PYE 53 Valve Radio Restoration

[sdiesel77]

Hi Guys,
I recently bought an old PYE 53 valve radio. It's been built in Dundrum around 1950.
Looking at its age, It is in great external condition. It has 8 bands (but no FM). So far I can get only 1 station (RTE).
3 out of 4 tubes have been replaced and There is a bit of work to be done on the amplifier part. Will need to replace few resistors and capacitors that look really bad.

New renovation project starting now ! :P

So far, I managed to have the volume potentiometer and other switches cleaned, mains cable replaced (as original one cracked and dangerous) and earth wired (none originally).

[Ivor]

Beautiful radio, we had that exact model at home and I still remember that warm sound.
I have another one here, a Bush AC 34, but I've never gotten around to restoring it.

[sdiesel77]

Nice one too Ivor!
Yeah even if at the moment, I can only get RTE, the sound is unbelievable for such an old radio/speaker :)
The good thing is that on this model there is at the back a Pick Up input (originally for connecting a gramophone).
It needs to be fixed as the sound coming from it is not good at the moment (that will be my 1st task).

I will then plug it my old Squeezebox Touch to get all the world radios, spotify and my NAS music library :p

[cybot]

A thing of beauty! Good luck with it.....

[sdiesel77]

Ooops I did it again...
I had the opportunity to buy real cheap another P53 radio set but this time it's the "posh" version with Magic Eye tube (EM34), so.... obviously... I couldn't resist. It is not in working order and remained in the 1st owner's house for the last 67years. It apparently hasn't been powered on for the last 25/30years so there is quite a bit of work to be done (at least capacitors replaced and new set of tubes).

Now I have 3 ongoing projects (2 radio restorations + 1 DIY amp building), I think that's more than enough to keep me well busy for a while lol :D

[Fran]

Other than the broken one, the rest of the tubes are probably fine. Caps, yes, good idea to replace- and just check that its safely earthed while you're in there anyway. You'd be surprised!

[sdiesel77]

Hey Fran,
I had to replace the whole set of tubes unfortunately... 1 were missing, 2 broken glass, and 2 for which I think they were not the tubes that are supposed to be in this radio (dunno what they are as no marking on them).
There was indeed no earth at all ! :D I fixed it.

I have now cleaned the chassis and the contacts, changed most of the caps (still some to be done), replaced the mains cable and added earth, changed the whole set of tubes (except the magic eye one as I'm waiting for delivery) and have switched the radio on last night :D

[Fran]

Excellent news!!

[sdiesel77]

Only issue remaining on both radios: when plugging in a mobile phone (with streaming music) to the pick up inputs the sound is quite "muddy" not as good as the radio station one. Not sure why...

[Fran]

Could there be worn out paper caps in the pickup circuit?