Hello all. I have a mint condition Majestic that works all original 1959. My question is should I get the caps replaced and the power chord? I spoke with a local shop here in Cleveland area and the guy said don’t if it’s not broken. I hear many conflicting suggestions. I want it to last as it’s a sentimental piece from family back when I was a kid. Like 50 years ago. Thanks!
Hi, even though I am not familiar with the topology of the mentioned radio I would say the following (based on my experience and what numerous other techs are saying) what that guy said is to be taken as …. well… with ,,a grain of salt,, as opinions vary ! But…any piece of equipment which is that “OLD” regardless of the fact that is working great (sounds great) or not, and you don’t know or cannot remember the full history of it (weather has ever been repaired or restored or the caps have ever been changed) it is surely and always a potential hazard if left untended even for a few minutes. Caps (but especially the electrolytic and paper based ones) could short in a matter of seconds and can potentially take down the main transformer and its rectifier tube which (the transformer) is very hard or sometimes impossible to come by. In other words sim ply by knowing how old that radio is should automatically raise a ‘red flag’ right from the start. Mr. Carlson has emphasized this aspect in more than a dozen of his videos before and yes the cord should be changed too. PS: Keep in mind that certain kinds of caps such as those in the tunes area (IE: mica caps or any form of NPo, COG caps) are not to be ,,fiddled with,, unless absolutely necessary or only (and after concluding) that they either suffer from (the so called mica disease) or they have truly drifted making the alignment hard or no longer feasible. Good luck.
If you do not understand what each capacitor does in a circuit I would not plug it in and I would not leave it that way.
What type of test equipment do you own for checking capacitors?
@rkarman If said item is important enough for you wanting it to last, you absolutely must make sure it is inspected and repaired accordingly! As Ovi said, not making any repairs before hand WILL most definitely cause even more damage. In addition it was very common for electronics to not have fuses that would protect the item at an internal level. Only the main branch fuse would cover something like a dead short in a line cord (maybe). An item worth keeping is an item worth the investment. I wouldn’t be returning to a shop with that mindset, especially if you specifically said you were interested in caps and line cord replacement due to age!
Radios + Tubes + Scopes + Cars= Nothing better!
Thanks for the info! After I got off the phone with that shop I found another that said the exact opposite.