I just bought this fantastic radio and it has a few problems that I need help with. First, I can get no FM stations. My AM is good on some stations, not others. Finally, I have to have the volume up all the way for the record to come through loud enough. This is my first antique radio,,,, so I know nothing. any help would be great,, thanks.

:I just bought this fantastic radio and it has a few problems that I need help with. First, I can get no FM stations. My AM is good on some stations, not others. Finally, I have to have the volume up all the way for the record to come through loud enough. This is my first antique radio,,,, so I know nothing. any help would be great,, thanks.
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This radio was made in 1947; it will need to have the capacitors replaced to function properly. This may be your only problem, or there could be other components that have gone bad. If you are not able to solder or identify parts, you will need to find someone who can. A tube or two may be weak also.
What part of the country do you live in?
Johnnysan-

::I just bought this fantastic radio and it has a few problems that I need help with. First, I can get no FM stations. My AM is good on some stations, not others. Finally, I have to have the volume up all the way for the record to come through loud enough. This is my first antique radio,,,, so I know nothing. any help would be great,, thanks.
::
:
:
:This radio was made in 1947; it will need to have the capacitors replaced to function properly. This may be your only problem, or there could be other components that have gone bad. If you are not able to solder or identify parts, you will need to find someone who can. A tube or two may be weak also.
:What part of the country do you live in?
:Johnnysan-
:
:I'm in Colorado. The soldering isn't a problem. I think a book on the subject or a club is what I need. I have only briefly searched for these items. Could you steer me in the right direction?
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Since the radio works on AM but not on FM, most likely the trouble lies in the front end, such as in the FM 12BE6, that might not have been used much, and so its cathode might be poisoned. Try replacing it or exchanging it for the AM 12BE6. Some in the AM section might refresh it.

Also check C20, which is likely electrolytic. It functions in the FM detector circuit, and if dried up, the detector won't operate.

This radio likely has the 'permanent' silvered mica capacitors in the IF transformers that corrode and open up and/or short out (sealed mica capacitors are highly reliable, but these are rarely sealed). However, due to the high frequency utilized and the adequate inter-winding capacitance, FM IF transformers often do not have these mica capacitors, and so this is likely not your trouble. The discriminator transformer usually has these capacitors present, though, and they can go bad. If you have a high voltage capacitor analyzer present, instead of completely disassembling the transformer in question, you can simply clip the coil leads to the capacitors in question and measure both their capacitance and leakage. Then, to prevent future corrosion, if everything checks out fine, you can coat them with dielectric grease. If sandwiched between two pieces of plastic, inject the grease. This can be performed with all of the AM IF transformers, too, if you wish, to prevent future trouble.

Regarding the phonograph, the amplifier is working well for AM, so it should work well for the phonograph, too. This leads us to the cartridge, which is probably a salt crystal type. These can go bad with age if not sealed properly, and if exposed to humidity, which is almost always the case. Try feeding the cartridge into a known good high impedance input amplifier, or try replacing the cartridge with a known good one.

While you can operate the set with all of its original paper capacitors, it is best to replace at least the ones in critical places. Critical places are where the capacitor is either across a high voltage potential, or in an high impedance circuit, or both. Paper capacitors tend to become leaky with age. Sometimes they develop strong shorts and burn things out like output transformers, and, more often, they develop leakage in the millions of ohms that can leak high positive potential into, say, a high impedance grid circuit that's supposed to be held negative. This can, at very least, cause distortion. At the worst it can cause the succeeding tube to run away with current due to the positive grid potential.

A leaky capacitor in a high impedance circuit such as the AVC circuit won't cause damage. There isn't usually any high voltage here. However, it can load down the very low current AVC voltage and cause the circuit not to function, and subsequent distortion on strong signal reception.

T.

(The last sentence in the first paragraph should read: Some time in the AM section may refresh it.)

Actually in your schematic (http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByModel/050/M0015050.pdf) they show 33pF capacitors in parallel with some of the FM IF coils, and these might be bad, but it would be best to first check the FM 12BE6. Check resistors. Check all external capacitors, especially in the FM section, for leakage or possible (but unlikely) opens. Check the electrolytic in the ratio detector. ...And finally check the capacitances in the IF transformers. (Check transformer coils for continuity, too.)

The 6BE6 FM oscillator tube does get cut out of B+ when in the AM position, but the 6AU6 driver remains in the B+ circuit, so it is unlikely that the 6AU6 would have a poisoned cathode.