Repair of a Zenith G730 AM/FM tube radio
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- The main objective of this video is to illustrate that "restored" can mean a lot of things and that some people only do enough to make the radio somewhat play, and then calling it "restored."
![Zenith Tube Radio and the Story BEHIND Civil Defense Radio Markings - 1961 XD50G Restoration [4K]](/img/n.gif)
When it comes to vintage electronics restoration you sir are the master and that's why I enjoy your videos
I bought one of these for $10.00. Great little unit. Great video. Thank you. Hail old school country. F the new cuntry.
I agree 100%. I wish we had a station in Louisville Kentucky that played classic country and that means pre-1975.
If you put up a good antenna you might be able to pick up WKLO 98.9 FM. They play a lot of older Country. Just the other day I had it on and heard everything from Web Pierce to Faron Young and Loretta Lynn.
You made a good point, my friend. There's been a standing joke on the Antique Radio Forum....if a seller's radio doesn't work, "It's prolly a tube, or somethin". But if the seller's radio works, it's prolly a bunch of stuff that he or someone before him hacked together to make the speaker squawk.
It always has been and always will be: Buyer beware.
Regards,
John
Same thing with a car or outboard motor
Those old Zenith radios seem to hold up well. I picked one up about the same vintage for restoration and it still works very well on it's original components. I'll do a full restoration on it for safety / longevity reasons, but I was shocked that the filter caps are still going strong. Really pulls in the AM stations and sounds really good. :-)
"This modern country music isn't really country music.." My dad used to say the same thing 40 years ago. He had an enormous record collection of pre 1970s country music.
Thank's, I always appreciate your videos...
I've only had one capacitor blow up on me, and I'll never forget it.
Was it a bumble bomp cap.
It's a very valid point that you make, but unfortunately there are always going to be $ or £-hungry individuals who do not care about the safety of others or indeed about their craft and I am unsure how we can tackle such behavior? Thanks for the video. Regards Bob
Finished restoring my radio, your video was great help. Now I have a second one I'm starting on ... they have really good sound.
I started collecting and repairing some tube radios about two years ago at first I looked for and bought a couple of restored radios,you are right buyer beware,I been lucky the two I bought work and they list there repairs,but I am finding its better I repair them my self ,at least I no what's been fixed.we learn by doing .I believe if you replace a part you remove the old part I no some people do it thats not me ,leaveing old parts in is lazy ,I no some want to keep the look ,I rather see my new parts in ,and throw out the old parts .
I ended up with a nice little GE AM/SW radio at an auction that was supposed to have been re-capped. It had one new cap bridged across the old filter can. It worked, but poorly. Had a bad speaker and one dead 6K6 in there too. Works much better now with 2 working output tubes, new caps, and a good speaker.
My rule of thumb (was): in Zeniths, if the tube ID began with a number higher than 12, shotgun it - you guys are right, those "space-age plastic composition sockets" were total crap. I also got into the habit of using Mapleshade Sil-Clear contact enhancer after a thorough cleaning on most of the lower voltage tube sockets (sometimes not on the IF amps/detectors). Maybe it's just me, but the tube sockets used by the Television Division of Zenith seemed to hold up far better - Maybe a little more quality "went in over there" before the name went on?? As always, Bryan, another excellent restoration!
I agree with you about the modern "country", but that Allison Krauss song "When You Say Nothing at All" is one of my favorites! That woman's music is real Americana! I was bummed when you tuned off of it. In fact, I had to go turn on the stereo for a bit! Cheers! Michael
Waring video we can all learn from you restored with a grain of salt- perfectly well your a master 📻📻📻
Hi, You seem to love repairing and collecting all types of radio's, and have much knowledge of them, so I figured I would ask you a question about 2 I recently found. The 1st a friend gave me (he found it at the curb on garbage nite). It is a 1950 Zenith Trans-Oceanic. The 2nd is a Zenith also, I found it at our towns recycle. It is really unique, and I haven't seen another. It is solid state, just says Zenith cassette stereophonic tape recorder on it. It has 2 detached speakers, the model # is C682W1. It is like new and I can't believe someone threw it away. Works perfectly, and even had 2 zenith microphones inside it still in original plastic wrap... It is concealed by a plastic cover that opens when you push down on it, then it pops open (it is hinged at the rear) to expose the Radio and cassette player. Have you ever seen one or know the model I am talking about? The 1950 doesn't work and needs much I think. Are parts still available for it? I think it is a neat old radio and would like it repaired. Would you be willing to fix it? Thanks, Tom
I bought one of these at a flea market. I have the chassis restored. FM performance was poor - cathode resistor on last IF amp had gone from 100ohms to 185 ohms. I still need to refinish the cabinet. The electrostatic tweeter is kind of a disappointment. Simply not enough drive for an electrostat off of the 35C5 plate. The tone control on these radios is kinda neat, its like single control Baxandall bass boost/treble boost control. You can slide it towards the bass side for bass boost without cutting the treble. Setting further towards bass will cut the treble. Same thing if you slide it toward the treble side - treble boost without cutting bass - sliding further towards treble will then cut the bass. Otherwise, its a pretty decent radio for a tabletop unit. I enjoy your vids rtpn!
Great repair.
Thanks for the flea market warning. Great job on the real restoration.
I remember forever so long a faint chick chick, chick chick, sound could be heard all across the FM dial between stations in my area,
I really enjoy your videos because you explain clearly your reasons for repairing/replacing components.I have learned a lot from you and look forward to future videos. Could you post a video explaining speaker and output transformer replacement? Show example of an AA5 and also of a 30's radio with speaker and power transformer replacement. Some barn find radios i have, mice have eaten the speaker cones and poses a problem.
I buy used stuff "as is" at your own risk regardless of anything said by sellers, I assume it has troubles, and pay as low as possible, I.e. "needs work" prices. I saw a nice looking "restored" Blaupunkt table radio for 300$ at a flea market stand. The guy's idea of restored was to make its cabinet look real nice and shiny, but he admitted that he knew nothing about electronics inside, it "hummed", but it was a nice "show piece of furniture to display". He admitted that he does nothing inside the case, so for 300$, you get a pretty box.
Good restore, Bryan, but, even more, a good warning. I've run across this before, too. Don't mind, as far as restoring them myself, but, I sure don't want to pay a premium price, for some hack job, for that privilege. You're doing a service, warning folks.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Hee, hee!
Nice work. I recently bought a working 1974 Kenwood amp/receiver from an Ebay seller for an extremely good price. The description wasn't very detailed other than it worked as an amp and receiver, but I figured something had to be wrong at that price. Turns out all the panel bulbs were dead, which I was able to replace. The only other thing is the FM muting is intermittent, working sometimes, and not working at other times. Not a major issue. It works fine for my needs (office tuner/amp, powering my computer sound system), and I enjoy having this old analog amp as a reminder of my formative years.
You've given us a fascinating look at how a pro goes through an old radio - thank you very much. I'm curious about what you did not do, though - did you see or hear no signs of capacitor problems?
Great video. I recently picked up a G730 and got tubes for it, this has lots of good info for fixing it up. It sounds like the electrostatic tweeter is working on this unit, unfortunately it seems to be shot on mine.
I checked the voltage off the selenium rectifier and it was way low, about 60 vdc. I checked the "bumblebomb" and it didn't appear to be leaky (from another site it appears the one i have is mylar and not pio). I tried putting in a 47ohm 5w resistor and a 1n4007 but all the smoke escaped from the resistor. Not sure why that is happening.
*****
I had a similar problem with mine. I ordered parts from Mouser. Got some Vishay 47 ohm 2 watt resistors. These would go open when I would turn the radio off. These 2 watt resistors were about the size of 1/4 watt unit. Went to the local parts house and got some NTE 2 watt resistors that looked like 2 watt resistors. These held up.
RF Burns Thanks for your comment. My problem is that it smokes on turn on - the first resistor was a 5 watt, and I tried again with a new diode and a big 3 watt and the same thing happened. Must be something else causing too much current to go through.
Try disconnecting things, 1st the electrolytic supply filter, then the audio output stage, etc til the voltage comes up. According to the SAMs, the radio should drae about 68 ma. Measure the voltage drop across the 47 ohm resistor. You should have about 3.3 volts with 70 ma current draw.
RF Burns Rookie mistake - I used a terminal strip and was using the central terminal, which connects to the chassis. D'oh! Funny thing is that I had done that by accident when recapping a Meissner amp recently (figured it out by continuity testing), so then looking at it again I finally figured out what I'd done wrong. Working fine now, I think the electrostatic is working too, it wasn't before at low voltage.
PS: I've seen some sellers on ebay want 300$+ for ""PROPS"", non working TVs, radios, and old appliances that they think can be used in movies, hoping a prop guy will pay anything for old junk. The Philo Predicta TV is one that is often offered
on ebay as a prop.
I've just bought this same type radio off eBay. It was in good condition and all original except for one tube has been replaced. Now I'm looking for a quality copy of the Sam's Photofact file for it ...the Sam's site sells digital copies that are worthless since they don't print out worth a dog gone ... I like your site and will follow you for more info.
I've heard Restored vs. Refurbished vs. Remanufactured. I think one of those Wire Electric Shaver brushes would make a good Tube Socket Cleaner.
I like shops that put an mp3 jack in the back of the radio so that you can use it with your iPhone and stuff like that I've seen a couple of people who do that
AtTheFeetOf TheGlobalElite pretty much an aux port?
This radio was made with one of those from the factory. It's called a "Phono" jack. They made them for record players.
Hello radiotvphononut ! Great video. We just cleaned out my wife's uncles home after he passed away and there was a Zenith G730 that doesn't work. Would you restore the unit so I can surprise my wife with the sound of the radio her uncle loved? If not, thanks for considering it.
Nice video sir! I grabbed a beautiful 730 about 4 mo. ago at a flea market. It worked without flaw. However, I know good & well that expecting 50+ years out of the filter cap is just too much. Right now I am in the midst of installing a 40uF and 80uF, for this..Next, like you, I will clean/add tension to tube sockets, and then likely replace that good 'ole selenium rectifier with a diode and resistor. Might even re-tube it, but I would just as soon wait and see how it goes once I get the above priority items accomplished. I know oftentimes the tubes have run amuck, but just as often, the tubes are just fine, well within spec. I wonder who Zenith contracted their tubes from? My guess is they went to Raytheon or RCA. If the made their own it would be news to me. Last but not least, I want to remove the nasty "Death Cap", and install a 3 prong power cord. Again, thanks for putting out your cool vid., and you are certainly correct about the "buyer beware" point on buying something that has been so-called "restored"-translated, that means "done barley enough to mark the price up and MOVE it...lol. and buy the way, I agree with you, the stuff that passes for country music today is..uhm, lackluster.
I bought a restored clock radio from a.very nice guy,it plays alright ,but a couple of things.bother me about it ,I told the guy I wanted a tube clock radio that I could use as a daily radio ,first thing.is the letter he sent me.with it was to make.sure all the tubes were in place before viewing it up I did ,I notice the filter cap was replaced but he left in the old cap right next to it,second thing in his note was to unplug the radio when I wasn't using it,so I understand after the fact about buying a restored radio ,and this guy pack the radio very very well ,I am afraid to pull it out of the chais ,it plays on when it ever starts to have any problems that's when I will pull it ,I am thankful for all I have learned from radio tvphononut,I wish I would have found some of his videos sooner,and I am praying.someday I will get a radio he fixed ,so I can have a tube clock radio I can trust.
Install a GFI outlet where you plug it in and put a fuse in the radio.
As for leaving the old filter cap, a lot of people do that to make it look more original. A lot of times, they will hollow it out and put new ones inside the old one.
Even better would be a soviet model with nixie tubes for the display! The only thing, should that thing ever fail and start a fire, your insurance might not cover it.
Not a bad old radio in terms of appearance. And, yes it too has CONELRAD markings on the frequency scale.
do you work on others radios??? because i have a couple zenith k731s that needs new electronics. Radio you did sounds great
Look at my video "Pulsating Signals" for the interference. Never did find the cause. Also, for the bass issue, Try a 45uF capacitor. Higher capacitance less bass. Vice versa for more. Try different values until you find one you like.
Great job, as always ! Do you ever do work for others ? I have a Zenith H845 ( i think ) that needs a good restoration. When it worked a few years ( 10 ? ) ago it played great ! Thanks !
I cleaned the switch on my Magnavox changer and hopefully the motor will work properly now.The contacts were black!
6:31 Ludlow Porch radio show repeat! Nice!
The shyster that sold that radio to that customer should reimburse that customer for the repair cost. He didn’t do diddly to that radio and told that it was restored
A Zenith with a german style influenced cabinet.
I have a question, what would happen if you had replaced the selenium rectifier with just a bridge rectifier rated at say 150 volts ?
I don't know if it's only fort Collins but when my furnace ignites I can hear the igniter through my radio when it's on the time standard channel which I understand is going off the air
I wanted to restore my Dad’s radio. I enjoyed your video, but wanted to ask if you could help me determine my shopping list for the capacitors. I checked online and did some hot searches, but no luck finding a schematic or a capacitor kit.
Any help would be great!
How did you remove the chassis from the wooden cabinet? I got the back off but I don't see how to remove the chassis without breaking the cabinet.
Two large hex head screws on the bottom. Be careful about the speaker connections! They slip off the tabs by the speaker!
At least to me, "Restored" means premium prices and hacked up jobs. In the very unlikely case of a good restore/repair job, means no fun at all to bring the radio back to life. As always, great video!
There are a couple of people who do restores on the radios plus they show you pictures of all there work and these guy are rare ,and they have fair prices too ,if you see a restored radio on ebay ask for pictures of the repairs,enough people have learned the hard way,a good seller will show you the repair pictures .
How many watts was the drop resistor?
Thanks -Mike
2 watt 47 ohm
I just picked up one of these G730 radios cheap off of ebay and it operates but has not been touched internally and need to do a complete re-cap and cant find a schematic or even what value goes where since the wax caps lettering is wore out and cant read no matter what i do.
Howard Sams Photofacts may still be available. Look for someone who has 478-19 from 1960.
What The Capaciter Register On
A Digital Multi Meter?
I have a nicely working, but lower grade, model of this radio. Unfortunately, the previous owner spray painted the radio silver, and it looks absolutely disgusting. The sound is gorgeous, I love listening to classical and jazz on it. How can I take off the spray paint and hopefully preserve the varnish underneath?
Anything you use to remove the paint will destroy the finish (varnish) underneath. Clean up what you can with mineral spirits or lacquer thinner. It won't be pretty but
you will have to start from bare wood and go from there.
there are some so called restored radios on ebay now with no pictures of proof on what they did other than cleaned and polished the outside cabinets wanting fantasy prices
Country music for the last fifty years has been Pop music with a drawl, however Pop music has gone from Rock and Roll-type stuff to a genre I don't really know what to call. Also, $90 for a radio like that? I mean, if it's something someone has to have, I can see it, but that just seems steep to me. The one I have was about a third of that, and it's a whole lot cleaner.
There is a guy in my region that does the same thing, replaces just enough to get the set to make noise and tries selling his sets as "Restored" for top dollar. He is an absolute hack, his idea of repair is to tack random capacitors that he found in his junk drawer into a set, if he needs a larger value he tacks up to three together in parallel. His new trick is to add a phono jack directly into the audio amp, or sometimes directly into the speaker voice coil, and run an MP3 player into it. He tries to convince people that it needs the jack due to poor AM reception, when in reality the reason it has poor reception is because he can't be bothered repairing the front end.
NOW......It's RESTORED!
that speaker look kind of new for such an old radio
I have an enormous amount of respect for Zenith tube gear, but the miniature-type tube sockets they used were the worst. I"ve seen so many that were cracked or burnt, and all of them need retensioned at the very least. Got a Zenith AA5 on the bench right now in fact, and it's got the typical tube socket problems. So did the buyer of that set actually pay $95 for it?
I'm sure he did.
Now that's sad.
It probably no longer was the Russian Woodpecker...
Loretta Lynn hates this new country music
she looked better with the cabinet off
*Runs off to listen to Phil Collins* lol
No wendle This New Country
Don't Sound Like Country At All.
That's Why I Listen To My Music Over Bluetooth.
Yah That's Right That New Country Is Junk Alright.