Philco 41-231 "Little Bullet"
Posts: 13,776
Threads: 580
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Ferdinand
State, Province, Country: Indiana
Four or five years ago, I acquired a 41-231 from Rocklandman. It happens to be the very first radio he sold to anyone once he became involved in the antique radio hobby.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/ARF/41231.jpg]
This is how it looked after I repaired and refinished the cabinet. I really wish I had taken a "before" shot. But anyway...
Fast forward to this year. Long story short, Rocklandman is getting the radio back from me. The cabinet already having been done four years ago, I turned my attention to the chassis.
Everything is so tightly packed inside the 41-231 and similar chassis, that the only thing you can do is remove everything and start all over. Be sure you take lots of notes as you remove things, or else you will be in big trouble!
Anyway, here's how the chassis looked once all of the old rotten rubber-covered wire had been replaced.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00003.jpg]
Later, the rebuilt IF transformers went back in, and I began the process of installing new capacitors and resistors.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00004.jpg]
Properly restoring one of these Philcos is very long and tedious work.
Another problem which complicates things on many 1941 Philcos is the power switch.
On this set, I removed the original power switch and tried to graft a new switch from Lowe's onto the original assembly.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00002.jpg]
My idea was to tap the steel to use two 4-40 screws to hold the switch in place.
Unfortunately, one of the two new holes stripped as it was being tapped, so I then tried attaching a couple 4-40 nuts at the mounting holes.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00001.jpg]
Well, Murphy's Law kicked in as I was running out of time before Kutztown...
The mounting holes in the Lowe's switch are ever so slightly wider apart than the originals, so you have to drill the holes out very carefully.
It didn't work out this time for two reasons: one, the switch housing broke when I attempted to tighten the screws; and two, one of the nuts came unglued from the assembly.
And I wasn't torquing the screws down; I was being gentle with the unit.
Oh well.
I set the chassis aside, delivered the cabinet to Rocklandman at Kutztown last week, with a promise to ship the chassis later.
More to come...
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
Posts: 13,776
Threads: 580
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Ferdinand
State, Province, Country: Indiana
Resuming work on this chassis after returning home from Kutztown, I soon had all of the new capacitors and resistors installed.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00012.jpg]
The original speaker had some problems...
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00013.jpg]
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00014.jpg]
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00015.jpg]
So...I used a speaker which was donated by a dead 41-221. The tears in the cone were easily repaired with fabric glue (great stuff for cones as it remains flexible after drying).
But what about the power switch?
With many thanks to Phorum member Sam, I soon had another 1941 six-button assembly. The switch did not work but was intact.
One of the main problems with these switches is the fact that the wires are spot welded to the switch contacts, and the welds fail over time.
I decided to try a rebuilding process with the unbroken switch housing from the assembly I acquired from Sam.
I used the contacts from the original 41-231 switch, cleaned them, and soldered new wires to them. The solder should never melt in normal operation.
Remembering the debacle of trying to tap threads into the mounting holes of the 41-231 switch assembly, this time I left the brass studs of the original rivets on the assembly I acquired from Sam. I had read on our sister Facebook group, Philco Radio Enthusiasts, where Mark Vaccaro used solid wire (leads from an old resistor) soldered to the old rivets to hold his switch in place...so I did the same thing. Only I added some of my strongest glue (Loctite Metal and Concrete Epoxy, the same glue which held my Tropic 41-745's grille together) along the sides to help hold the housing in place.
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00009.jpg]
more to come...
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
Posts: 16,217
Threads: 562
Joined: Oct 2011
City: Jackson
State, Province, Country: NJ
Ron
You mean, the power switch on this one is separate from the volume pot?
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
Posts: 13,776
Threads: 580
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Ferdinand
State, Province, Country: Indiana
It's Alive! Enjoy my very first radio video...
[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY5wG7mxcrE]
More pictures:
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00008.jpg]
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00011.jpg]
[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum..._00010.jpg]
I'll be giving this set a complete alignment this afternoon and cleaning the band switch. After that, it should be good to go and ready to launch.  
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
Posts: 16,217
Threads: 562
Joined: Oct 2011
City: Jackson
State, Province, Country: NJ
Nice!
I wish I had this many musical stations.
Oh....this power switch, push type.
People who do not drink, do not smoke, do not eat red meat will one day feel really stupid lying there and dying from nothing.
Posts: 13,776
Threads: 580
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Ferdinand
State, Province, Country: Indiana
The station at 660 kc is my SSTRAN. Then there is a Mexican station (if you can believe it, in Jasper, Indiana!) at 990, and a couple "classic hits" stations at 1420 and a weaker one at 860 (the 860 kc station is not on the video above). You'll also hear a few seconds of WGBF, Evansville's talk radio station (Limbaugh) at 1280.
And yes, Mike, the on-off switch is on the pushbutton assembly - first button from the left when looking at the front of the chassis. Separate from the volume control. Sorry, I missed your first post asking about it.
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
Posts: 2,573
Threads: 337
Joined: Jun 2013
City: lawrenceville nj
ron
great job 
so solder wire across switch
great job with video more vids to come ??
sam
Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift
mafiamen2
Posts: 13,776
Threads: 580
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Ferdinand
State, Province, Country: Indiana
Credit for the trick of soldering wires to the switch rivets to hold the housing in place should go to Facebook member Mark Vaccaro. I have corrected post #2 above accordingly. Thanks, Mark, for the great idea!
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
Posts: 13,776
Threads: 580
Joined: Sep 2005
City: Ferdinand
State, Province, Country: Indiana
Sam
Thanks! The wire should be soldered to the old rivets to hold the plastic switch housing in place. Mark Vaccaro used two heavy solid wires; soldering each one to one of the old rivets, bending the wires over so that they touched, and soldering them together.
I used one solid wire, bent it appropriately, and soldered each end to each of the old rivets.
The idea is to hold the switch housing in place without letting it fall off.
Now that I sort of know how to use my iPhone for video, I may make some more videos in the future.
--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
Posts: 118
Threads: 1
Joined: Nov 2014
City: Georgetown, IN
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