zenith trans-oceanic 600
 

I was just made the recipient of a B600, with the 6A41 chassis. It's
in great shape, and as it was a gift from dear friends, you can imagine
my joy. I want to fire it up, but I don't want to burn out anything.
Any tips for first juice? I don't have any special equipment beyond a
multimeter. Also, it appears that either there is some odd factory
option (I doubt) or a mod made to add an additional speaker. Has a
jack that is mounted to the side and a pot inside the box. It was
nicely done if aftermarket, but does anyone know if this could be an
original option? Thanks for the help.
duke

If the radio has a battery compartment,put some fresh batteries in it
and see if it will work.
cuhulin

Best online info? Go to rec.antiques.radio+phono, where you can tap an
unlimited amount of knowledge on the TO.

I keep my phone unplugged except when I want to use it,I plug it in and
do my phoneing (which is about once every few weeks for a couple of
minutes to my relatives and friends) and when I am through,I unplug
it.Ha!,y'all can't phone me.
cuhulin

duke wrote:
I was just made the recipient of a B600, with the 6A41 chassis. It's
in great shape, and as it was a gift from dear friends, you can imagine
my joy. I want to fire it up, but I don't want to burn out anything.
Any tips for first juice? I don't have any special equipment beyond a
multimeter. Also, it appears that either there is some odd factory
option (I doubt) or a mod made to add an additional speaker. Has a
jack that is mounted to the side and a pot inside the box. It was
nicely done if aftermarket, but does anyone know if this could be an
original option? Thanks for the help.
duke


Unfortunately, the only safe way to fire up a radio of this vintage is
with a variac, a variable transformer that
allows you to bring the supply voltage up to 120 gradually. Any
number of components in the PS are likely to be bad, esp. if the
radio hasn't been used for a while. Usually this will only
cause a tube to blow (of course if it is the 1L6 this would be a costly
replacement), but the cause needs to be diagnosed and corrected.

This radio used a battery pack which is long-since unavailable; there
are modern substitutes, but any of them would cost a lot more than
a variac, which last I looked, are pretty easy to find on eBay.

As another poster suggested there is a lot of expertise available on
the antiques.radio+phono group. There's also a webpage with info and
links at www.transoceanic.nostalgiaair.org

By the way, I watched "Kiss Me Deadly" recently and noticed that a 600
series Transoceanic features prominently in one scene.

I own an old,old variac transformer,or something practically the same
thing.It is sitting in a wooden box I made to store it in.I don''t
remember the paticular brand name of it though,Variac? or whatever.I
think it dates back to the 1940's or 1950's.I bought it at a thrift
store about ten years ago.When I brought it home,I plugged it in (the
electric cord on it is still in good condition) and I connected my Fluke
digital multimeter to it and I turned the voltage control knob.It seemed
to me to be working perfectly.I only paid two dollars for it.If somebody
can find some pictures of those old vairable voltage transformers on the
internet,there be a picture of one just like the one I own.It isn't for
sale or trade though,I don't get rid of my old things I want to keep.
cuhulin

There are some movie studios that look for old things (radios and
whatever) to rent for movie studio props when they are filming a movie
that is "dated" in long ago past years.There might be some websites
about that,if anybody is interested.
cuhulin

I own a Zenith Transoceanic Radio I bought for four dollars at a
Goodwill store on Palmyra Street in Jackson about seven years ago,but it
doesn't work and I don't know how to repair radios.
cuhulin

duke wrote:
I was just made the recipient of a B600, with the 6A41 chassis. It's
in great shape, and as it was a gift from dear friends, you can imagine
my joy. I want to fire it up, but I don't want to burn out anything.
Any tips for first juice? I don't have any special equipment beyond a
multimeter. Also, it appears that either there is some odd factory
option (I doubt) or a mod made to add an additional speaker. Has a
jack that is mounted to the side and a pot inside the box. It was
nicely done if aftermarket, but does anyone know if this could be an
original option? Thanks for the help.
duke

These old radios suffer from failed (leaky) electrolytic capacitors in
the power supply.

Start at a low AC voltage with a VARIAC and with the radio ON urge the
variac voltage upwards slowly and if you hear a hum, a LOUD hum in the
speaker, shut it down and plan on replacing all large electrolytics,
especially the multi-section caps.

Look for melted wax from coupling capacitors. Replace them immediatemente!

Then after you do that, try again and if successful, expect to replace
smaller caps, micas, coupling and decoupling caps, and hopefully you
will eventually get pure DC where it's supposed to be and pure RF where
IT's supposed to be.

I did this once or twice and it's more than a two six-pack job.

Plan on weeks!

Yodar

"duke" wrote in message
oups.com...
I was just made the recipient of a B600, with the 6A41 chassis. It's
in great shape, and as it was a gift from dear friends, you can imagine
my joy. I want to fire it up, but I don't want to burn out anything.
Any tips for first juice? I don't have any special equipment beyond a
multimeter.

Check out:

http://antiqueradio.org/dimbulb.htm

I'd eventually replace any paper capacitors in the radio. The paper
deterioriates with time, and those caps won't be in much better shape than a
1950s era newspaper. I'd also test the resistors with an ohmmeter. Most of
the resistors are probably still in spec, and a few will be close enough,
but there are likely to some which have at least doubled their resistance.
I'd also test the electrolytics and replace those which have high Equivalent
Series Resistance or more than a normal amount of leakage at their rated
voltage. Few old electrolytics pass both tests, and it's best to replace
the electrolytics you can't test. Use decent replacement electrolytics,
too. It's my opinion that alot of the inexpensive electrolytics are
designed for today's disposable electronics. I also like to install fuses.
A zener diode across the filament string will protect the battery tubes from
overvoltages.

I know this all sounds like a major pain in the ass, but it's really no so
bad. A properly repaired vacuum tube radio is both quite safe and reliable.
But I'd never trust one with crummy old paper caps, leaky electrolytics,
etc.

By the way, electrolytics usually fail by either drying up and developing a
high ESR or simply opening up. Either way, they take themselves out of the
circuit. This will result in a big hum in most radios, but it might simply
silence these radios. Without the first electrolytic charging to near the
peak of the AC waveform, both the B+ and the filament voltage go way below
spec. Battery tubes don't work well with insufficent voltages.


Also, it appears that either there is some odd factory
option (I doubt) or a mod made to add an additional speaker. Has a
jack that is mounted to the side and a pot inside the box. It was
nicely done if aftermarket, but does anyone know if this could be an
original option? Thanks for the help.
duke

Frank Dresser wrote:
"duke" wrote in message
oups.com...

I was just made the recipient of a B600, with the 6A41 chassis. It's
in great shape, and as it was a gift from dear friends, you can imagine
my joy. I want to fire it up, but I don't want to burn out anything.
Any tips for first juice? I don't have any special equipment beyond a
multimeter.


Check out:

http://antiqueradio.org/dimbulb.htm

I'd eventually replace any paper capacitors in the radio. The paper
deterioriates with time, and those caps won't be in much better shape than a
1950s era newspaper. I'd also test the resistors with an ohmmeter.

etc.

And don't forget the rectifier if that hasn't been replaced yet.