Magnavox 477P

[TC Chris]

What do you do in a holiday weekend at the lakeshore when it's cold, windy, and rainy? Work on the Magnavox. The old 1951 Model 477P needed recapping--and, it turns out, a new power cord I've had a bag of caps for it sitting here for a couple months. Magnavox liked electrolytics-8 of them in this single-chassis device. I used the clip the leads/make a hook method mostly because they usually had many leads at each lug, and some of them were firmly wrapped. I haven't plugged it in yet--want to show off the under-chassis look to some visitors. Will report later.

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

I've got audio but no RF in AM or FM. Will have to diagnose. No magic smoke, happily.

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

Update on the Magnavox. I yanked it out again for some diagnosis. The good news about yanking (necessary unless you want to also remove the field-coil speaker & AM antenna loop) is that it's on slide-in, slide out pan, making extraction & replacement really easy.

I stared at the chassis underside, especially at one new Mylar cap that the soldering iron had fallen against, melting it a bit. But it was a coupling cap from the audio phase inverter to one of the 6V6 outputs, and I've got audio. So next I washed up the chassis & tubes. That would involve pulling & re-seating the tubes, always a good practice on old equipment. All of the RF tubes ad been replaced but the audio tubes appeared to be Maggie originals.

Then I tried again. No RF. OK, let's just try aggressive selector-switch rotation. And wow, that worked. There was some weak AM. Wiggle some more. Now some FM. Wiggle wiggle. More AM, more FM. Both actually pretty good for midday and built-in antennas. The FM had some hum on it but I wiggled some more and that went away. I don't have any contact cleaner here at the cottage and will bring some next weekend. Careful application of DeOxit (I use a brush on multi-section wafer switches to avoid making a mess) ought to improve matters. And I can bring some mono LPs or 45s to see how they sound. The changer needs some lube. It's the Webster-Chicago 3-speed model that's kinda rare, from what I've seen. It has a good 4-pole motor.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

It's a Magnavox, Chris. You'll love it!!!

[TC Chris]

Here's a short video of the Magnavox playing. It probably has not operated in 30 years. Last time I had it on, the amp would oscillate (motorboat) when the bass control was advanced.

https://youtu.be/O9cCZ0uGPIc

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

That's a beauty, Chris! The glass for the top is a brilliant idea, makes it houseplant proof.....

Dirty controls may contribute to the oscillation. Don't get excited about that until you use De-Oxit on the controls...

[TC Chris]

It doesn't oscillate now. It's AOK except for the selector switch.

The glass top shows the reverence for this item. My parents bought that and a 1951 Dodge to mark their arrival in a new community for both of them. The Maggie lasted longer than the Dodge.

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

ID plate:

Chris Campbell