1953Hornet
03-01-2004, 10:10 AM
Hello, This info will help anyone interested in stepdown radios.
The most unreliable part of the radio is the vibrator.
These vibrators have a set of internal contacts that corode or burn.It is the tall round tin can looking thing inside the radio.
These vibrators can be replaced by a modern plug in solid state type. Available from Antique Automobile Radio Inc
700 Tampa Rd. Palm Harbor Florida.
Plug the new one in specific to your needs i.e 6 volt positive ground etc.
If you have converted your vehicle to 12 volt negative ground as I have you will need to do the following.
Purchase the 1015N model which is the 6 volt negative ground version. Then place a step down resistor in the supply line to the radio. I used 2 clarostat type resistors in parrallel that are large and come with a little mounting bracket making installation easy. Put these on the firewall under the hood and out of the way they are going to get quite hot as they drop the voltage to the radio keep away from flammables.Voila your done. I have about 80 of the clarostat?resistors if anyone interested. $2.00 ea you pay for mail.2 required for the job.
Radio tubes are not that rare and if you watch ebay the tube numbers will come up from time to time or there are many sites for antique radio vacuum tubes.
Or you could just take your radio and have it overhauled.Since I prefer to do everything from soup to nuts myself that was not an option. Hope this info helps someone out.
The most unreliable part of the radio is the vibrator.
These vibrators have a set of internal contacts that corode or burn.It is the tall round tin can looking thing inside the radio.
These vibrators can be replaced by a modern plug in solid state type. Available from Antique Automobile Radio Inc
700 Tampa Rd. Palm Harbor Florida.
Plug the new one in specific to your needs i.e 6 volt positive ground etc.
If you have converted your vehicle to 12 volt negative ground as I have you will need to do the following.
Purchase the 1015N model which is the 6 volt negative ground version. Then place a step down resistor in the supply line to the radio. I used 2 clarostat type resistors in parrallel that are large and come with a little mounting bracket making installation easy. Put these on the firewall under the hood and out of the way they are going to get quite hot as they drop the voltage to the radio keep away from flammables.Voila your done. I have about 80 of the clarostat?resistors if anyone interested. $2.00 ea you pay for mail.2 required for the job.
Radio tubes are not that rare and if you watch ebay the tube numbers will come up from time to time or there are many sites for antique radio vacuum tubes.
Or you could just take your radio and have it overhauled.Since I prefer to do everything from soup to nuts myself that was not an option. Hope this info helps someone out.