Customers Repairs: Philips Radios

Philips D2225, Repair No. 2

Two of these small portables were presented for repair. The first was silent because the loudspeaker wasn't working. The girl on the assembly line obviously hadn't been taught how to assemble speakers because the wires from the cone to the frame-mounted tags followed the path of shortest distance and when in use metal fatigue had seen off one of the wires. The set had then probably been left switched on for a long time afterwards because the batteries were flat. By rerouting to a closer point on the two tags I managed to fix thje over-tight wires. The new solder joint at the cone I re-inforced with a drop of araldite. The speaker mount was loose so I packed it with foam plastic. With new batteries, and after cleaning the volume control with switch cleanmer, all was well.

The second set had the same symptoms. The speaker wires were OK but this time the fault was dfue to flat battereiis. There weren' any foitted but the batterty connector had corroded and the printed circuit wiring had been eaten away. This results from chemical action transferring any metal at the "anode" to the "cathode" of the electrolysis circuit. In the days of positive earths in old cars, the area where the battery was connected to the chassis often disappeared up the wires and ended up at the negative battery terminal. Sometimes, if left long enough, the whole car would start to disappear! After sorting out the missing track I found the set wouldn't work on onme odf its two wavebands because a small chassis projection prevented the switch from fully turning. Grinding this away and fitting new batteries restored proper reception.

Philips L4X95T, Repair No. 40

This portable had several wavebands selected through a compliacted mechanical arrangement involvinbg a tiny bowden cable. I fabriacted a replacement from a spiral-wound curtain wire and a length of stainless steel wire. The set used a switch for thje scale illuminating lamp and the knob had been pinched to repklace a missing tuning knob. As the radio may be collectable some day I tried to preserve its features. The special plastic battery conmtainer had been left with corroding batteries and the connections to a nmumber of brass eyelets and the plating of the latter were in a poor state. I refixed the eyelets with small nuts and bolts and replated the eyelets by grinding with a phospor bronze brush. This applied enough material to restore good electriacl continuity whilst preserving the rather unusual battery container. Tuning was poor because a small wheel in the arrangement had seized on its mounting. I added a circuit for running the radio from a small "13Amp plug-mounted" mains power pack. When it was all finished, a new knob fitted, the volume control squirted with switch cleaner and RF circuits realigned performance was restored to first class.

Philips L5W34T, Repair No. 50

This instructions with this set only requested supplying a mains power supply. A suitable 13Amp plug type was obtained and small modifiactions made to the receiver. I usually fit a germanium diode circuit to alow switching from battery to mains but sometimes I use a coaxial power connector with an integral switch. The best method will depend on the receiver. Attention may have to be given to smoothing and intermodualtion noise on FM. The latter may often be only sorted out by trial and error and sometimes requires a capacitor to be added at the low voltage AC side of the supply.

Philips D7032, Repair No. 124

The problem was noisy operation because the wavechange knob was jamming against the case and no cassette operation. The former required a bit of grinding away of plastic to allow freedom of movement. Because the fault had been in evidence over a long period the switch contacts were badly tarnished. Yaxley type switches are self-cleaning but need to be operted properly for thios to work. Switch cleaner came to thje rescue here and a new drive belt in the cassette deck restored tape playback.

Philips L4X95T, Repair No. 556

All that was required was to fix the scale lamp push-button. Fortunately upending the radio and a good shake revealed all the parts necessary to repair the push-button. This exercise is essential for lots of repairs. In the case of VCRs many hard-to-get lost bits have succumbed to turning a chassis upside down and a good thump (these include springs, tape guides from Ferguson/JVC models and chrome plated pins from half load levers).

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