Stromberg Carlson Floor Radio Wonderful Condition

[Doug Rose]

I think Janet is going to kill me. Really! Saturday we are at a yard sale and I spot this radio in the back of the garage covered with stuff (being kind). I clean it off and it has white paint all over it. You can have it for $20. Will you take $10, we settle on $15 and if looks could kill. It is now sitting in our kitchen after I refurbed the wood. It is really a stunning piece. I have to replace the electrical. It is missing two bakelite knobs which I will never match. I love the ivory curtains instead of the grille. I had just picked up an SC metal 1243 at the yard sale before. She was not amused. It is a space thing. Put it in your room. Where? It is temporarily in the kitchen until the Howards dries. Lordy!

[Dennis Markham]

Very nice, Doug.  I've wasted $15 on a lot less.  You did a nice job cleaning it up.  Will you try and get it working?

[RotarDad]

Wow, Doug that is a nice piece.  Great job on the wood restore and it is amazing what $15 can still buy.  Imagine what is would cost to build something like that today.  But it does bring up one of the reasons we collect phones - it's pretty easy to box up just one more and store it somewhere out of the way.  I really like the "book-matched" (is that the right term?) wood panels - back in the day when they cared about stuff like that.   That is a large box for a radio - are there some large speakers down below?

[Doug Rose]

Very nice, Doug.  I've wasted $15 on a lot less.  You did a nice job cleaning it up.  Will you try and get it working?

Dennis....I'll replace the electrical and see what happens when I plug it in. Besides white paint specs everywhere inside, it looks really nice.  The paint was everywhere insdie and out. No idea how this was accomplished. Outside took forever to get it off.....Doug

[Doug Rose]

Wow, Doug that is a nice piece.  Great job on the wood restore and it is amazing what $15 can still buy.  Imagine what is would cost to build something like that today.  But it does bring up one of the reasons we collect phones - it's pretty easy to box up just one more and store it somewhere out of the way.  I really like the "book-matched" (is that the right term?) wood panels - back in the day when they cared about stuff like that.   That is a large box for a radio - are there some large speakers down below?

Paul...one very large SC speaker. I'll keep my finger crossed....thanks...Doug

[jsowers]

S-C made even nicer radios than they did phones, or at least that's my take on it. You definitely got a good deal and I'm hoping its looks will grow on Janet. It really looks great. I've had a 1936 Silvertone console in my kitchen next to the door to the garage for about 20 years and it doesn't look as nice as yours.

About knobs, you can try Mark Oppat from Plymouth, MI. He may have the originals (you'll have to email him and ask) or it's possible some of the generic replacements he sells will work for you. They'll cost more than you paid for the radio, though. I've seen posts from Mark for years on the old radio newsgroup and immediately thought of him.

http://www.oldradioparts.net/knobs.html

Good luck getting it restored. That radio could have a phono input somewhere and you could connect a CD player and utilize it more.

[LarryInMichigan]

Mark Oppat lives here in metro Detroit.  I have bought a number of things from him and been to his house (You should see some of the radios he has).  He is a very friendly and helpful guy.  Chances are very good that he will have what you need, but he is very busy filling orders.

If you are going to order stuff from Mark, you should get capacitors while you're at it.  Playing an old radio with the original capacitors can be dangerous for the radio and everything around it.  Radio restorers normally replace the capacitors first and then power up the radio by connecting it in series with a light bulb.  If the AC input to the radio is shorted, the light bulb will light up brightly.

Larry

[Doug Rose]

Jonathan...thanks for the resource for parts, I do appreciate it. This has already come out much better than expected. There was paint everywhre. White was definitely the color of choice, but also splashes of two different blues and PINK!! Not quite sure how this could have happened as the white is even insdie the radio.

Larry....if this doesn't come up with the electrical replacement, it will be way over my head. It will be soldif its not an easy fix....Doug

[LarryInMichigan]

Replacing capacitors is fairly simple, but it does involve cutting and soldering.  Electrolytic capacitors need to connected with the correct polarity.  Old capacitors were mostly made of foil and paper in a wax coated paperboard tube.  Any moisture which leaks through a break in the wax into the capacitor can cause a short which can result in dangerous voltages appearing in the wrong places.  That can destroy components and cause fires.

Larry

[Bill]

Another knob guy is Larry Bordonaro at www.antiqueradioknobs.com/  I've used him as a source for knobs and escutcheons with very good results.

I'm jealous of your radio for another reason. Years ago I bought a real nice Stromberg Carlson 235H
http://www.radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=3173
I realized when I bought it that it was missing the pushbutton assembly - the same one seen in your pictures. But I was sure I would be able to find a replacement somewhere, sometime, even if I had to buy a beat-up S-C to get it. This turned out not to be true. Despite several searches, I've come up dry. So that beautiful radio still sits in my display room, looking kind of forlorn with the empty holes staring back at me.

If you decide to chop up your new radio for kindling, I'll buy the pushbutton assembly ...

Bill

[Doug Rose]

Bill....I cannot get the radio to work. It lights up on the push button and when I switch the third knob the dial lights.  PM me if you want to buy the radio parts inside. The speaker does make a noise when I switch the stations, so there is conductivity. The push buttons DO NOT move the dial. The dial does move freely via the knob....Doug