I bought this Philco 41-290 last month from the grandson of the original owners. Marked on the back is a note saying wedding gift to ourselves, 1940 then their first names. This can be traced back to them, so there is trace ability to the first owner, and the radio seems to be all original. The only tube that is not marked Philco, is the 37 Phase Inverter tube. Every capacitor has the Philco part number visible, even the electrolytics. I was able to get this working by changing around the 7A6 and 7C6 tubes that someone, prior to my purchase, had reversed, and by cleaning the band switch. It now plays beautiful even with the original electrolytic caps with no hum!

Since I am not into restuffing caps, should I leave this in its original state and enjoying it by using it sparingly, or recap it like I know I should, but in the process destroying its originality? Does originality increase its value, or is it just as valuable being in great working condition even with new modern caps?

What is your recommendation? Should I keep it original, or restore it? Thanks for any comments.

Keep it as original if you plan to use it as only a static display and not apply power......ever.

If you plan to power it up, at the very least recap it. Resuff the filter caps (it's not difficult), to retain a topside original appearance. Even the paper/wax caps can be resuffed if you want them to retain their "old" appearance.

If you power the radio up repeadedly without recapping you could cause serious damage to irreplaceable or hard-to-replace components....the value would then plummet.

Even if you are only going to play it now and then, you should go ahead and at least recap it. That will make it dependable for many years still. It would not take any any of the value in doing so, and would really be worth more with a restore.

:I bought this Philco 41-290 last month from the grandson of the original owners. Marked on the back is a note saying wedding gift to ourselves, 1940 then their first names. This can be traced back to them, so there is trace ability to the first owner, and the radio seems to be all original. The only tube that is not marked Philco, is the 37 Phase Inverter tube. Every capacitor has the Philco part number visible, even the electrolytics. I was able to get this working by changing around the 7A6 and 7C6 tubes that someone, prior to my purchase, had reversed, and by cleaning the band switch. It now plays beautiful even with the original electrolytic caps with no hum!
:
:Since I am not into restuffing caps, should I leave this in its original state and enjoying it by using it sparingly, or recap it like I know I should, but in the process destroying its originality? Does originality increase its value, or is it just as valuable being in great working condition even with new modern caps?
:
:What is your recommendation? Should I keep it original, or restore it? Thanks for any comments.

:I'd recap it doug. Unless you know someone as crazy as we are, there would probably never be an opportunity to show the original caps to anyone. But you will probably get numerous chances to play it for people. Keep the quality of the sound as long as you can. Recap it...Neal

:Hi Doug,

I just finished a 41-285 that was a pretty straight up restoration except for a grounding problem I overlooked. Your 290 has an extra tube but other then that they are pretty much the same chassis. If you run into more problems I have lots of data collected for that set.
Johnny
:
:I bought this Philco 41-290 last month from the grandson of the original owners. Marked on the back is a note saying wedding gift to ourselves, 1940 then their first names. This can be traced back to them, so there is trace ability to the first owner, and the radio seems to be all original. The only tube that is not marked Philco, is the 37 Phase Inverter tube. Every capacitor has the Philco part number visible, even the electrolytics. I was able to get this working by changing around the 7A6 and 7C6 tubes that someone, prior to my purchase, had reversed, and by cleaning the band switch. It now plays beautiful even with the original electrolytic caps with no hum!
:
:Since I am not into restuffing caps, should I leave this in its original state and enjoying it by using it sparingly, or recap it like I know I should, but in the process destroying its originality? Does originality increase its value, or is it just as valuable being in great working condition even with new modern caps?
:
:What is your recommendation? Should I keep it original, or restore it? Thanks for any comments.
:

Thanks to all, it seems that recap is the way to go. Johnny, how did you get at the #36 .05 mfd capacitor that is under the push button coil assembly? Also, did you replace the two .01 line filter caps that are in the bakelite block which I believe is number 65 on the parts list and schematic?

Many thanks, Doug H

::Hi Doug,
:
:I just finished a 41-285 that was a pretty straight up restoration except for a grounding problem I overlooked. Your 290 has an extra tube but other then that they are pretty much the same chassis. If you run into more problems I have lots of data collected for that set.
:Johnny
::
::I bought this Philco 41-290 last month from the grandson of the original owners. Marked on the back is a note saying wedding gift to ourselves, 1940 then their first names. This can be traced back to them, so there is trace ability to the first owner, and the radio seems to be all original. The only tube that is not marked Philco, is the 37 Phase Inverter tube. Every capacitor has the Philco part number visible, even the electrolytics. I was able to get this working by changing around the 7A6 and 7C6 tubes that someone, prior to my purchase, had reversed, and by cleaning the band switch. It now plays beautiful even with the original electrolytic caps with no hum!
::
::Since I am not into restuffing caps, should I leave this in its original state and enjoying it by using it sparingly, or recap it like I know I should, but in the process destroying its originality? Does originality increase its value, or is it just as valuable being in great working condition even with new modern caps?
::
::What is your recommendation? Should I keep it original, or restore it? Thanks for any comments.
::