Nice! Once apon a time I had this model along with a Heathkit Q multiplier. When I was a kid my Dad bought me this set as a gift. He got it used from a Ham who really knew something about the technical aspect of the hobby. Wish I held on to it. Being not well educated on the upkeep of it at the time I basically got rid of it when things started to go wrong with it. I had spent many hours listening on that radio. It was a powerful receiver with Booming good audio.
Thanks for this video! I have a S-40B that I got for Christmas when I was twelve. I love that radio. It worked great for years but the last time I turned it on it just buzzed.
Ah man that takes me back, I used to dream of having such a set. Back in the early 1960's we moved off the farm where we had no modern convinces like power or running water, sewer or telephone to first a small apartment, then dad found us a house, it had power but the water and sewer had been off so long that they could not be activated. That was OK though, we were used to using a piss pot in winter and the outhouse when nature demanded, and there was a pump house in town where we could fill cream cans with water so a semi-daily trip for water was in order. The great thing though was it was a very tall house and sat on a slope higher then the rest of town. In my upstairs bedroom, I could tune in shortwave radio and hear those wonderful programs. Many were in foreign languages, but just imagining where they were coming from amazed my young mind. Oh what I would have given for a set like that. .The one I was using was a dump ground find that needed a speaker but back then speakers were, well as plentiful as dandelions in the yard. You see, on our dump grounds raids, it was open no fences or gates, no care takers, just wide open, we could access the wrecked and junked car bodies. Most of them still had the speaker for the radio under the dash, some even in the trunk. My buddy and I would often spend hours on end collecting radio speakers, the magnets out of old speedometers were also fascinating for me, so if time permitted, I would pull them out from behind the dash as well. If radios were still in the cars, we would often pull one for parts, and I had another buddy who used a battery charger to play the radios in his bedroom. Ah man for a poor kid on the wrong side of the tracks, the dump grounds was Walmart, Radio Shack and the cutlery barn all in one. The things we collected was unlimited, it seemed as modern transistor sets became available, all the old tube sets went to the dump where we could retrieve them to play around with........ WE had wire recorders, AM/FM sets, old .45 RPM Record decks headlights that I powered with my old electric train transformer so I could dim the lights in the old shack behind the house that served as my shop, living room and bedroom that was actually put to use occasionally with the girl next door, man she was cute and, well willing. Anyhow thanks for getting my old gears grinding and remembering all those old times. I even once put together a radio with 8 speakers. It sounded OK I guess but couldn't get a LOT of volume out of her. I can still recall my old 45 RPM copy of the DOORS "Hello I Love You" playing the first time the neighbor girl had a long visit to my little bedroom. I guess a fellow never forgets his first time. Strange about a year later, My buddy and I were cruising the town in my old 1950 Ford Custom 2 Door Coupe, when we spotted 2 girls hanging around smoking in the laundromat, back then they had those huge front windows in all the stores and the laundromat was well lighted, warm and a great place to hang out. So I parked my little Ford behind and we went in, we told the gals we had a gallon of beer and they were happy to get in and help us consume it. I would go on to marry the girl who was with the girl next door, we stayed that way for 51 years till my wonderful wife was taken from me by cancer.
I have some Hallicrafters boat anchors in my Ham radio receiver collection the oldest being the S20R which just hums currently so its one of those I need to rework after i'm done repairing this 1940 broadcast/sw which was in a wood case and in deplorable condition. I had a power resistor burned and split right down the middle on a zenith radio I worked on replaced the selenium rectifier too. I had a cap that read 2 ohms so it wasn't a cap anymore it was acting like a dead short so always run into fun problems with old radios. You are doing a great job love your videos.
Most of those old Selenium rectifiers in those old Zeniths are usually dead by now or will be soon. Those S20R's are very nice units Good luck on that when you get to it! Thanks for stopping by.
yes indeed the old selenium rectifiers were the first things I suspected and changed out with a diode and 10 w resistor. The S20R should be a good project.
The alignment by the book starts with the #4 band, closest to the front of the set. I strongly advise not to dig the wax out of the slug adjustment. A coil like that will not change value with age. It is not difficult to run into trouble and declare the set a Time Bandit. Back in the day the term was Tough Dog.
Iron, ferrite etc raises the inductance of a coils when used as a internal slug as we know but brass lowers the inductance. I have often used brass slugs in coils to find where the tuning range was when building stuff. Some tv tuners used brass coil tuning slugs.
Mica caps CAN go bad, and you just proved it! I've actually have had this happen on a Crosley radio a few years back and very few folks I mentioned this to believed me. Guess I'll have go through my 71-A I recently aquired.
Exactly I think the mica's get overlooked too often. In this case it was obvious with the swelling and burn marks. Thanks for checking this one out Bob!
Just got my old S-40A off the shelf to see if I can get something out of it. Lights up but no audio. But so far I don't get any DC off the rectifier. I did check the headphone jack and nothing there either, but the spring tension is good. Not sure what to check next.
@@45AMT Yep, that's what I've concluded. I know the 5Y3GT is good. Can't I assume I have a short downstream? Just don't know how to find it, without disconnecting caps or resistors. And I should add I'm a complete amateur and have difficulty tracing the path compared to the schematic. I only have a dmm, that can measure caps and diodes, and a Simpson 260, (and the tube tester). No other equipment.
WTAM AM station......might you be in the NE Ohio area, by chance ? I’ve collected & repaired these fine old sets for a long time, would be thrilled to meet another enthusiast is the area.....once all this mess with the virus clears up, of course !
I have a S40b with BFO issues too. My brass screw was screwed all the way out so I will have to fish the ferrite slug out and reattach to the screw. Dumb design. Every other model Hallicrafters used a nice rotary pot type adjuster. I’m learning a lot from you.
I had the same thing when I was in High School. Got the thing for free from a friend of the family. It helped give me my first lesson in electronics repair. Turned the thing on and 'tick, tick, thick' a wire-wound resistor started quickly heating up. I was a total noob, so I had no clue what to do. A retired Coast Guard Electonics Tech told me I need the schematic, and recommended either Sam's or Rider. I found a Sam's schematic in the local library, and JUST HAPPENED to have the schematic on the table next to the opened radio the next time he visited us. He sat down and methodically tracked down a shorted paper cap. I'm sure he could have done it without the schematic, but he was true pro who wanted to show me the right way. Really cool stuff! I left the radio behind when I enlisted, and my father later gave it to a neighbor kid. I really couldn't have kept it at the time, but I'd like to get another one and restore it as an apocalypse radio. I recently saw a very low-priced listed with described condition of "pretty roached out" that looks like worthy challenge.
Great video...is that an Eico 147A signal tracer,,,if so how do you like it.?? I looking at buying one...for some vintage tube and transistor radio repair...
I use reverse drill bits to remove that shaft..they drill into the shaft, turning the bit CCW which will drill the hole and spin the shaft out...does this make since?
schools can provide the technical knowledge, but applying that knowledge combined with excellent deductive reasoning is what makes an adequate technician into an excellent techie, such as this gentleman.
Great video. I've been working on mine tonight so it's been a great to see yours up and running. I do have a few questions though. Are you sure that the output transformer that low in ohms for the primary? I thought that the 6k6 GT tube in SE output would be somewhere around 8k. Also were you using an antenna or was it just picking up stations as is? I envy you on having you tubes being good. My 6sc7 tube died so I had to order a new one as I wasn't sure if it was my OT or not that is causing mine to have no sound. I still have to check it but the pre amp tube being dead was the first thing I had to address. Lastly a place called Hayseed Handset sells recap kits for many Hallicrafter models. Great channel. ;)
Could you have cut some of the threads off of the pitch control shaft with a baby imp tubing cutter, in order to get to the shaft...? Just leave the nut on...and after you cut off the threads, back the nut off and it will re-thread the damaged threads that the tubing cutter made
Is there anything you can't fix? Great video. I have this same model and it has what looks like a crystal socket mounted on the face just under the "model S 40B" badge in upper left corner.Directly behind this socket inside the radio a Raytheon 6c4 is wired to the socket then a wire runs to the underside of radio. I'm guessing a Ham mod of sorts. Also puzzling there is a lightbulb socket mounted to the top of the chassis ..any guesses?
How do you figure out the value of the square mica caps ,with different color dots on them ,is their a book or something to help figure out values of some of these old caps and some of these old resisters ,nice save on finding that bulges mica cap,that would be hard to spot.great video ,I would like some day to find a muti band tube radio ,that's well built like the hellicrafter,once you fix this radio should last another fifty years
BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillator) most are controlled by a Variable resistor or capacitor . This one controlled by a variable inductor. but Yes it serves the same purpose.
I had that the Hallicrafters radio, after having modern ham equipment hard to tune on SSB. Nice troubleshooting.
I restored mine about 8 years ago. Nice job 👍🏼
Nice! Once apon a time I had this model along with a Heathkit Q multiplier. When I was a kid my Dad bought me this set as a gift. He got it used from a Ham who really knew something about the technical aspect of the hobby. Wish I held on to it. Being not well educated on the upkeep of it at the time I basically got rid of it when things started to go wrong with it. I had spent many hours listening on that radio. It was a powerful receiver with Booming good audio.
Thanks for this video! I have a S-40B that I got for Christmas when I was twelve. I love that radio. It worked great for years but the last time I turned it on it just buzzed.
Ah man that takes me back, I used to dream of having such a set. Back in the early 1960's we moved off the farm where we had no modern convinces like power or running water, sewer or telephone to first a small apartment, then dad found us a house, it had power but the water and sewer had been off so long that they could not be activated. That was OK though, we were used to using a piss pot in winter and the outhouse when nature demanded, and there was a pump house in town where we could fill cream cans with water so a semi-daily trip for water was in order. The great thing though was it was a very tall house and sat on a slope higher then the rest of town. In my upstairs bedroom, I could tune in shortwave radio and hear those wonderful programs. Many were in foreign languages, but just imagining where they were coming from amazed my young mind. Oh what I would have given for a set like that. .The one I was using was a dump ground find that needed a speaker but back then speakers were, well as plentiful as dandelions in the yard. You see, on our dump grounds raids, it was open no fences or gates, no care takers, just wide open, we could access the wrecked and junked car bodies. Most of them still had the speaker for the radio under the dash, some even in the trunk. My buddy and I would often spend hours on end collecting radio speakers, the magnets out of old speedometers were also fascinating for me, so if time permitted, I would pull them out from behind the dash as well. If radios were still in the cars, we would often pull one for parts, and I had another buddy who used a battery charger to play the radios in his bedroom. Ah man for a poor kid on the wrong side of the tracks, the dump grounds was Walmart, Radio Shack and the cutlery barn all in one. The things we collected was unlimited, it seemed as modern transistor sets became available, all the old tube sets went to the dump where we could retrieve them to play around with........ WE had wire recorders, AM/FM sets, old .45 RPM Record decks headlights that I powered with my old electric train transformer so I could dim the lights in the old shack behind the house that served as my shop, living room and bedroom that was actually put to use occasionally with the girl next door, man she was cute and, well willing. Anyhow thanks for getting my old gears grinding and remembering all those old times. I even once put together a radio with 8 speakers. It sounded OK I guess but couldn't get a LOT of volume out of her. I can still recall my old 45 RPM copy of the DOORS "Hello I Love You" playing the first time the neighbor girl had a long visit to my little bedroom. I guess a fellow never forgets his first time. Strange about a year later, My buddy and I were cruising the town in my old 1950 Ford Custom 2 Door Coupe, when we spotted 2 girls hanging around smoking in the laundromat, back then they had those huge front windows in all the stores and the laundromat was well lighted, warm and a great place to hang out. So I parked my little Ford behind and we went in, we told the gals we had a gallon of beer and they were happy to get in and help us consume it. I would go on to marry the girl who was with the girl next door, we stayed that way for 51 years till my wonderful wife was taken from me by cancer.
Excellent work,years of experience shows,thanks for teaching us.
Wow, that's a really nice restore. Those Hallicrafters were some quality receivers. Enjoy!
Hello, I enjoyed very much your long video. I was recently been given an S-40B so I watched with great interest,
I have had 2 of these radios years ago .
I had one of these. Great radio I could pick up all kinds of stuff on.
Nice job finding that bad mica cap, I was surprised that you didn't change out that Mallory Can as it must be as old as dirt.
Glad I found your channel - All kinds of interesting things!
I have some Hallicrafters boat anchors in my Ham radio receiver collection the oldest being the S20R which just hums currently so its one of those I need to rework after i'm done repairing this 1940 broadcast/sw which was in a wood case and in deplorable condition. I had a power resistor burned and split right down the middle on a zenith radio I worked on replaced the selenium rectifier too. I had a cap that read 2 ohms so it wasn't a cap anymore it was acting like a dead short so always run into fun problems with old radios. You are doing a great job love your videos.
Most of those old Selenium rectifiers in those old Zeniths are usually dead by now or will be soon. Those S20R's are very nice units Good luck on that when you get to it! Thanks for stopping by.
yes indeed the old selenium rectifiers were the first things I suspected and changed out with a diode and 10 w resistor. The S20R should be a good project.
Great video, lots of work but worth it in the end. Regards, Dave
Good video with lots of good video shots. Not wasting time with things that we don't have to see every detail.
73, Harvey KM4JA
Glad you enjoyed it Harvey 73's
Nice radio. (freebander)...
What a amazing job on that radio ,thanks for teaching us ,always learn something from your channel .
The alignment by the book starts with the #4 band, closest to the front of the set. I strongly advise not to dig the wax out of the slug adjustment. A coil like that will not change value with age. It is not difficult to run into trouble and declare the set a Time Bandit. Back in the day the term was Tough Dog.
I forgot how good they sound....I have one on the shelf (forget the model#) I need to do something with one day when I have time. ~Jack, VEG
Man I love the weird effect SSB can do to voice!
Iron, ferrite etc raises the inductance of a coils when used as a internal slug as we know but brass lowers the inductance. I have often used brass slugs in coils to find where the tuning range was when building stuff. Some tv tuners used brass coil tuning slugs.
Mica caps CAN go bad, and you just proved it! I've actually have had this happen on a Crosley radio a few years back and very few folks I mentioned this to believed me. Guess I'll have go through my 71-A I recently aquired.
Exactly I think the mica's get overlooked too often. In this case it was obvious with the swelling and burn marks. Thanks for checking this one out Bob!
No
@@45AMT I personally don't like to take chances wrecking coils and damaging tubes with bad capacitors, especially in a transformer powered set.
Hi I'm just starting out on repairs and this video was very interesting. Thanks.. Angelo.
These are awesome videos!
Hey UM Thanks for stopping by and checking out my channel!
Great video. Wish you had explained the alignment. You just turned a few can adjustment screws with no explanation.
Great job, need to start work on my 40A!
Thumbs Up, you did a boss job!!........
VERY GOOD WORK......
Fantastic fix🙏👧🏾🔊
I have seen that square mica mold capacitor be a resistor too like it should be, so you have to watch out...
Just got my old S-40A off the shelf to see if I can get something out of it. Lights up but no audio. But so far I don't get any DC off the rectifier. I did check the headphone jack and nothing there either, but the spring tension is good. Not sure what to check next.
If you're not getting DC. B+ there's something wrong in the Rectifier circuit.
@@45AMT Yep, that's what I've concluded. I know the 5Y3GT is good. Can't I assume I have a short downstream? Just don't know how to find it, without disconnecting caps or resistors.
And I should add I'm a complete amateur and have difficulty tracing the path compared to the schematic.
I only have a dmm, that can measure caps and diodes, and a Simpson 260, (and the tube tester). No other equipment.
On my Halli SX-71 the 6SC7 tube is for audio amplifier and beat frequency oscillator.
WTAM AM station......might you be in the NE Ohio area, by chance ? I’ve collected & repaired these fine old sets for a long time, would be thrilled to meet another enthusiast is the area.....once all this mess with the virus clears up, of course !
used to have one of those. Got a wild hair sold it, wish i still had it.
I have a S40b with BFO issues too. My brass screw was screwed all the way out so I will have to fish the ferrite slug out and reattach to the screw. Dumb design. Every other model Hallicrafters used a nice rotary pot type adjuster. I’m learning a lot from you.
Nice work,good troubleshooting, thanks for teaching us.
used to have one. sold it years ago and wished I had kept it.
I had the same thing when I was in High School. Got the thing for free from a friend of the family. It helped give me my first lesson in electronics repair. Turned the thing on and 'tick, tick, thick' a wire-wound resistor started quickly heating up. I was a total noob, so I had no clue what to do. A retired Coast Guard Electonics Tech told me I need the schematic, and recommended either Sam's or Rider. I found a Sam's schematic in the local library, and JUST HAPPENED to have the schematic on the table next to the opened radio the next time he visited us. He sat down and methodically tracked down a shorted paper cap. I'm sure he could have done it without the schematic, but he was true pro who wanted to show me the right way. Really cool stuff! I left the radio behind when I enlisted, and my father later gave it to a neighbor kid. I really couldn't have kept it at the time, but I'd like to get another one and restore it as an apocalypse radio. I recently saw a very low-priced listed with described condition of "pretty roached out" that looks like worthy challenge.
When you replace the cap's do you J-hook them to connect?
Great video...is that an Eico 147A signal tracer,,,if so how do you like it.?? I looking at buying one...for some vintage tube and transistor radio repair...
I use reverse drill bits to remove that shaft..they drill into the shaft, turning the bit CCW which will drill the hole and spin the shaft out...does this make since?
The inductor part you rebuilt,is that a part you can buy ,maybe NOS ,or maybe just a replacement ?
….another great video. your ability is very impressive...you must have gone to some really good schools......
schools can provide the technical knowledge, but applying that knowledge combined with excellent deductive reasoning is what makes an adequate technician into an excellent techie, such as this gentleman.
Great video. I've been working on mine tonight so it's been a great to see yours up and running. I do have a few questions though. Are you sure that the output transformer that low in ohms for the primary? I thought that the 6k6 GT tube in SE output would be somewhere around 8k. Also were you using an antenna or was it just picking up stations as is? I envy you on having you tubes being good. My 6sc7 tube died so I had to order a new one as I wasn't sure if it was my OT or not that is causing mine to have no sound. I still have to check it but the pre amp tube being dead was the first thing I had to address. Lastly a place called Hayseed Handset sells recap kits for many Hallicrafter models. Great channel. ;)
I would like to have one those receivers.
Could you have cut some of the threads off of the pitch control shaft with a baby imp tubing cutter, in order to get to the shaft...? Just leave the nut on...and after you cut off the threads, back the nut off and it will re-thread the damaged threads that the tubing cutter made
Is there anything you can't fix? Great video. I have this same model and it has what looks like a crystal socket mounted on the face just under the "model S 40B" badge in upper left corner.Directly behind this socket inside the radio a Raytheon 6c4 is wired to the socket then a wire runs to the underside of radio. I'm guessing a Ham mod of sorts. Also puzzling there is a lightbulb socket mounted to the top of the chassis ..any guesses?
Sounds like a frequency mod of some sort? Maybe the light bulb was used in conjunction with a transmitter? maybe a "on the air light"? Who knows LOL
I have heard that alot of output transformers on Hallicrafters go bad, I lucked out with my SX-71 being good...
My dad bought me a new S-40B mid 1954. The output transformer went bad ca 1957. Trip to the junk box found one that worked
More antenna Will help a Lot more
would the no audio problem happen on a phono jack ?
How do you figure out the value of the square mica caps ,with different color dots on them ,is their a book or something to help figure out values of some of these old caps and some of these old resisters ,nice save on finding that bulges mica cap,that would be hard to spot.great video ,I would like some day to find a muti band tube radio ,that's well built like the hellicrafter,once you fix this radio should last another fifty years
www.radioremembered.org/capcode.htm
you can find the code on the internet. It uses the same color code as resistors but with different values.
I like the videos, but I have a question, I have Russian radio 303 the same crappie sounds just make a full video about this radio please, thanks
You want him to buy this radio make a video (which takes a lot of time) just for you? At least you said please and thank you!
Nice vid!
If there is one thing I hate it is people selling non-working tube testers for several hundred dollars just because they are tube testers!
Hi . I need all electronic tubes. Somebody can help me ?? I have my father original S40B
I think the 6H6 is a diode and has something to do with the AVC control. I heard that very few of these tubes go bad...
Isn't a pitch control same as BFO?
BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillator) most are controlled by a Variable resistor or capacitor . This one controlled by a variable inductor. but Yes it serves the same purpose.
I have one great radio⚡💯📻⚛
Are those dials radioactive?
That's what I thought, too.
No. The colour of the dial was their trade dress for several series of radios.
I can't even get the top to flip up ..
Man, what a mess. Looks like there was an explosion of wire and junk. Who ever invented boards was a genius. Doesn't look organized or very tidy.