philips: V6A (V 6 A); Matador

Gentlemen My Philips Matador V6A is now in an excellent working condition. There was more job than expected when I had to replace a lot of the cabeling since the rubber isolation had dried so badly that it fell off when touching. But the most important operation was to replace the tar condensers for the IF-filters and this resulted even to replace the tubular ceramic wirewounded capacitors with variable 6-40 pF ones. Since my signal generator (an old Heathkit ) do not go down the IF frequenxy (128 kHz) I had to use my home made function generator and the oscilloscope to ahcieve the peak IF. Oh boy, what a receiver to be 70 years old (I mentioned before it was 80 but the smart reader obviously noticed my miscalculation), its selectivity and sensitivity is excellent although the stability is not so good but it is not an object for everyday use either. Now there's only one thing left to do with the V6A, thats how to get the bakelite shiny and I think this is not the easiest job. Anyway, thanks a lot for your support and advices. The next project is waiting already on the table. Regards Lars-G.

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Hi Lars_G,

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hi lars ,ive just been looking up ur v6a in the archives  , i have to say ive never come across one before , a tip , theres a product called teepol its used for a cutting process by car valets , for bringing back paint work , its very good for restoring bakelite , its remarkably more modern  looking than 1936 , in design [ur radio].

i have a 525a philips restored but not great volume wise , it probably needs electrolitics etc replaced , [year1935]c .

when i was a child we had a philips 634a philips cathedral set , and after a spell of some 60 years i discovered one of my collector friends has one in h is collection.

wishing u all the best with ur v6a, regards maitiu.

 

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Thanks Ake and Maitiu! The instability occurs only during the first 10 to 20 minutes and will be within acceptable limits when been on for more than 30 minutes. The tubes here in this set are original ones wrapped with the Philips banderole. Thanks Maitiu for the tip. Have washed the cabinet several times now and going to follow your tip using the teepol stuff, if I can get it here. I've also heard that brass polishing stuff would be good for this purpose. kind regards Lars-G.

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yes lars, here in ireland its called brasso , but any kind of metal polish will suffice , a good idea is to try a small area first underneath the case , just incase what u are using is too severe , ull soon see if that is or is not the position , good luck with it lars , , u may have resisters needing replacement , and the voltages to the valves might be too high , i presu me u are using a multimeter to check the voltages ? regards maitiu.

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Hi Maitiu! In the beginning when the V6A was very weak, all of the anode voltages were too high (abt 267 V). According to a dutch voltage scheme for this radio the L1, L2, L3 and L4 should be 230, 230, 60 and 246 volts accordingly. I measured the resistors and all of their values had rised especially the ones over 0.2 Mohms. These were replaced and the voltages now is abt 10 % too high. Maybe I have to replace the rest of the resistors to achieve the correct values for the anode voltages. +++++++ It seems that my ability to make simple calculations nowadays has faded away, but the voltages now is 5 % (not 10) too high i.e 241V and the output tube has 250V. Regards Lars-G.

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hello lars , u could get ur valves tested , or im told that sometimes by reducing voltages below the recomended amount it helps to stabalise them ,also if u have a variable  transformer [mains] u can set it to a higher setting and that will reduce the voltage to the valves , some people  swap valves around to test for an improvement , thats if their lucky enough to have a few spares , regards maitiu.

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Hi Maitiu! That did the trick. Almost everey old tube radio are prepared for 220 volts and when I measured the mains it showed 235 Volts and changed the transformer selector to 245 V, now the +B rail shows 228 Volts and the radio is steady like a rock, no creeping anymore. Thanks a lot Maitiu for the tip, I'd never even been thinking about the main voltage before. I remember now, for a few years ago they increased the main voltage to 240 Volts and this means that every mains transformers in my old tube radios will be checked. Regards Lars-G.

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ta she sin go howling ar fad lars , im delighted to have been some help , my criteria is always assist ur  fellows , because what goes around comes around ,  and i have been given more encouragement by the members here than i can ever repay , please keep in touch , im not an expert ,but i can give practical help , slainte agus slan agut , maitiu .

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