I finished my first radio. It's a General Electric LC-628. Thanks to everyone that has helped me out! I do still need to find a phono cartridge though that can wait. The radio doesn't pick up much but I chalk that up mostly to the area I'm in. Could a dying tube be to blame for the poor reception? Also, it has a bit of a hum with the volume at full.

Nice looking set - you did a nice job!

I don't see an antenna. Did you use one?

Yes, a weak tube could cause reception problems.

A tube could also be the source of the hum.

It has an antenna of its own and I tried using a long strand of wire as an external but it didn't seem to help.

Reverse the line cord.
Dan

No change. The hum may have a little worse.

Check the tubes, and are you sure you didn't miss a capacitor hidden someplace. Some cans have caps in them. If you haven't done an alignment that will help some also.
Dan

Do you have other radios you use that you can compare the reception to?

This has to be one of the cleanest radios I have ever seen! You can eat off of it! VERY nice!!!!

The cabinet and chassis are gorgeous, but what's with the external mounted components on the back?

Did the set come with a loop antenna? Six tubes oughta give you flaming performance, at least after sunset. Did you replace all Electrolytics, if not all paper and wax caps as well?

The hum problem could be caused by not following the original wiring paths when you replaced components. With the set on, use a non-metallic probe, and gently move things around to see if you can affect, and quiet the hum.

What is the value of that dogbone resistor on the chassis? Did you make sure it didn't drift up in value? Is it part of the antenna system? If it did drift up in value, then maybe that's why it's not receiving signals very well. Just a thought.

Thanks for the complements! The only radio I have to compare with is a clock radio and it pulls in less than it does. The connections on the back of the chassis are for the phonograph. That resistor goes to the phonograph pickup. I replaced every capacitor with the exception of one mica. I will try the rearranging tip. If I ever find a replacement switch for my tube tester I might be able to fix it up and test my tubes. How could I align it? The only testing equipment I have is a multimeter and a busted tube tester.

I see they put 120 volts on the two right connectors for the phono motor, a real shock hazard. I would recommend using wires with better insulation, maybe feeding a safer connector. You could cut a cheap extension cord in half, run the outlet part into the chassis and the plug part on the phono motor.
This is a very nice restoration. The loop antenna is directional, try turning the radio to improve reception. With 6 tubes it should pick up plenty at night.
Don

Hearing hum at full volume is most likely normal. You shouldn't need to crank it that high. I would try rocking the IF transformer adjustments for a start.

That is nice Salval .Wish I had one that nice.
Bruce

Salval, GORGEOUS!! Great job!!!! Thumbs up to YOU!!


Lynn

Excellent, Saval. I wish my first would have turned out that nice.

+1 Congrats man. Very nice restoration. Don't worry too much, that's what I'm beginning to learn with this hobby. It plays, and I'm sure much better than when you got it. Good start! My radios are quirky too. When you get it to your liking, I'd love to see a video of it playing.

Here's a quick and dirty method, using a "golden" screwdriver;
during the daytime, locate a weak but non-fading station. Start with the second IF transformer, and VERY SLIGHTLY adjust the top slug with a screwdriver, no more than 1/8 to 1/4 turn, one way, and then the other, for the loudest signal. Repeat with the second screw on top (or underneath), and then do the same with the first IF screws. then go back and re-adjust the second IF screws to peak further, then back to the first IF. In no case should you have to exceed 1/4 turn rotation.

Next, locate the trimmer cap on the antenna (larger) gang of the tuning capacitor, and with the set tuned to a station as near to 1400 Kc as possible, adjust it for maximum signal volume.

I tried the "golden screwdriver". It didn't change much. Here's a video of the radio playing. The rattle noise is my crappy camera autofocusing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyi4AC4 ... ature=plcp

That simply means that the set was aligned within specs to begin with, but at least you verified it.

Salval, for a first-time restoration, you've done a beautiful job! What condition was the cabinet in when you got it? If you did the refinishing, you did a superb job of it.

As for the set's inner workings, its chassis, it looks like a very nice six-tube set that OUGHT to pull in many stations, especially after dark, using a good external
aerial wire antenna. This set looks new enough that it MIGHT have had a built-in wire antenna wound onto a fiberboard back, mounted to the rear of the cabinet,
but missing by the time you found the set.

You definitely need to know that: 1) all the tubes are good; 2) that the tubes belong to this particular chassis AND, 3) that all of them are in their correct locations on the chassis. Since
all your tubes have octal-socket-bases, and if you don't have a tube-location diagram for the set, you could easily and unintentionally put one or more tubes in the wrong socket(s).

As for the hum you're hearing, if you replace all the power supply filter caps with new ones of the correct type, you should hear virtually no hum whatsoever.

If all else is as it should be on this radio, and it has good tubes and is properly aligned, and is provided with a good antenna, your set should play loudly and clearly, and receive
many stations, especially at night.

By the way, Salval, your radio looks like an AC-DC model, meaning that it was designed to work equally well on alternating current and direct current. Before and even after the Second World War, a number of older cities in the US still had DC power in their neighborhoods (parts of Boston's Back Bay district didn't convert to AC until as late as 1967!). Reason I think yours is an AC/DC radio is I don't see a power transformer on your chassis; they're always present on AC-only receivers.

There is a real danger of electric shock with AC/DC sets. That is because they're wired with one side of the power cord connected to the chassis. An improperly wired power cord, especially if it has an older non-polarized wall plug, can be a real danger.

For your radio to be safe, your power cord from the wall MUST have a polarized plug, and you MUST make sure that the ground-side of your power cord is connected to the chassis internally. If it's connected the other way around, even if the cord has a polarized plug (meaning the plug itself can only be inserted into the wall socket one way) your chassis will be 110 Volts ABOVE ground, making it "hot" and a terrible danger for shock and electrocution if you should happen to touch the chassis and an external ground like a water pipe or steam radiator at the same time.

PLEASE don't let that happen! Make sure your set is correctly wired with a polarized-plug power cord.

Good luck!