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Powering up an old vacuum tube radio

Started by TelePlay, February 22, 2022, 10:25:50 AM

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TelePlay

So you just bought a "new to you" old vacuum tube radio and you want to see if it works? Plugging it into a power outlet to try it out is always a very bad idea. turning it on is even worse.

At a minimum, one should use a "dim bulb" tester to supply power to the radio. Read about it here:

https://antiqueradio.org/dimbulb.htm

The use of a Variac feeding an isolation transformer powering the radio is the best but those parts have a cost to them.

The problems and cautions when working with an old vacuum tube radio have been nicely published by The Baltimore Radio Repair Company of Columbia, South Carolina. Their main website page, at this link,

https://buckeyeradios.wordpress.com/tube-radio-safety/

states the following: