RCA Victor 1-X-51 Vacuum Tube Radio Repair 1951 - This was - Supposed - to be Easy! - Part 1 [4K]

72 year old AM vacuum tube radio with a cool dial and bakelite case is on the bench for repair. Should be pretty straight forward All American Five repair, right? Supposed to be... !
See the checklist which appears when status changes, for tracking what is discovered that needs addressing in Red, followed by Green when resolved.
Also similar to RCA Model 1-X-52, 1-X-53, 1-X-54, 1-X-54, 1-X-55, 1-X-56 and 1-X-57.
NOTE: This is not instruction, it is for entertainment for people like me who enjoy watching projects and the experiences gained. If you attempt to do any of the things in this video you are at your own risk. I am using special tech-bench safety equipment not detailed here so don't take for granted you can just plug these old items in safely without them being checked and repaired correctly. Check out the link below to Mr Carlson's Lab video below.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND REFERENCES:
[note: am in no way representing how these folks have shown doing these things - I don't even think they would approve.]
Frequency generator modification to add an inexpensive frequency counter: Thanks Tony B. for the video and description - it works very well! Here is the link to the xraytonyb video (he also demos it by doing an alignment):
• Tenma Signal Generator...
@xraytonyb
Thanks to shango066 for championing the approach of "fix it first", before mass re-capping. See shango066 for many examples of that approach.
@shango066
Awesome discussion of bench safety including variacs and isolation transformers by Mr Carlson's Lab (highly recommended):
• Tech Tips Tuesday, Iso...
‪@MrCarlsonsLab‬
Modification method for a commercial Tripp Lite isolation transformer for tech-bench use by Todd Harrison, his channel is called ToddFun:
• ToddFun.com: Isolation...
‪@ToddFun‬
Camera: Canon G7X Mark III
Mic: Rode Micro
Video Editing Software: Power Director
Video Editor: just me
People interested in the following topics may be interested in this subject matter: 1950s radios tube radio repair, tube radio restoration, vacuum tube radio recapping, RCA Radio, RCA tube radio, radio recapping, valve radio

[@raymatton7564]

I just wanted to thank you for your wisdom and entertaining videos of debugging and repairing radios , you are by far the Best I have come across on youtube . Your style and devotion to your trade shines through all your videos. I am just starting out learning how to build am and fm radio kits an more often than none they dont work well . I hope you be able to learn more and more from your channel. I like how you really take the time to show and explain every step you take as you debug your way through the circuits.

[@PracticallyFixed]

Thank you so much, glad you enjoy these videos. More on the way.

[@terryblackman6217]

Really enjoyed today's video and looking forward to seeing your progress in part two.

[@PracticallyFixed]

Thanks Terry. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@jimburns348]

Those IF cans can be very tricky to work on. I don’t envy you. Very good work on the other issues for the radio. Waiting for the next installment 😮. Hang in there.

[@PracticallyFixed]

Hi Jim. And I though this one would have been easy. You never know... Thanks

[@joatmonuk]

When you took the back off, I thought it was an empty case 🤣

[@PracticallyFixed]

LOL, that would have saved me a lot of trouble! Thanks

[@DERB_Seymour_Indiana]

Hey PF, interesting video. Don't you wish sometimes that you could just take back those things that cause problems like that. I've had some stubborn slugs in my time but I've been lucky so far not to have broken anything. I have one in my BK 970 radio analyst on the rf signal generator portion that way and I think I'm gonna have to just try to find a new coil for it if possible. I've also thought about removing the fixed cap across it and installing a trimmer cap instead. I don't really need it that much, but when I went through and aligned it I wanted to get it right. Will be interesting to see what the problem is. I've been working on other stuff and been wanting to get back to electronics, hoping that is sooner rather than later. :)

[@PracticallyFixed]

Hi Doug, good to hear from you. Been really busy with stuff here and this thing just wouldn't quit fighting me. Just want it to work, right? Thanks