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RCA tube AM radio

M

maruchan

Active Member
Hi,

My first post in the tube section. Was at the the thrift store today(almost every other day bus stop is right next to it), and saw this old RCA-Victor 2-X-62 radio for 10 bucks. noticed on the bottom that it was tube so i bought it. Now i have no clue as what to do with this thing, its only am, it has phono stage but only one plug in... I just wanted something tube.. :D any suggestions on what i can do with it..
 

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That's an "All American 5ive" tube radio. Though yours looks to have an RF preamp stage (the 6th tube). Usual schematic:

aa5oct.jpg


You'll need to replace all the wax paper capacitors, and probably the filter cap as well.

That switch probably switches the audio line, at the signal top of the volume control. And the B+ for the IF and front end radio frequency tubes.

The ground on the RCA phono jack (which would be "line" level, no RIAA preamp) should have a coupling cap between it and the negative power supply line inside the radio. That internal line is directly connected to the powerline, so be careful. This cap should limit shock current. Also you can get lots of hum if the radio power plug is plugged in to make the radio's negative line "hot".
 
Replace the caps, and string up an antenna. You might be surprised at the stations you can pull in at night.
 
all Octal tubes, too... nicer than average for a table radio.
It is a transformerless, "AC-DC" set, though, so one must be very careful in using and especially servicing it. An isolation transformer (available from www.tubesandmore.com , www.jameco.com and elsewhere) is strongly recommended for safe use of a radio like that.
 
thanks... maybe this radio can be a good way to learn how to change capacitors. since i have no clue as how to.. As you can tell is really dirty from the outside lots of crude stuck everywhere. also thanks reading manual it says that dial should lite up.. mine dose not so it must have burnt out..
 
I'm not a radio repairmen (although my retired dad is...see the link to his website below in my sig banner), nor can I read schematics. If this 50+ year old radio has a selenium rectifier (I assume it does), it needs to be replaced first and foremost with modern diodes...then the caps and resistors if need be. If you were to fire up this radio beforehand, there's a great chance that selenium rectifier will literally blow on you, catching the radio on fire (if you see smoke and smell sulfur, that's the culprit)! Best not to even turn the radio on; just go ahead and remove the chassis from its cabinet, clean it up real good, and replace the rectifier and caps (and whatever else is out of spec...better safe than sorry).
 
maruchan said:
Hi,

My first post in the tube section. Was at the the thrift store today(almost every other day bus stop is right next to it), and saw this old RCA-Victor 2-X-62 radio for 10 bucks. noticed on the bottom that it was tube so i bought it. Now i have no clue as what to do with this thing, its only am, it has phono stage but only one plug in... I just wanted something tube.. :D any suggestions on what i can do with it..
Click to expand...

that is a nice vintage late 40s radio. that would most definetly be worth restoring. it wont take much to fix it. just replace the filter capacitors & all of the wax capacitors. usually, that would be the only thing to fix this radio. once you have done this, you would be impressed at the performance of this radio, especially at night.
i have a big collection of radios like the one you have & i put them to use. they are better than any of this chinese garbage that out now.
 
thanks... i think when i have time i will tackle the capictor thing..

but what do you do with the case its self, its all metal so alot of chipped paint do you repaint? or leave it alone..
 
That looks more like Bakelite, a form of plastic. It could be one of the other era plastics though since its white, and Bakelite was usually brown or black. Might be factory paint, hard to say. If its chipped and dinged, I'd personally paint the thing. I've painted my own bakelite radios in the past when they were dull, or just so boring in design that they needed some color to be interesting enough to keep.
 
Go to Archive.org and search for the Radio model number, and/or name. I paid 10 bucks for a schematic on one site and then found a Photofact for it on Archive.org which had a lot more detail. Be sure to not use even a Volt-Ohm meter unless it is a battery operated one, or it is connected through, as stated previously, an isolation transformer.
One way to check is to connect your device's (the meter or other device) ground, to the internal ground (and then, after checking it that way, to chassis ground) - some of these old radios used a ground isolated (sometimes by a capacitor) from chassis ground - so check both ways. Connect a voltmeter ground lead to the positive device lead and then touch the point you want to test with the voltmeter positive lead to take a reading - if the voltage is within specs you should be okay to use the device, but if the reading is way high (like 240 or more AC volts on a 120 volt AC point), then you have crossed grounds and an isolation transformer is the best bet.
Another check. If you get a high reading, turn the radio off, reverse the plug on the power source (where it is plugged into your wall, power strip, etc. since this plug probably is not a three-prong plug). After reversing the power plug, do the same as before. Connect your device negative lead to isolated/chassis ground, then connect a voltmeter negative to the device positive lead, then touch the voltmeter positive lead to the point to be tested and take a voltage reading. If it was way high before reversing the power plug, it should now read within specs if the item being checked is itself within operating specs.
Hope I have been somewhat clear about this. Basically, it is a way to line up the grounds and not have them reversed. My advice, for safety, is to use an isolation transformer unless you are using a battery powered only Volt-Ohm meter.
 
selmafrog said:
Go to Archive.org and search for the Radio model number, and/or name. I paid 10 bucks for a schematic on one site and then found a Photofact for it on Archive.org which had a lot more detail. Be sure to not use even a Volt-Ohm meter unless it is a battery operated one, or it is connected through, as stated previously, an isolation transformer.
One way to check is to connect your device's (the meter or other device) ground, to the internal ground (and then, after checking it that way, to chassis ground) - some of these old radios used a ground isolated (sometimes by a capacitor) from chassis ground - so check both ways. Connect a voltmeter ground lead to the positive device lead and then touch the point you want to test with the voltmeter positive lead to take a reading - if the voltage is within specs you should be okay to use the device, but if the reading is way high (like 240 or more AC volts on a 120 volt AC point), then you have crossed grounds and an isolation transformer is the best bet.
Another check. If you get a high reading, turn the radio off, reverse the plug on the power source (where it is plugged into your wall, power strip, etc. since this plug probably is not a three-prong plug). After reversing the power plug, do the same as before. Connect your device negative lead to isolated/chassis ground, then connect a voltmeter negative to the device positive lead, then touch the voltmeter positive lead to the point to be tested and take a voltage reading. If it was way high before reversing the power plug, it should now read within specs if the item being checked is itself within operating specs.
Hope I have been somewhat clear about this. Basically, it is a way to line up the grounds and not have them reversed. My advice, for safety, is to use an isolation transformer unless you are using a battery powered only Volt-Ohm meter.
Click to expand...
please note you're replying to a post from 18 years ago, OP hasn't been seen in 3 years.
 
Some of these crusty old posts still serve as good reference material if someone else with the same model comes searching years later. That's what brought me to AK a couple of years ago- searching for information through Google. But yes, it's amazing how old some of these posts can be- usually they get "closed" to any further edits.
 
Oops. I thought I was in the "recent posts" section. I must have moved out of it without noticing. Thank you for the notification. I will attempt to pay more attention to what I am doing in the future.
 
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