Classic Hifi Care

I have pictures, so please stand by for those. I have two of these small PB radios, one with a power transformer, one with series filaments. The model with the PT has a fairly heavy chassis, particularly on the end with the PT. The cabinet on the PT model was cracked. Just a simple crack, running from the screw that holds the chassis in to the front of the cabinet. No big deal, right? Well, not for me it wasn't. I glued the original crack, then reinforced it with epoxy on the inside. All was well until I used a furniture clamp to hold it together like I wanted. When I tightened the clamp, a huge chunk broke out of the middle and fell out. So, now, instead of having a cracked cabinet, I had a busted cabinet. This time, I glued and reinforced the second repair, then omitted the clamp. So far, so good. I need to use some body putty and glazing putty so my repairs won't show, then I'll repaint the entire cabinet. It is tan now, the wife likes a light green, so we'll shoot it with that. The cabinet with the series string chassis is really nice, dark brown bakelite. The chassis with the PT is a better performer than the other one. One of them has the wrong dial pointer, so I reckon I should see if I can find the correct pointer at some point.

I worked on this stupid cabinet all afternoon, but am not further along than when I started....

I have no idea what material the cabinet is made of, but Elmer's Construction glue won't stick to it. Nor will epoxy. I had the cabinet all fixed, looking pretty good. I started spreading Bondo on the cracks when the cabinet split in three pieces again. I can just peel the glue off in strips, the epoxy comes off in chunks prodded by a screwdriver bit. It must be some kind of plastic. It's not bakelite. It doesn't scratch easily. I plan to try model car cement to see what that does. Lacquer thinner doesn't hurt it, nor does acetone, nor does alcohol. I've never had this trouble before. Elmer's is what I have always used.

Try "superglue" (cyanoacrylate)? Or a urethane glue like Gorilla Glue? The latter is moisture-curing and tends to foam and expand when it cures, so afterward you'll need to do some cleanup. But the urethanes are tenacious as all get-out. 3M makes a marine adhesive called 5200. It is permanent, full stop. There are release agents you can buy but I have not had good luck with them. The permanence of the stuff means it is banned from my boats, but I buy it for gluing boot soles back on. The glue always craps out first on my boots, so I have been using 5200 to make repairs with great success.

With the urethanes, wear rubber gloves. Get it on your skin and its there until the skin cells slough off. The spray insulating foam you can buy is a urethane and it's equally permanent on the skin. I've been using a marine underwater urethane primer designed for ferrous metals (Pettit's Rustlok) but it works equally well on aluminum (or anything else it gets on).

Chris Campbell

One more thing. Epoxies don't need clamping like wood glues. They are very effective gap fillers, and only need enough clamping force to keep things in place while the glue cures.

Be careful about larger quantities of mixed epoxies. They are exothermic--give off heat as they cure--and the extra heat accelerates curing. It can lead to thermal runaway: smoking and bubbling. Ask me how I know. When using them, you can extend working time buy cooling the glue container, or buy using a large shallow container so there's lots of surface area to shed heat.

Chris Campbell

The main issue with using super-glue on a radio cabinet is that it expands in the joint, which makes the cabinet set up with large gaps that have to be worked out. It can make the parts set up crooked as the glue dries. I have some speaker repair glue I am going to try first. It smells just like model car glue, so maybe it will work. The chassis is such a tight fit in the cabinet with the PT that I need to keep filling to a minimum, and eliminate any humps or increase in height in the bottom of the cabinet. This should be a cute little radio if and when I get it done. Somebody had tried fixing it before I got it, I discovered today. I thought they just did a crappy job, but they may have run into the same problem I have. Me knocking that big chunk out of the bottom sure didn't help any.......

The cabinet has remained intact for the last couple of days. I used GC Service Cement to repair the cracks. I will try the Bondo procedure next, then figure out something to reinforce the bottom.

And for clarification, the tube complement is 6X5GT rectifier, 6SA7 converter, 6SK7 IF amp, 6SQ7 detector, first audio and 6V6GT audio output. Originally, a 6K6GT was specified, but this chassis had a 6V6 when I got it, so I just left it in there. Three tubes are RCA, one is Ken-Rad, one is Sylvania.

The last picture I posted shows the glue somebody liberally spread everywhere. I reckon it was to glue a kluged dial cover in place. There is no dial cover for this set. I'm going to try to make one, failing that, I'll have to see if Radio Daze has one and if I can get it in a reasonable amount of time. I scraped all the glue off with the edge of a single-edged razor blade.

It is interesting to see a 5 tube radio with a PT, I think it is my first. Is that a 4" speaker?

Bill

It's actually a 3 1/2" speaker. The output transformer is mounted to the speaker and the mounting is unique, so God help me if that speaker ever goes kaput. I have the twin to this chassis, only with no PT. I thought this chassis was unique due to the PT. Not often you see a small set with a PT. My understanding is that the cabinet for this chassis is typically found broken, due to the weight of the chassis. If I manage to keep the cabinet together and get it painted and back together, it will require ginger handling so as to not break it again....

I made a dial cover this afternoon. Not sure yet whether it will clear the dial. I don't want to put the chassis back in until I get the cabinet painted.

The other little Packard Bell radio I have is the model 5D. Although the cabinets look quite similar, they are also quite different. The 5D cabinet has a handle on top. The chassis mounting screws are on the outside edges of the cabinet, not in the middle. The 5D chassis is series string. Both chassis only have one IF transformer. The 5D IF transformer is on top of the chassis, the 5F is under the chassis. The 5D plays okay, but it has a sealed and dirty volume control. There is a metal shield in the spot where I need to spray De-Oxit. Someone has made a wooden tuning shaft for the 5D, but it works okay. I have the 5F cabinet fixed, primed and with a mist coat of color. I ran out of primer, and where there is no primer, I have the start of fisheye. I'll get another can of primer and hit it with another coat of primer and another coat of color. I think it's going to be just fine, though. I don't know what color to do the 5D in, maybe red and white? The 5F will be a really light, pale green.

My neighbor came over to be nosy, see what I was working on in the shop. I told him I was on my way to Wally World to get some primer. He brought me a partial can, that was just enough. I shot a mist coat of primer, then followed with another mist coat of color. I think it will be just fine. I'll give it some drying time, then see how it looks. I am blessed to have one of the best neighbors anyone could hope for......

Pictures, finally.....

The white radio is a Packard Bell 5D. The light green radio is a Packard Bell 5F. The dark turquoise radio is a Crosley 56 THO. The Crosley's main claim to fame is that it is one of the few AA5 radios I have seen with a guillotine tuner. This style of tuner is fairly common with FM. The little Packard Bell radios look quite similar, but really are very different. The model 5D needs a dial pointer.

Do you mean permeability or variable inductance tuning? Zenith used it for FM, and as the young folks my not know, most car radios, at least in the 50s and 60s used it for AM. My guess was that it was less subject to shock & vibration than varable caps.

Chris Campbell

Nice job, Greg, you should be proud, and you saved three radios from the landfill.

Bill