Hello All,
I have two of these and decided to electronically restore them. One works very well. The other has weak volume. Now either I made a mistake restoring it or there is something that's not working correctly. I have the service data in the RCA Red Book that starts on Page 8-B. I should be able to find this. There's not much to this radio. But if someone has some ideas where to look, I would appriciate it. I checked the resistors (not very much drift), I haven't tested the tubes yet. The 1-v aka. 6Z3 had no emission, so I'm borrowing the one from the working chassis. How unusual is it to have two RCA 4Ts in the same place at the same time? Is this a rare set or are there many of them still around?

Thanks,

Dave

Hello Dave,
I have an RCA 4T that I restored about three years ago. This might not apply to your situation, but I have a vague recollection that there was a "low resistance short" between the chassis and a wire that was connected to a terminal mounted on the chassis (inside back). This was causing the volume to be very low (almost zero)and it immediately corrected when I adjusted the wire to remove the short. I recalled that at the time I thought that the layout was very susceptible to causing this "shorting issue" Sorry, I don't remember what specific wire was involved. So, you might want to carefully examine the wiring to see that there are no "shorting issues" on the radio with low volume. Dale

:Hello All,
: I have two of these and decided to electronically restore them. One works very well. The other has weak volume. Now either I made a mistake restoring it or there is something that's not working correctly. I have the service data in the RCA Red Book that starts on Page 8-B. I should be able to find this. There's not much to this radio. But if someone has some ideas where to look, I would appriciate it. I checked the resistors (not very much drift), I haven't tested the tubes yet. The 1-v aka. 6Z3 had no emission, so I'm borrowing the one from the working chassis. How unusual is it to have two RCA 4Ts in the same place at the same time? Is this a rare set or are there many of them still around?
:
:Thanks,
:
:Dave
:

Dale,
I'll look for that. I'm still wondering how unusual it is to have two RCA 4Ts in the same place at the same time, because I have two of them in front of me right now.

Thanks,

Dave
:Hello Dave,
:I have an RCA 4T that I restored about three years ago. This might not apply to your situation, but I have a vague recollection that there was a "low resistance short" between the chassis and a wire that was connected to a terminal mounted on the chassis (inside back). This was causing the volume to be very low (almost zero)and it immediately corrected when I adjusted the wire to remove the short. I recalled that at the time I thought that the layout was very susceptible to causing this "shorting issue" Sorry, I don't remember what specific wire was involved. So, you might want to carefully examine the wiring to see that there are no "shorting issues" on the radio with low volume. Dale
:
::Hello All,
:: I have two of these and decided to electronically restore them. One works very well. The other has weak volume. Now either I made a mistake restoring it or there is something that's not working correctly. I have the service data in the RCA Red Book that starts on Page 8-B. I should be able to find this. There's not much to this radio. But if someone has some ideas where to look, I would appriciate it. I checked the resistors (not very much drift), I haven't tested the tubes yet. The 1-v aka. 6Z3 had no emission, so I'm borrowing the one from the working chassis. How unusual is it to have two RCA 4Ts in the same place at the same time? Is this a rare set or are there many of them still around?
::
::Thanks,
::
::Dave
::
:

In the early 60's there was a TV and radio dealer here in uptown. Sold only the Packard Bell and RCA line. Every local resident bought Those two brands from that dealer. That may be why you might find the same radio in the same area.

Dale,
I didn't find a low resistance short. But I did notice that someone replaced R10, which was a 330 ohm power resistor. They replaced it with a 300 ohm resistor, but didn't do a good job. One end was loose. It felt like it was soldered in place but it was either a cold joint or there was some other problem because it fell off when I moved it to see what its value was. When I soldered it on and the connection was good, the radio no longer has weak volume. It's working very well now.
It's fine. I knew there wasn't much there that could have gone wrong.
Now I have two working RCA 4Ts but one is missing the knobs.

Thanks,

Dave
:Hello Dave,
:I have an RCA 4T that I restored about three years ago. This might not apply to your situation, but I have a vague recollection that there was a "low resistance short" between the chassis and a wire that was connected to a terminal mounted on the chassis (inside back). This was causing the volume to be very low (almost zero)and it immediately corrected when I adjusted the wire to remove the short. I recalled that at the time I thought that the layout was very susceptible to causing this "shorting issue" Sorry, I don't remember what specific wire was involved. So, you might want to carefully examine the wiring to see that there are no "shorting issues" on the radio with low volume. Dale
:
::Hello All,
:: I have two of these and decided to electronically restore them. One works very well. The other has weak volume. Now either I made a mistake restoring it or there is something that's not working correctly. I have the service data in the RCA Red Book that starts on Page 8-B. I should be able to find this. There's not much to this radio. But if someone has some ideas where to look, I would appriciate it. I checked the resistors (not very much drift), I haven't tested the tubes yet. The 1-v aka. 6Z3 had no emission, so I'm borrowing the one from the working chassis. How unusual is it to have two RCA 4Ts in the same place at the same time? Is this a rare set or are there many of them still around?
::
::Thanks,
::
::Dave
::
:

No, it's not particularly rare - nice cathedral, 1935 model. Slusser has the value $140-150 for a complete set in decent shape, with knobs. That price might be a bit optimistic in today's market.

I think you could replace the missing knobs with generics from RadioDaze or Antique Radio Supply - and the set would still look nice.

:Is this a rare set or are there many of them still around?
:Dave
:

Doug,
I didn't know AES has these knobs. I'll look. There are a couple of dings in the edge of the front because it sticks out past the sides of the radio. There's a hole in the grill cloth. Someone tried to refinish the other one and now it's all one color and it has a dull finish instead of a shiny one. It also has the wrong grill cloth. That's the one that's missing the knobs. OK. I didn't think they were worth that much each. But I think now that they're electronically restored they are in a bit better condition than they were before.

Thanks,

Dave
:No, it's not particularly rare - nice cathedral, 1935 model. Slusser has the value $140-150 for a complete set in decent shape, with knobs. That price might be a bit optimistic in today's market.
:
:I think you could replace the missing knobs with generics from RadioDaze or Antique Radio Supply - and the set would still look nice.
:
::Is this a rare set or are there many of them still around?
::Dave
::
:

Doug,
I just searched the entire AES website and I cannot find them anywhere. Where did you see them?

Thanks,

Dave
:No, it's not particularly rare - nice cathedral, 1935 model. Slusser has the value $140-150 for a complete set in decent shape, with knobs. That price might be a bit optimistic in today's market.
:
:I think you could replace the missing knobs with generics from RadioDaze or Antique Radio Supply - and the set would still look nice.
:
::Is this a rare set or are there many of them still around?
::Dave
::
:

Doug,
I just looked at all of Radiodaze's knobs on their website and I can't find them there either. Where did you see them?

Thanks,

Dave
:No, it's not particularly rare - nice cathedral, 1935 model. Slusser has the value $140-150 for a complete set in decent shape, with knobs. That price might be a bit optimistic in today's market.
:
:I think you could replace the missing knobs with generics from RadioDaze or Antique Radio Supply - and the set would still look nice.
:
::Is this a rare set or are there many of them still around?
::Dave
::
:

Hmmm - they used to have them, but I couldn't find them either. Strange.

I have a few of the walnut-colored, wooden, generic knobs I was thinking of. They are 1-1/8" diameter, round, with a set-screw, and for a 1/4" shaft. There is no index marker, but you could paint a small dot, as required. They are not reproductions of the original 4T knobs, but may look OK, at least to an uniformed eye. I seem to recall that the 4T original knobs were dark plastic, not wooden.

If you can't find originals or reproductions of the originals, contact me, and I'll help you out.

:Doug,
: I just looked at all of Radiodaze's knobs on their website and I can't find them there either. Where did you see them?
:

Doug,
I think that you are thinking of the T4 and not the 4T. The 4T had bakelite knobs. But I don't think it would matter on the one that someone "refinished" doing away with the darker areas on the cabinet,using a flat finish instead of a shiny one and using the wrong grill cloth.

Thanks,

Dave
:Hmmm - they used to have them, but I couldn't find them either. Strange.
:
:I have a few of the walnut-colored, wooden, generic knobs I was thinking of. They are 1-1/8" diameter, round, with a set-screw, and for a 1/4" shaft. There is no index marker, but you could paint a small dot, as required. They are not reproductions of the original 4T knobs, but may look OK, at least to an uniformed eye. I seem to recall that the 4T original knobs were dark plastic, not wooden.
:
:If you can't find originals or reproductions of the originals, contact me, and I'll help you out.
:
::Doug,
:: I just looked at all of Radiodaze's knobs on their website and I can't find them there either. Where did you see them?
::
:
: