctal tubes, some have a mixture of octal and loctal, and some have a mixture of all three types-lockal, octal and minature. The have a nice sound and have good reception when restored. All of mine came with orignal PM speakers.

Backs are available from Radiobacks.com. Also, I have a couple spare cases for these.

I have several of the late 1940s Philco radios that use this case. Some have all loctal tubes, some have a mixture of octal and loctal, and some have a mixture of all three types-lockal, octal and minature. The have a nice sound and have good reception when restored. All of mine came with orignal PM speakers.

That's odd - the schematic shows a speaker field coil that doubles as a filter choke. How is the power supply wired in yours that have a PM speaker?

I will need to find a schematic, but have the following information. I do have a 46-420 and it does have a speaker with a field coil winding-not PM. Philco made radios using this case until 1949(49-XXXX) at least. I looked at one of my 1949 models and it has a PM speaker. Once I look at a schematic, I will re-post.

Banderson-I the case of postwar Philcos, I have never found two chassis that were exactly alike, different tube lineups, pm and electrodynamic speakers, "anything goes" values for noncritical caps and resistors, etc. These guys were almost built on a case by case basis. I'm sure it drove everyone at the factory nuts.

In the case of my Philco, the Rider's consists of two pages of info, and I have the Philco memo that consists of about fifteen pages of design changes!

Ugh - no wonder I'm a little confused :headscrat.

Retro-Tronics (http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Retro-Tronics__W0QQ_armrsZ1) has a back for this model. I don't see any screw holes. Maybe friction keeps it in place?

Yep, 50B5.

The back is held on by clips that fasten to the back and held to the case by friction.

I have found the schematic for a Philco model 48-460 which uses a PM speaker and the same case as yours.

The filter network in this radio is a 30ufd on pin 7 of the 35Y4, a 220 ohm resistor, a 25 ufd cap, then a 1200 ohm resistor, and finally another 30 ufd cap.

The speaker output transformer is tapped into the center 25 ufd cap. The rest of the radio is powered from following the 1200 ohm. See below.

***************** --------------- to audio out transfromer.
*****************|
***********220***|****1200
35Y4 -------\/\/\/\/------\/\/\/\/-----to rest of radio
******|***********|*******|
******----*30*****----- 25 *----*30
******----********----- ***----
******|************|*******|
******---------------------------
******************|
****************------
*****************----
******************--

The tube lineup is 14AF7, 7B7, 7B7, 7C6, 50L6, 35Y4. Please excuse the *s, for some reason when I posted, my spaces in the picture were wiped out so I replaced them with *.. Probably related to crappy Microsoft software.

Thanks!
That's exactly how my filter network is wired except I have 7C7, 7A8, 7B7, 7C6, 50B5, 35Z5 . So it is original after all :)

Good luck with your restoration. I like the sound and the excelent reception of this type of late 1940s Philco radio.

I am near Austin, Texas and the nearest AM station that plays music that I like is in San Antonio, 60 miles away. These receive the station fine. Other radios that I have without a RF stage or two IF stages, have a hard time.

My buddy in Boulder, CO just sent me this set with a big chip missing.
Exactly the same 46-420 variation - PM speaker, 50B5 audio output, etc. How crazy is that!

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-201.JPG http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-202.JPG

Best of all - it has the original back :banana:
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-203.JPG

It's a little warped, but maybe I can steam and flatten it out? :scratch2:
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-204.JPG http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-205.JPG

I've started recapping the other set and hope to power it up tonight or tomorrow.

As mentioned before, I have a couple of empty cases for these. Do you want to have two restored radios?

As mentioned before, I have a couple of empty cases for these. Do you want to have two restored radios?

Well, I had been just focusing on getting one working, but I supposed it would be silly not to restore both!

PM sent.

Looks like all the tubes are the originals Philcos and they test real strong :banana:

Maybe this set did see much use. I'm gonna try powering it up later tonight for the first time.

I finished recapping and replacing out of spec resistors. I powered it up but only get a loud hum - the tuning and volume controls have no effect :(

I'll double-check all my work - I hope it's nothing serious like an open coil.

As to that back, spritz it good with water on the side towards the inside of the radio, flatten between weighted boards, leave for a few days to a week.

Reece

Just use a signal generator to inject signal along the line, you'll find the fault. You can also just apply a soldering gun to the center terminal of the volume control, which should give you a hum if the audio amp is working okay.

Maybe you'll get lucky like I did with mine and find that the grid cap on the audio output is shorted to a pin on the rectifier socket. That is a pretty cramped chassis under there!

It sure is cramped.
I pulled out my second chassis (the one that just arrived from Boulder) and quickly tacked some new electrolytics in. Bam! Works just fine :music:

Great sensitivity and a lot louder than I expected. That skinny 50B5 output tube runs pretty darn hot though.
I wonder if that's normal or it's biasing is off a bit? Some of the resistors have drifted a bit and I haven't swapped them out yet.

I'll do some more checking tomorrow.

As to that back, spritz it good with water on the side towards the inside of the radio, flatten between weighted boards, leave for a few days to a week.

Reece

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try.

I'm just about done restoring one of these 'hippos'. It's playing great with excellent reception. I decided to re-stuff the one electrolytic for a final touch. I've restuffed a few metal can types, but never a paper/wax one.

Here's how it went.

First I pulled the old caps. out of both radios. 3 new caps need to go into each one.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-301.JPG

I tried heating up the caps to free up the innards. After a few minutes I gave up :yuck: The tubes were starting to fall apart which is the only part I cared about salvaging.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-302.JPG

Why not roll my own?
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-303.JPG

I painted them yellow with some kids paint.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-304.JPG

Then I made some water-slide decals using paper left over from another project.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-305.JPG

I also 'dirtied' them up a little using a light spray of flat black paint. I don't want them to look brand new. The original is in the middle.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-308.JPG

Next, I soldered the 3 caps together and reused the original wires.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-310.JPG

Finally, I inserted the caps and filled up the tube with wax. First, I stuffed up one end and filled it 3/4 with wax. Then removed the plug and filled the other end.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-312.JPG

One down, one to go :D
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-315.JPG

Thanks- that shot of those caps puking their guts out is just what I wanted to see before sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Have a great holiday!

ps- where did you get your waterslide decal paper from? Is it inkjet printer friendly?

I never thought about using water slide for caps. I bet that would work with a scan of a paper cap tube that was unwound also.

I normaly don't care to go to that much effort for originality, but I have an Arvin what I'm found of.

John

Neat re-stuffing! Very "fulfilling" on turkey day.

Thanks- that shot of those caps puking their guts out is just what I wanted to see before sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Have a great holiday!

ps- where did you get your waterslide decal paper from? Is it inkjet printer friendly?

LOL - maybe I should have waited a day to post those pics :D Hope you had a good dinner.

I got my paper from this place (http://www.decalpaper.com/product-p/10c.htm). It works fine with an inkjet printer. Use it like you would glossy photo paper.

I've used it before to make decals for TV controls like this. They recommend using clear acrylic for the decal backing but I used lacquer. Works just fine.

I never thought about using water slide for caps. I bet that would work with a scan of a paper cap tube that was unwound also.

I normaly don't care to go to that much effort for originality, but I have an Arvin what I'm found of.

John

I normally wouldn't bother either, but I was curious to give it a try.

The turkey must have jogged a few brain cells, because I finally found the problem in the first set.
When I recapped it, I inadvertently broke a crucial ground connection :o Those two tube pins should be shorted together!
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-401.JPG

Here's one of the radios all done with the rebuilt cap in place. I added a safety cap across the AC line and added a fuse.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-402.JPG

I found a faucet washer that works well as a cushion between the cord and chassis.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-403.JPG http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-404.JPG

I took Reece's suggestion and spritzed the back with some water and placed it between two metal plates with a little weight for a few days.
It came out real nice :banana: Just a little stain when there was already a break in the board. I'm going to try making a copy with some masonite.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-405.JPG http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-406.JPG http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-407.JPG

I cleaned all the contacts and oiled up the tuning capacitor. They're both playing really well now :hdphones:
I hope Jody's white case makes it in one piece :scratch2:
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-410.JPG http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-411.JPG

peverett (Jody) sent me this case to replace that broken brown one. It's in great condition aside from the flaking paint.

Any suggestions for stripping it off? I'll be repainting it white.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2519/4158973952_7042bd2819.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/4158974216_04b9d3b908_b.jpg

I have used various kinds of paint stripper on Bakelite, from gel types to old-fashioned zip strip. Some people also use oven cleaner. None of that stuff will faze Bakelite a bit, so use whatever you like.

Resist the temptation to scrape. Repeat: no scraping. If you're lucky, the original Bakelite will have been protected by paint all these years, and may still have that gorgeous shiny-new surface. If the old paint doesn't turn to mush and wipe off, be patient, apply more stripper, and come back later.

I have stripped a couple of sets that looked so nice after stripping, I couldn't bring myself to paint them again. Here's one.

http://www.antiqueradio.org/art/farn021.jpg

Phil Nelson

Thanks Phil, I give my favorite strippers a go. It does look pretty good where the paint already has flaked off which is going to leave me with your dilemma. Do I paint it ?

I've seen some wild color combinations online. I thought the only productions colors were bare bakelite and painted white ?

Pay no attention to the loons who paint old radios glitter green, popsicle purple, etc. They are going straight to Hell without passing Go.

Phil

Pay no attention to the loons who paint old radios glitter green, popsicle purple, etc. They are going straight to Hell without passing Go.

Phil

Why don't you tell us how you really feel? :D

Seriously though, I've been searching for example photos of several radios I picked up recently and have seen some really horrible restorations. Horribly overpriced too.
Like this Philco 38-10 (http://radioshowcase.com/i-1706790-1938-philco-tube-radio-model-38-10t.html) with it's photo-finish completely gone :wtf: On sale for only $350 :rolleyes:

Anyway, the stripping has begun :yuck:

I don't get the whole painting a radio wild colors thing. There was one guy on the radio forums who claimed he made good money doing this, but if it really is that easy to spraypaint a junker radio and turn a massive profit, then I think we would see more out there.

The weather has finally gotten warmer and I've been able to do some painting tests.

It turned out that the bakelite under that old paint was pretty rough so painting is really the only option. That's fine with me - I'd like a white one anyway.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2694/4256067976_0de69fd6e2_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4255305077_c8b5547337_b.jpg

I used the old, cracked cabinet to test out some different products. I had a few disasters like using Watco clear gloss lacquer over Rustoleum specialty lacquer. The white lacquer immediately puckered and split :tears:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/4426672644_875d15d9a2_b.jpg

I used two light coats of plastic primer, four light coats of white lacquer, applied the decal and three light coats of clear lacquer. (That's not where the decal really goes - this is just a test)
There's some orange peel, but I think some wet sanding between coats will take care of that.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/4425908995_d14dde0fb7_b.jpg

Now it's finally time to try it out on the undamaged cabinet :D

-

Looks like things are getting underway. Glad to see the old case is to be used and will look nice when finished. I found that I had one with a cracked case(not broken completely as was yours) and used the other brown case on it.

I also just picked up two more of the Philco Hippos(brown) at a local estate sale. I am almost completely through restoring one of them. I like these radios as they have an RF amplifier and pick up San Antonio well. I live near Austin, and AM radio in Austin is all talk, sports or music I do not like. They also sound pretty good.

Cool. I've been using my brown one daily for a few months now and it's still sounding great :hdphones:

OK, it's time to finish off another long overdue project :)

Here's the cabinet after applying the primer.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/4836289928_6817de928a_b.jpg

Once that dries, I'll sand out any defects and start on the white lacquer.

Dah-Yum... That puppy looks pretty darn good just the way it is...I'd be tempted to give 'er a few coats of clearcoat 'n' call it "Soup"...

While looking thru the early pages of this thread, I think this cap and coil
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/01-01.jpg is to form a series resonant circuit to make for a low impedance at the set's RF upper midpoint frequency, around 1200KHz. So that the chassis looks like a good RF ground plane without having to use a cap too large that it produces too much of a shock hazard to the set's user. With the 0.022uF cap, it needs a 0.8uH coil and that will yield about 6 ohms of reactance. Using the coil inductance calculator at http://www.66pacific.com/calculators/coil_calc.aspx and guessing 3/4 inch diameter and 1/2 inch length, I get about the 0.8uH value and thus the 1200KHz resonant frequency. Not completely sure that this is why they did this. :scratch2:
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/sch-01.jpg

Hmm - interesting. I'm not sure either, but it does have a UL sticker. I have a couple other non-UL AA5 sets without this RC combo or that R3 resistor in your schematic.

I was told the coil and cap combo was made to block some communications frequencies that would give am reception trouble. They didn't say wave trap, but that is what they seemed to be describing. I have my doubts about that, though.

The trap was to shunt to ground any strong stations that were near the set's IF frequency. When the set was built, there were powerful coastal code stations down below the broadcast band that could leak into the IF. They aren't there any more, so an ordinary .02 or thereabouts cap will do.

Edit: well, maybe not exactly. If the trap were in the RF circuits it would be for the shore stations. If you have a trap there, it is superfluous today; they often have trimmers to be set to the IF frequency. With the Philco trap on the radio in question, consider the following:

http://www.philcorepairbench.com/tips/svctip37.htm

That cap looks a little too big to be a 0.022 but usually those were 0.1uF. If so, then with a 1.2uH coil (7 turns 0.8 inch diameter and half inch long), it could resonate at the IF frequency. Assuming the presence of the guts of the cap inside the coil doesn't effect the inductance.

I sometimes just left it alone, as leakage in the cap in this spot in the circuit is of little consequence. Especially when there is a 120K resistor in parallel anyway.

How many zillions of AC/DC chassis similar to this sat on kitchen counters close to the sink, etc. etc. back in the days before lawyers and when you could (and did) stick your finger in the fan and your fork in the toaster (can still do that...hmmm....:scratch2:) People used to know what they could or couldn't do, and the ones that didn't were Darwin fodder. "Our mommy told us not to put beans in our ears." :nono:

Dah-Yum... That puppy looks pretty darn good just the way it is...I'd be tempted to give 'er a few coats of clearcoat 'n' call it "Soup"...

I agree except for the inevitable run :tears:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4110/4841524867_f59d4442c9_b.jpg

A little sanding and re-spray took care of that. Here it is with a dry run of the dial face.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/4841525069_864c27b842_b.jpg

I picked up a reproduction back from Retro-Tronics in basic black. I could have payed a few more $ for a white one, but decided to just paint it myself.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/4841525293_64772ca02c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4105/4841525605_8c5b605dc4_b.jpg

Unfortunately, I'm missing the clips. Here are some clips from another radio. Does anyone have some to spare or have any idea how to attach it ? For now I'll just wedge a little foam in a few places to hold it on.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-clip01.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-clip02.jpg

Finally, here's the new decal.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/4842141818_194467bc27_b.jpg

They're both finally done :banana:

I scanned an original back and printed some labels for the reproduction back.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4858484183_74e3f8d971_z.jpg

Then, glued the internal antenna salvaged from another set.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4859106076_00d217567a_b.jpg

I'm using foam wedges to hold on the back until I can come up with something better. I used a white power cord to match the cabinet.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4859106508_3a59cdf7af_b.jpg

Here they are side by side.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4858485341_ace996e74f_b.jpg

The dial lamp in the white set is brighter and the volume is lower. I wonder if the bulb isn't right, or the tubes aren't drawing enough juice :scratch2:

could be someone mixed up a #47 for a #44 bulb. One uses 150ma while the other takes 250 both @6v. With your white set playing lower with a brighter bulb, I'm willing to bet that is what is happening.

Good call. The white has a #47 and the brown a #51.

Swapping out bulbs helped a little, but the real culprit is a weak 7C7 tube. Time to dig through my stash.

I like that pair of hippos. Sneaky move repro'ing the back labels!

What does that big honkin' speaker in the background go to?

What does that big honkin' speaker in the background go to?

I'm not sure. I has "RL-69-4" marked on it. I picked it up to possibly use in my RCA 222 which is missing it's original speaker.

Good luck on the 7C7. I have several Hippos and they use a 7C6 tube that is getting fairly expensive now-$15 or so. A couple of mine were weak, but I found some through a friend that were cheaper.

I couldn't find any spare 7C7s, but I'm going to a radio swapfest on Friday and might get lucky.

I did find a couple 7C7s at the swap fest. That hippo is playing very nicely now. I've been listening to a lot of AM 740 out of Toronto. They actually play music :music: unlike the local stations.

Just a quick question,BobAndersen, Looking at the quote below and the picture... What is the value (mfd value) of the Safety cap and the type of cap (Caps from Justradios website)? I looks like you installed it from one side of the ac line just before the pilot light to chassis ground at that term strip. I just can't see if you used the chassis ground or another terminal on that strip.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/philco%2046-420/hippo-402.JPG[/IMG]



Also, my schematic shows a 7C6 tube for the Detector/Audio stage but I've got a mini tube just like your picture, and the tube is a 50B5. Still looking for a correct schematic. Any idea where I can find one.. I could just use my Tube book and pencil :yes: it in I guess.

As someone else in this thread mentioned.. During the war they used whatever parts were at hand.... and got the job done.. Get 'er done!

I appreciate your time. Fun to bring back an old thread too..:D

Buzzsaaw

Just a quick question,BobAndersen, Looking at the quote below and the picture... What is the value of the Safety cap and the type of cap (Caps from Justradios website)? I looks like you installed it from one side of the ac line just before the pilot light to chassis ground at that term strip. I just can't see if you used the chassis ground or another terminal on that strip.



Also, my schematic shows a 7C6 tube for the Detector/Audio stage but I've got a mini tube just like your picture, and the tube is a 50B5. Still looking for a correct schematic. Any idea where I can find one.. I could just use my Tube book and pencil :yes: it in I guess.

As someone else in this thread mentioned.. During the war they used whatever parts were at hand.... and got the job done.. Get 'er done!

I appreciate your time. Fun to bring back an old thread too..:D

Buzzsaaw

Glad I could help.

I used an X2 type because it goes across the AC line. You might find this article (http://www.justradios.com/safetytips.html) on safety caps useful.

The schematic I downloaded from Nostalgia Air (http://www.nostalgiaair.org/resources/597/M0013597.htm) shows a 0.04 uF. I chose a 0.047uF (or 0.05uF) as the closest available value.

Sorry, i was never able to find the correct schematic for the 50B5 version.

Hello,
Thanks. I'll have to put in an order for those X2 types. I thought you were adding the safety cap in addition to the existing cap to ground.. (C15 as I read it.. kinda hard to read).

Did you have any problem prying off those little push clips that hold the dial pointer assembly in to the case? Sure don't want to break off :nono: those little "nubs" of Bakelite. :no:

I very carefully used needle nosed pliers to slowly work them off. Luckily, no breakage.

Whooops!.. one broke..:tears:

Maybe I can drill a hole in the Bakelite and put in a small screw to hold things on.. :scratch2:

When I've (rats!!) busted off one of those one-time-only-thank you nubs, I've put the object back with just a dab of hot glue. Easy enough to dig out if it ever has to be removed again.

Hi folks..
The further adventures of Buzz and his buzzy radio..

I grabbed my dremel and a self tapping small screw and drilled a hole.:
http://www.nemontel.net/~scooters/PhilcoSmall.jpg
Screw is abut 1/2" long.. but real small. Should have lots of grip.. Yup.. I though about glue. But hot glue might have heated up from all the tube and dial light heat. IMO Apoxy might have worked good. Well, next time. :D Won't be a next time.. I'm not NOT going to break any thing any more.. heehee!:banana:

Ordered some caps today... good deals at the Canadian store. I like the spreadsheet order form. That's using there heads! Any time I need something.. just put it on the list and save.. order time comes around and it's waiting.:beer:
Cheers folks! and 73