Anybody know anything about old radios?

[Worker 11811]

I've got an old Zenith console radio/record player in my garage. It's been in the family for a long time, sitting in the basement collecting dust. It's time to either sell it or get rid of it.

 

It's a Zenith Model 10S690. According to the internet resources I've found it was made in 1942. A model in good contition should sell for $300-$400.

 

Mine's not in that great of a contition.

 

Take a look HERE ===> >> Zenith Model 10S690 <<

 

I'm not trying to sell it to anybody on this board because it's too big to send via UPS, etc. and the cost of trucking it would be more than the thing is worth. I'm just seeking opinions when it comes time to ask for a selling price.

 

I'm thinking I should ask $200 and be happy to get $100.

 

Also, what would be the benefit of me working on it and sprucing it up a little? The tuner needs restrung and there are a few pieces of loose trim. I could spend some time to clean it up and get it presentable.

 

How much work should I put into it, if any?

 

T.I.A.

[allfurme]

From what i have seen on the television it would be worth letting a collector see it. They are usually honest because they are enthusiastic about radios, They will tell you want needs to be done to bring it up to spec and will make you a sensible offer if they want to purchase it. Sometimes repairs aren't always cost effective. My suggestion is avertise it for sale at a sensible price that you would like to see it sale for and see what happens.

[Guest]

That type of old radio is back.

 

The shop I get my plans copied quit selling "oldfashioned drafting equipment" and is selling old radio's in its place.

 

 

 

OFF

[Guest]

Worker, you could clean it up and gut it and replace the insides with a new cd system or sattlite radio systems. Ive seen a few done like that and it looks really good.

[FrBrGr]

Worker,

 

I can't believe it - It is identical to the one I used to have! (My mom has it now - Maybe one of these days it will come full circle . . .)

 

I would think that in order to refurbish it to the point where it would sell to a collector, you would need to be sure that it was not only in good-looking condition, but also if it actually worked. My question would be, where in the world would you get vacuum tubes for it? I mean, they're not made anymore. Maybe, like Eric says, you could gut the thing and replace all the old stuff with new technology. You'd still have the cool look of a radio from the 1940's, with the new sounds of today. Don't know if it would have collector value any longer, but it would be a cool piece to own . . .

[Guest]

FrBrGr;

 

I have nothing but tubes in my state-of-the-art Sound System.

 

Thanks to the Russians and a resurgence of interest in real music tubes are alive and well world wide.

 

 

OFF

[FrBrGr]

Wow, OFF! I never would've thought so!

 

So there you go, Worker! Refurbish the sucker! Inside and out!

[Worker 11811]

Tubes are available. The ones inside this unit aren't all that exotic. It's just a "superhet" receiver and a regular old mono amp. It's usually the rectifier tubes that go first because they do the most amount of work. Replacing them with new ones isn't hard. It's the capacitors that will need some work. The old fashioned paper capacitors tend to dry out and go "Pop!"

 

It's just the time and money that I'd have to put into it.

 

It's not going to be easy to sell the way it is unless there is a collector waiting in the wings. If I want to get it to a good home, I'm prolly going to have to put some work into it.

 

It's just the question of how much I'd have to put into it, versus the amount I'd get back.

[Guest]

With upgraded capacitors it will sound better than new.

 

I take old vintage tube power amps and replace the capacitors first then eventually most of the resistors. Those are usually the hardest to replace.

 

 

 

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[White Fox]

Worker. Re upgrading. Here is the question...

If you upgrade it, are you doing it for the love of the unit or to simply get more money for it. If it is for the work, it is usually worth it. If it is for the money it usually is not.

 

Tubes. Indeed are still easy to get for many to most things. I used to know the number of every tube in those old sets - they were mostly pretty close to the same - but that is way, way gone now. Does your have one or two tubes that are actually in a black metal can round and about the size of a tube? Yes, the tubes are available, but at generally very huge prices from what I recall. One hint. If you plan to upgrade. If you have any very old and long established TV repair shops in your area go in and ask if they have the tubes. they might just have some on their shelves that they would be willing to sell for very cheap. There is a small chance they would not work due to age even though they are new. But likely they will.

 

Secondly. You do need a fair bit of experience to go in to start replacing capacitors and resistors, to restring the dial (especially that!) or to start redoing cabinet work. However, it can be worth it. Often for instance if you have spots pealing away you can use a shringe to inject glue under the splintered wood and use a feather to spread it around and then clamp things well and it will come out as good as new with a little polishing.

 

W

[Worker 11811]

I don't doubt my ability to do the repairs and upgrades on the electronics. I know my way around with a soldering iron. Electronics is one of my many hobbies.

 

If I took on the job I'd do a complete rebuild, right down to the wiring. I'd remove all the old, asbestos wires and replace with modern, vinyl/cloth insulation. You can still buy wires with the old color coded stripes on them.

 

I'd replace the caps, the resistors and even the tube sockets. (Those old Bakelite sockets get brittle with age.)

 

Restringing the tuner is tricky work. I know. This one doesn't use twine. It uses a rubber belt. Twine won't work. But, since the tuner is unstrung, there's noting to lose and everyting to gain.

 

Cabinet work would be my weakness. I know HOW to do it but I'm just not super good at it. For something like this, it would need to look perfect. I would probably replace the grille cloth and clean up the extirior with "Life O' Wood" and reattach any loose trim.

 

I actually would LIKE to do the repairs but I have to be careful. I'm the type who gets involved in projects like this and spends more time and money than it's worth just for the fun of it.

[White Fox]

You need to be careful in that you may be able to get tube sockets but not configured to actually fit properly within the holes in the metal chassis. Watch that closely before you start to tear things apart.

 

Also, remember that if you do too many repairs it is no longer original. That may or may not be a fact to consider.

W

[Worker 11811]

With supply houses like Mouser Electronics and Digi-Key and Allied Electronics there's little problem getting parts. They've got everything you need and a few things you don't need.

 

I agree about not ripping the thing apart, wholesale. Maybe the sockets are still good. Wouldn't want to toss them out if they are still good.

 

I do agree about overdoing the rebuild. But, from what I have been reading, it's hard to do too much. Old electronics have a habit of going "Pfffffft!" Replacing those parts that are likely to go up in flames tends to increase the value... unless you go too far... just like you say.

 

I'm thinking I will just take the chassis out and take a look inside to see what condition it's in. Maybe the wires and sockets are still good. Then, all I'd have to do is clean out all the dust and replace the caps and tubes. With a restringing of the tuner, it might be right as rain!

 

My thought is to spend about $100 on it, more or less, depending on what parts cost. If that improves the condition of it, I might get closer to that top tier price.

[White Fox]

This is slightly off the topic but....

It always amazes me of the know how of some of the original folks working with electricity. For instance

 

When the original folks began to build a generator they could not call up to order a "Wired" armature to do their testing. They had to build it. Not only that but they had to figure out how to do that without having that huge amount of insulation material in there to make it too big. They had to figure how to make it spin using brushes that did not exist.

 

The first folks like Edison and his crew could not call up to get insulators when they wanted to run a short line. Insulators did not exist. I am not sure if copper wire existed but I imagine that it did not. They not only had to "Invent" electricity - that is to begin to understand it - but they had to invent everything around it to make it work.

 

I have so much respect for these folk. What they accomplished in such a short time was unbelievable. Don't anyone think understanding of electricity itself is all finished though either. For instance there is a very, very simple way to prove beyond a doubt that AC as we understand it today will not work at all. Only problem is that it does. We can prove it will not work! And would only take a few paragraphs of text for most folk here to understand why it will not using their high school science.

 

Just one more comment. I have heard that it is also easy to prove that the first records would not work either. The materials used will collapse at the pressures used. I do not know if that is correct though.

 

Sorry. Wondered way too much here.

W

[Guest]

WF;

 

Having thousands of those 12inch vinyl discs and playing them daily I'm still astionished that musical sound comes out when you set the stylus in the groove!!

 

Digital has none of that wonder to it somehow.

 

 

OFF

[Worker 11811]

I took the chassis out of the cabinet today. I found good news and bad news.

 

The good news is that I was able to restring the tuner fairly easily. The belt had just slipped the track. But for the dust and cobwebs inside, it looks like it might just work, still.

 

The bad news is that it's a lot more complex inside than I had imagined. Changing out all the caps will be a LOT more time consuming than I first thought.

 

There's NO WAY I could ever do this job without the service manual(s). It's been such a long time since I worked on tubes that I hardly remember which pins are the filaments and which are the grids.

 

There are so many little ceramic trimmers and adjustable ferrite inductors in there, tuning the thing after replacing the caps would be nearly impossible without the manual.

 

I'm going to have to rethink my strategy.

 

From the looks of it, none of the wires underneath the chassis are frayed or broken. I don't see any safety hazards there. The caps LOOK okay but I know that those old wax paper and mineral oil capacitors can look allright and still be bad.

 

I think if I cleaned it out and replaced any bad tubes it would still work. The tuner fins are REALLY dusty!

 

I'm going to do some more research and give it some more thought before I go ahead with my plans.

[Guest]

Dial up the model on GOOGLE. You might get lucky for a manual.

 

Also www.antiqueradio.com and Antique Electronic Supplies.

 

There are lots of sources.

 

 

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