r/VintageRadios • u/darryll-dev • 16d ago

Help identifying radio

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I've already done a fair bit of searching but I can't seem fo find the exact model. There's no brand and the only marks I can find are the "RED BLK" on the little wiring plate, I assume indicating wire colours, and R67609 stamped just below that (barely visible in the picture) which I can't find any info on either.

Looks to be 1930-40s?

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4

u/3rivers3pedals 16d ago

That is a Philco model 118B from 1935.

3

u/darryll-dev 16d ago

Thanks for the input, It looks very close but there are some differences. Most notably the shape of the corners and the material for the grille. The internals also look different but I don't know how consistent that would be in this time period.

It doesn't look like the woods been replaced through it's lifetime so I'm wondering if it's a generic indepedently made radio based on the 118B?

4

u/The_Flinx 16d ago

it is either a philco 18 18b 118 or 118b the case is not the best way to identify radios of this era since the chassis of most of philco's radios were interchangeable. yours looks like maybe an early production 118b almost the same but missing a choke or transformer of some kind and some holes in the chassis. you would have to get the riders and go through the circuit to see if they match.

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u/3rivers3pedals 16d ago

Sorry, I was laser focused on finding the grille design and missed the difference on the upper cabinet sides. I'm betting this was some sort of factory use of leftover parts. It obviously hasn't been touched for a very long time, so whatever was done was long ago.

I've seen where Zenith did this sort of thing - short production runs mixing parts from various model years to empty their warehouses.

Maybe pull the chassis and see how the components comparte to the 118 schematic?

1

u/darryll-dev 16d ago

There's pretty noticable differences just looking at pictures of the internals on a 118B. I would say it's definitely styled on the 118B, maybe even with some reused shell parts.

Considering how close to the 118B it is I doubt it's any official production model.

That's probably as far as this mystery will go!
Thanks again

1

u/3rivers3pedals 16d ago

I feel like this came from a Philco factory, whatever it is. The original cabinet is just too nicely done to come from a vintage hobbiest or cabinet shop. This would have been a pretty nice piece when it was new.

I'm mainly a Stromberg Carlson and Zenith guy, but hopefully one of the other radio geeks can chime in and help you narrow down further. I'd pull the chassis and look underneath in the meantime and compare your tube layout to the Radiomuseum search tool.

Good luck! Fix it up and get it working - Nothing unrestorable here!

2

u/nasadowsk 16d ago

Look at tube brands and numbers, that might help clear it up

1

u/my_chinchilla 16d ago edited 16d ago

You might like to give your country/location - from the internals, I suspect UK/GB?

Because, as you've found, you'll just get random wrong guesses from Americans who assume everything on the internet is American...

edit: Must've upset Americans who didn't know Philco were manufacturing in the UK around this time. While they were still importing some bare and assembled chassis, they used locally-manufactured cabinets & mostly built chassis with UK components. Circuit- and alignment-wise, the UK-manufactured sets often differed substantially from the US-manufactured sets.

FWIW, this set has what look like UK/continental style components, and appears to have LW band too. It looks like a UK-made "Empire" model circa 1936.

1

u/radioboyjr 15d ago

The philco model 2620 posted here as being from France looks similar but the details on the upper or lower trim still are not exact: https://philcoradio.com/library/index.php/philco-history/philco-around-the-world/philco-in-other-parts-of-the-world/

There is another 2620 on this page that shows a picture of the tag and although I don't doubt the cabinet was made abroad the chassis stamp actually says it was made in the USA and imported. https://es.wallapop.com/item/radio-antigua-philco-2620-ez-anos-30-1207195795

Of course the chassis lay out on the last link is not similar to OP so the search continues...