Sparton Junior restoration

[compu_85]

Wow, I'm amazed how nice the finish came out on that set! Where'd you find that cloth wire for the line cord?

-Jason

[droptop]

Bob,
I hope this sheds some light on your switch dilemma. This is a photo of the switch originally used in your set. It has a notch in the handle for actuation by the wire link. The collar on this one is ¼ inch long. If you can find a short collar switch it’s easy to file the notch in to the handle and the short collar will make for easy operation by the wire link. The long collar shaft takes a lot more force to flip.

That is a great set. I have one I’ve yet to restore but there have been several on my bench over the years. Sparton was good at coming up with their own tubes hoping to corner the renewal market. National Union is about the only maker I’ve found that supplied replacements for some Sparton numbers. The 183 tubes are non existent as you’ve discovered. Luckily they were in my set when I bought it about 6 years ago. The first one I restored was back in the early ‘80s and they were missing. I found a long ago published hint in a radio magazine concerning availability of these tubes that was written by a service man who could not find them- even then. His remedy was to wire the filaments in series and use a pair of 45 tubes. It worked quite well and the power transformer didn’t seem to mind at all. 45’s are pricey but also easier to find. 71A tubes have a maximum of 180 plate volts. Check the voltage on your set to be sure it isn’t pumping out around 250 which is the maximum for the 183’s and maybe the 45’s as well. If you don’t play the set very much it may be a non issue in the long run. Most Sparton sets of this era tend to run tubes at or near maximum operating voltages- another stab at selling replacements, no doubt.

Best regards,
Rick

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by compu_85

Wow, I'm amazed how nice the finish came out on that set! Where'd you find that cloth wire for the line cord?

-Jason

Thanks! I was lucky in that none of it had flaked off - just some alligatoring.
I got the line cord from Antique Electronic Supply. I've also used some from radiodaze that's very nice as well.

Originally Posted by droptop

Bob,
I hope this sheds some light on your switch dilemma. This is a photo of the switch originally used in your set. It has a notch in the handle for actuation by the wire link. The collar on this one is ¼ inch long. If you can find a short collar switch it’s easy to file the notch in to the handle and the short collar will make for easy operation by the wire link. The long collar shaft takes a lot more force to flip.

That is a great set. I have one I’ve yet to restore but there have been several on my bench over the years. Sparton was good at coming up with their own tubes hoping to corner the renewal market. National Union is about the only maker I’ve found that supplied replacements for some Sparton numbers. The 183 tubes are non existent as you’ve discovered. Luckily they were in my set when I bought it about 6 years ago. The first one I restored was back in the early ‘80s and they were missing. I found a long ago published hint in a radio magazine concerning availability of these tubes that was written by a service man who could not find them- even then. His remedy was to wire the filaments in series and use a pair of 45 tubes. It worked quite well and the power transformer didn’t seem to mind at all. 45’s are pricey but also easier to find. 71A tubes have a maximum of 180 plate volts. Check the voltage on your set to be sure it isn’t pumping out around 250 which is the maximum for the 183’s and maybe the 45’s as well. If you don’t play the set very much it may be a non issue in the long run. Most Sparton sets of this era tend to run tubes at or near maximum operating voltages- another stab at selling replacements, no doubt.

Best regards,
Rick

Thanks for the info Rick. I suspected this wasn't the original power switch since it requires so much force to flip. I picked up a Ware B-1 chassis recently that has a toggle switch with notch just like yours.

I'll be sure to check the voltage ASAP. I do have a single NOS ST 482, two fair ST 182s, and two fair globe 182s. I'll be using a pair of those in my 931 Equisonne.
I think I'll just sell the one sweet globe 483 I do have.

[Chad Hauris]

Looking at this thread again I think I need to replace the paper caps in mine. When I got it about 8 or 9 years ago I think I just put new electrolytics in it and for some odd reason didn't think it had paper caps...now that I know they were inside of a metal box I will replace them. Mine has problems with intermittent changes in volume and it must be due to those caps.

[Reece]

Cloth-covered line cord was used up to the mid thirties. About 1937 radios pretty much had rubber-covered line cord and molded plugs (except for resistance line cords which continued cloth-covered.) Here's another source for cloth cord including several types and colors. I've used their black twisted stuff for 1920's fans.

http://www.sundialwire.com/