[Forge]

[HulkNukem]

THQ Nordic, who own Dambuster Studios which are the Timesplitters guys, just bought the Timesplitters and Second Sight IP rights

YEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Fuck you Crytek for holding onto them and doing fuck all with them. Here's hoping for an HD remaster of Timesplitters and a sequel.

[Zaxtor]

[Forge]

prepping for the upcoming all-female terminator movie?

https://twitter.com/...0160417799?s=21

[Zaxtor]

I'm glad Linda Hamilton is returning.


btw
as for today.
I Went to the ecocenter to recycle some old 90s television by doing a favor for my neighbor and I saw this VERY old radio,
I returned to the ecocenter, usually they don't sell stuff, so I bought this for 50$, a 1910-1930 radio
Good thing I went there in time because the truck was there to scrap / recycle old electronics.
So I saved this relic from destruction.

The radio I believe is a McLagan Stratford Canada, has a picture of its Chassis
Needs some restoration on the console, wood is in good shape just some scratches etc.

I dunno the year....... yet.
Ecocenter worker says is ranging 1910 to 1930s

[Mark]

I didn't research it but from the looks I would say 1932-1935. Restoring old radios has been a hobby of mine for about 15 years. If you don't want to do a total refinishing on the cabinet there is a product in the US called Howards Restore-a-Finish. You wipe it on with very fine steel wool, let it soak in for a few minutes and wipe off the excess. Let it dry for a couple of days then you can spray it with a clearcoat lacquer spray. On some radios it works wonders. It keeps the antique look while evening out the different color splotches. For the chassis, there may be guys in your area that do the repairs. Its not a good idea to plug it in to see if it works. Sometimes you are lucky and it will work. But even if it does, there are some parts in the high voltage power supply with high failure rates and you risk burning out other parts when they short out. Many times without warning.

Here is a pic of a radio cabinet I did a full restore on. I sanded it down to bare wood, stained it and finished it with clear and toned lacquer spray.

Attached thumbnail(s)

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[Zaxtor]

Some replies I got says that radio could potentially be extremely rare and the last of its kind.
he ran research and couldn't find much on it.

McLagan started making cabinets in 1927

So this could be 1927 to 1935.

PS I tested it.
It does work.
Turns on.
Just no reception cus the antenna is not set.

Transformer get quite hot.
Have to clean the dust that probably haven't been clean since over half a century.

Nice radio casing.

I watch Shango066 who restores tvs and radios as a hobby.

[Forge]

Zaxtor, on 15 August 2018 - 10:28 AM, said:

Some replies I got says that radio could potentially be extremely rare and the last of its kind.
he ran research and couldn't find much on it.

McLagan started making cabinets in 1927

So this could be 1927 to 1935.

PS I tested it.
It does work.
Turns on.
Just no reception cus the antenna is not set.

Transformer get quite hot.
Have to clean the dust that probably haven't been clean since over half a century.

You might want to pull all the electronics out of it and individually test the components.
This may provide an opportunity to find more manufacturing and patent information as well.

[Zaxtor]

Yes, also testing
making sure theres no leaky capacitor, open capacitor etc.
If so, can recap them.

With capacitors with same value, etc.

[Mark]

I took another look at your pictures. I see metal tubes on the chassis. Those were made starting in 1935 so the radio was made in the mid 30's.

That company made phonographs in the 1920's. A label on one of them showed it was designed to run on a 25hz power system. You might want to find out what frequency Canada was using in the 30's. If that radio was also designed for 25hz it will run too hot and burn out the power transformer if run on 50/60 hz power of today.

[Jeff]

Too smoky outside. I'm staying inside today.

[Mark]

Smoke from CA fires?

[Jeff]

BC fires. I put on a dust mask when I went outside for 5 minutes.

[MusicallyInspired]

I heard they declared a provincial state of emergency there. We're getting smokey air all the way out here in Manitoba.

[Zaxtor]

Also someone told me

(from outside the forums)

Quote

Ah. Don't run that again until it's gotten a full looking over. The transformer absolutely should NOT get hot. That's a sign that there's something wrong, and if that transformer gets overloaded and fails, you'll never be able to run it again, because I guarantee you won't be able to find a new one.

I heard transformer normally get hot but not excessively hot or it would overload and fails.
Dunno if bad capacitor can be a factor.

Probably I should get a Heathkit IT-28 Restoration



To check for any leaky, opened and or shorted capacitor.
Recap any bad capacitor etc.

and someone familiar with that kind of stuff.

[Forge]

Zaxtor, on 15 August 2018 - 02:06 PM, said:

I heard transformer normally get hot but not excessively hot or it would overload and fails.

If you remove the radio from the cabinet, there should be a small data plate on it somewhere, and it should say if it's a 25/60 Hz.

[Mark]

In the faded pic that looked like an oversized transformer so I'm guessing its 25hz and will eventually burn out on 50/60 hz.

One test you can do is remove all tubes from the sockets and let the radio run while monitoring the transformer temp. It shouldn't feel more than room temp. Or remove only the high voltage rectifier tube. Possibly marked as #80 tube or 5Y3. The transformer should be only slightly warm after maybe 10 minutes. If its running hot in either test that will confirm its either a 25hz radio or the transformer is bad.

Most repair guys including myself have found that probably 90 percent of the high voltage power supply caps need replacing. So we automatically replace them. And as you said... yes a leaky or shorted cap will cause the rectifier tube and transformer to run very hot. It can also cause excess power to be drawn through the transformer driving the speaker and burn it out too.

Gee, can you tell I'm a radio geek?

If you decide to attempt repairs yourself, here is the place I have been buying my capacitors from for a few years now. http://www.tuberadios.com/capacitors/

If you have any questions later just PM me. Finding a model number and schematic would make things a lot easier too.

[Zaxtor]

Inside the radio there is one metal capacitor (large aluminium tank one)

Few paper capacitor, some bumblebee capacitor etc.


Shango066 (youtuber who restore, resurrect and fix old tv and radio)

He Said paper capacitor has high failure rate,
I think he said oil capacitor are mostly garbage.
Paper capacitor degrades, leak, shorts , opens etc with time.

Bumblebee capacitor with age get bad.
and more


So if I pull all the tubes out the radio will still turn on but not risking transformer to overheat since no tubes to make radio work with bad capacitor etc.?


Shango066's method is when he recap stuff, he test every resistors and capacitor 1 by 1.
To ensure all works well.

[Zaxtor]

That thing cost over 300$ with the robot eye.




These are cheaper but dunno if are good as the other to test old capacitors.

https://www.amazon.c...r/dp/B0036FQ3FW

https://www.amazon.c...ail_aax_0?psc=1

[Zaxtor]

Company that made those furnitures etc of that radio
George McLagan Furmiture Co. Ltd., Stratford, Canada (1896-1930s?)
Shows a McLagan Phonograph of 1926.
Wood structure is similar.

http://www.jukebox-w...elt/McLagan.htm

So my radio can be ranging 1910s to 1930s.
Company died in the 1930s?

[Jeff]

MusicallyInspired, on 15 August 2018 - 01:57 PM, said:

I heard they declared a provincial state of emergency there. We're getting smokey air all the way out here in Manitoba.

Were you affected by the fires in Parry Sound?

[Mark]

Those metal tubes were not in radios until 1935.

Those cheaper capacitor testers only check for value and won't tell you if a cap is about to fail.

New caps are cheap. From 75 cents to 2 USD each. You are better just to buy the new caps. The large metal can sometimes contain more than one capacitor inside. If thats the case you can replace them with separate ones. Make sure they are close to the proper value and rated for at least 450 volts DC. Usual values are 10ufd - 33ufd. You can go slightly higher than the originals but not less.The new wax and paper caps replacements are usually rated for 630 volts DC.

[Zaxtor]

So means that radio is minimum 1935.

I almost thought it would be older the radio and had glass tubes but replaced by metal tubes
BUT
I rethought
I doubt it would be original glass tube replaced by metal tubes because metal and glass tubes are different in behavior.
http://www.rfcafe.co...ctober-1935.htm



yes new caps are cheap,
I might do like Shango066 does

Replacing every capacitors even the "maybe good one" with all new ones.



Those enormous metal cylinders inside when I tap my finger on them are like empty.

Some capacitor may have multi terminal like that gray large capacitor underneath in the Chassis around the small cardboard capacitor and bumblebee capacitor,

[Forge]

Zaxtor, on 15 August 2018 - 03:45 PM, said:

These are cheaper but dunno if are good as the other to test old capacitors.

they'll work, but you'll get what you pay for

Zaxtor, on 15 August 2018 - 04:35 PM, said:

George McLagan Furmiture Co. Ltd., Stratford, Canada (1896-1930s?)

I read up, and what I found said they made radios from 1926 to 1935. If that radio is a '35, then you got a model from their last line of production. That might be why they're rare. (if they are rare, I don't know that much about old radios). If they were already going out of business, or getting away from making radios because they didn't sell well, and reduced the numbers of radios made.

Zaxtor, on 15 August 2018 - 06:01 PM, said:

I almost thought it would be older the radio and had glass tubes but replaced by metal tubes

I doubt it would be original glass tube replaced by metal tubes because metal and glass tubes are different in behavior.

That's why you should pull the whole thing out and get a model or patent number off the radio (& hopefully find a model number somewhere on the underside of the cabinet, or shelf)- it'll help determine if the radio that's in it is original to the cabinet.

[Mark]

If it was made for glass tubes some of the tube sockets would have little legs sticking up around them for their metal shields to snap into. If you don't see any of them then the radio was made for metal tubes.

This topic reminded me that I put an old radio playing old time music in my Graveyard TC.

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[Zaxtor]

Such a beauty.

Also I checked again in my radio
has Sylvania and RCA stuff.

The metal tubes are Sylvania and some resistors RCA.

I googled similar radios

1 1936
2 1935

So mine might be 1935-1936?

[Zaxtor]

Also Cabinet has a paper that looks like somekind of sticked schematic, is partially ripped/ decayed. deteriorated.
Chassis has no model number etc.

Soon I will pull the Chassis out to clean it, check the capacitors such as.

bumblebee capacitor.
Dog bone capacitors,
cardboard capacitor and that metal tank capacitor (possibly oil capacitor)

I might just do like Shango066 does.
Recap everything, even the possibly good one.

Is cheap.
is better than spending 300-460$

Speaker and cardboard is 100% in good shape, sound is loud.
and cabinet can be fully restored after sanding and varathane polishing.

[Forge]

Zaxtor, on 15 August 2018 - 07:55 PM, said:

Also Cabinet has a paper that looks like somekind of sticked schematic, is partially ripped/ decayed. deteriorated.
Chassis has no model number etc.

Soon I will pull the Chassis out to clean it, check the capacitors such as.

now he's just teasing us

[Zaxtor]

schematic is very teasing when is partially gone.


Maybe theres a chance stuff might be written on the Chassis (on the other side) once pulled out for cleaning and checking for possible recapping.

Transformer has written stuff but very hard to read and film it due to limited space between the transformer and wall of the radio wooden console.
had to use a mirror but everything is backward,
I flipped it with adobe but is transformer information not radio type.


PS

Soon I will pull the Chassis out to clean it, check the capacitors such as.

bumblebee capacitor.
Dog bone capacitors,
cardboard capacitor and that metal tank capacitor (possibly oil capacitor)

[Mark]

Zaxtor, on 15 August 2018 - 04:35 PM, said:

Company that made those furnitures etc of that radio
George McLagan Furmiture Co. Ltd., Stratford, Canada (1896-1930s?)
Shows a McLagan Phonograph of 1926.
Wood structure is similar.

http://www.jukebox-w...elt/McLagan.htm

So my radio can be ranging 1910s to 1930s.
Company died in the 1930s?

I took a closer look at the pictures of the 1926 jukebox in the link. That does not look like the original chassis. It looks to me like a chassis from the late 30's. You can see a few black metal tubes. That wheel on the far right side of the chassis is the tuning wheel which is usually turned with a dial string attached to the front panel tuning knob. Notice the chassis is slid over to the side and not centered. Where there should be an opening for one knob it is sealed. Probably because the knobs are just glued to the front of the cabinet.