Radio Speaker
 

In the 52 Mercury. I'm thinking of trying to see if the original radio works but the in dash speaker is pretty much trashed from weathering. I have several newer speakers from 12 volt cars and wondered if one of them could be used on a six volt radio?

Re: Radio Speaker
 

If I'm not mistaken the speakers are the same for any car. The guy who fixed my radio said that If my speakers went bad they're just the regular oval speakers you can get from autozone. He said that voltage has no effect on them.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Here is a link to a forum on old radios. Have a look around as there are a number of posts on precautions and potential damage in trying to turn on old radios. There is probably also some info on getting speakers to impedance match to the radios output.

http://antiqueradios.com/forums/index.php

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Try the ones out of the 12volt car (either will or won't work).
If yours is the standard 6x9" speaker like mine, I replaced mine with one of these (and it works)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-6-x-9-S...sAAOxyTjNSfbOJ

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Speakers can be repaired or a new cone made for them. I repaired the speaker for my vintage 1946 radio in my pickup. The internet has quite a bit of information on doing this type of repair.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

One thing to be aware of is the magnet on the new speakers is often too big and will not mount up under the dash and allow space for the radio to be mounted, on some models. You need to find a new speaker with a small magnet.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

And my car is a 1953 Mercury with stock radio and an 8 volt system.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Turnswitch has modern replacement speakers to fit the old radio sets in the 6-volt era. It's all about OHMs of the speaker and the size. They have some good info on their site.
http://www.turnswitch.com/speakers.htm

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Yep, it's the impendence, not the voltage that needs to be matched.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Thanks for all the replies and links so far. My main concern is that I don't damage the radio by using an incompatible speaker. Something else came up today to keep me occupied and not able to pursue this further at present.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

I agree with what rotorwrench said. I've dealt with them a few times and never dissapointed in any of thier work. Just got my radio back from them for my Zephyr and couldn't be happier.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Back when I was in high school, (radios had just been invented!) We got replacement speakers at the local drive-in movie! ;)

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Yours is a 52' Merc and mine is a 53' Merc, so the radios should be the same. Hook the radio up to a 6 vole battery and use alligator clips with two wires from the plug to the radio to the two connectors on the speaker. Pick any old car speaker you might have around the house that still work. You will need to hook up an antenna to get a station. I have attached a picture. If it is going to work when you turn it on the vibrator will begin to hum, wait for it and see if you get a station. The tubes and vibrator are all still available. Tube chart attached. Bottom line is what I have found is that if the speaker is too big for the radio it just won't power it, but that said I have never found a car speaker that it hasn't worked with. You may have to turn up the volume but it still worked. Once you get the radio working, your next project:

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182556

If you need anything else my e-mail address is: [email protected]

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Merccruzer, thanks for those tips and I remember reading that interesting account of yours when you first posted it here. I think my radio was "running when parked" many years ago and hopefully time will not have wreaked havoc with the radio internals. SUpposed to be a rainy weekend here so I might get in some shop time. The radio is still in place and I only have to hook up a power wire and connect to a working speaker.
If that does not work I can always put some batteries in my fifties vintage RCA transistor radio and use that. :=)

Re: Radio Speaker
 

The most common problems with the old radio sets are the old capacitors. They pop like popcorn. Folks that restore these old sets generally replace all the old caps with new ones first. Tubes can last a long time and are easily replaced. Vibrators can many times be repaired by cleaning the points. A person can purchase an adapter that connects into the antenna lead and allows I-Pod music to be played through the old radio's amp. Tube type radio sets were excellent amplifiers.

As far as any old speaker to connect up, I would err on the side of caution to use a speaker with a matching Ohms impedance. If you check the Turnswitch sight it will give you the normal impedance value that the old sets used. Most later ones for transistorized service are of different values and could damage the set.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

As long as we're discussing radio speakers, I'll point out this one that has a special function that I needed in my 47 that works great: http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_me...ford-only.html

http://www.macsautoparts.com/assets/...u/64-12142.jpg
http://www.macsautoparts.com/assets/...4-12142-A1.jpg

I wanted to hear both tracks coming out of my mp3 player and there was no way to combine them to sound good through the one original speaker so I installed this stereo speaker that fits in place of the original speaker and even fits in the very small space above my radio in my 47.

Here's how I hooked them up to two double throw double pole switches so that I could either have each of the stereo tracks from my mp3 player (boosted by a headphone amp) play through each speaker, or, the radio play through both speakers in series to increase the ohms for the old radio and not overload it. Modern speakers are typically 4 ohms whereas the old radios want 8 ohms. By running the signal in series through two 4 ohm speakers you get effectively 8 ohms of resistance for the radio circuit.

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0b05ddda.jpg

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Update. I got hooked up to a power source with a new 14 amp fuse and the radio lit up the dial when turned on. And that is all. Not a sound, not even static. The front speaker looks to have holes in it but the rear one looks ok. Not sure if the wiring to the rear one is all there but as much of it as I can see appears to be intact. Is there any way to test with a test light?

Re: Radio Speaker
 

Can you hear the vibrator? If not the nice thing is the tubes and vibrator are all hanging upside down in the radio. So all you need you do is get under the dash and tap the vibrator to see is you can get it working. The tubes are also assailable if you take the cover off (it is the one with the holes in the center of the picture above). You can also take each of the tubes out and check them without taking the radio out. It is a bit cramped under there but it can be done. To take the radio out all you need to do is to pull the knobs off then take the nut off behind the knobs, then take the bolts out of the brackets on each side of the radio then wiggle it out. The radio is heavy so be careful.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

The vibrator has an audible hum to it. If it is silent, there may be other problems on the input power or the points in it are dirty. A vibrator coil has to have good points action or it won't vibrate.

Re: Radio Speaker
 

My radio repair skill only goes up to the point of replacing the fuse. If there are problems beyond that I will need professional help. :(