1935 ford radio

[vetpenny]

The original radio in my 35 ford coupe was running up to a few years ago. Now all it does is “hum” when I turn it on. I suspect that I have a bad connection or a tube problem. Does anyone have a suggestions or recommendations as to whom I may contact to fix my radio. Thank you for your help.

[Merc Cruzer]

Start with getting the tubes checked. Check the antenna connection. I bought one of these years ago and it has paid for it's self many times over.

[Kube]

Originally Posted by vetpenny

The original radio in my 35 ford coupe was running up to a few years ago. Now all it does is “hum” when I turn it on. I suspect that I have a bad connection or a tube problem. Does anyone have a suggestions or recommendations as to whom I may contact to fix my radio. Thank you for your help.

Often the humming (only) is the vibrator gone bad. I install solid state unis that will no doubt outlast me.
You can also (carefully) remove the metal cover from yours and clean the points. That works "okay".

[blucar]

I have a friend/neighbor that works on vintage radios.. He generally replaces the vibrator with a solid state unit. It is best to have the unit completely checked out, there is a lot going on in the old tube type radios and the speaker is most likely bad.
Is your radio the early square boxy type or the '36-37 smaller, more rounded type?
Ford sold the '35 style of radio well into '36. The 35 style of radio can have the speaker built into the box, similar to the 36 open car radios.

[tubman]

All good advice here, especially about the vibratator. A friend of mine is an electronics expert and has fixed a couple of radios for me. He says that while the tubes are usually good, it's the old capacitors that fail.

Personally, I'd send it out before diving into it myself. There used to be a lot of guys who did this; there are probably a few left. "Google" is your friend. The big problem is that once you get it fixed, there's not much to listen to unless you are into crop reports or speak Spanish"

[Merc Cruzer]

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Just in case you want to know what the inside of a vibrator looks like. Usually, if you can hear it hum, your vibrator is working. It is when you don't hear the hum, that the vibrator has stopped working, or you have replaced it with a solid state one.

Solid state is good but I miss the hum. It was just another part the 53' Merc experience.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by Merc Cruzer

Just in case you want to know what the inside of a vibrator looks like. Usually, if you can hear it hum, your vibrator is working. It is when you don't hear the hum, that the vibrator has stopped working, or you have replaced it with a solid state one.

Solid state is good but I miss the hum. It was just another part the 53' Merc experience.

[vetpenny]

Where can I purchase a radio the checker? Thanks for your help.

[corvette8n]

eBay or Facebook market place is your best bet for a tube tester, unless you get one cheap and know it’s good it’s probably not worth getting one.

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by Merc Cruzer

Just in case you want to know what the inside of a vibrator looks like. Usually, if you can hear it hum, your vibrator is working. It is when you don't hear the hum, that the vibrator has stopped working, or you have replaced it with a solid state one.

Solid state is good but I miss the hum. It was just another part the 53' Merc experience.

yup! when i was in high school my Dad had a 51 Merc 4 door, i miss that sound also

[Ken/Alabama]

Originally Posted by vetpenny

The original radio in my 35 ford coupe was running up to a few years ago. Now all it does is “hum” when I turn it on. I suspect that I have a bad connection or a tube problem. Does anyone have a suggestions or recommendations as to whom I may contact to fix my radio. Thank you for your help.

Maybe it forgot the words !!

[ndnchf]

I too have the original, but non working radio in my '35 Fordor. It would be neat to get working....and add a bluetooth connection so I could actually have something to listen to.

I repaired the vibrator in my Herbrand coil tester. It is essentially the same as the radio vibrators. The problem was the rubber liner inside the can deteriorated leaving rubber goo residue coating the points. A thorough cleaning and a small points adjustment and it worked like a champ. I learned about this on an antique radio forum.

[Merc Cruzer]

Originally Posted by vetpenny

Where can I purchase a radio the checker? Thanks for your help.

As previously mentioned thy can be found on e-bay. I found mine at a swap meet.

I would recommend that you look up a local Ham Radio shop in your area. They will be able to test the tubes and provide any need ones for your radio. They would be able to repair yous too.

Look up to see if there are any vintage voltage shows/ expos, coming up in your area. We have at least one per year, here in the Denver area.