| flatheadfan | -- 02-15-2011 @ 12:33 AM |
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Note: I put his on Fordbarn so if you read it there you can surf-on by! But, if you haven't read it, it would probably be a good idea to read it! It could save you a LOT of frustration! I have been working on my '35 radio and got everything right so that it works great on my bench. I put it in the car and I get a loud "blahaaa" sound and no stations. It can't be anything to do with the car's engine because the engine is not running. This is not good. I take the radio back out and bench test it again and it works great. Back in the car again and I get the loud "blahaaa" sound. It has got to be the car's antenna. I check the antenna ground - no apparent problem. I try another antenna- same thing- "blahaaa." It must be my speaker. I pull out the speaker and replace it, same thing "blahaaa." There surely must be something wrong with the car's wiring. I pull radio and speaker out and carefully recheck all the wiring . No problems or bad wiring routing. I reinstall the radio and get the same thing - a loud "blahaaa". I am stumped. I am beginning to think I should have taken up stamp collecting instead of working on old cars. Just about then my wife comes out to the garage and asks "How much longer are you going to be, I have supper ready?" I said, I am coming in now, let me turn off the car's radio. The wife turns out the lights before I turn off the radio and all of a sudden the radio starts playing great. I said turn the lights back on. The radio starts the the loud "blahaaa" sound, again. What is going on?? The garage lights off, radio plays great, lights on,"blahaaa." The lights are causing something strange to happen, but what?? These are the same old lights I have always had in the garage and this has never happened before. Then I remembered that one of the smaller lights located directly over the car had burned out and I replaced it with one of the new coil-type florescence bulbs. I put the lights back on and again I get the usual "blahaaa." I then remove the new bulb and all of a sudden the radio works great. This is really bizarre. I have fluorescence bulbs above my work work bench (which is about 20 feet from the car) and throughout the garage, I even have a florescence trouble light and never had a radio interference problem in the past. Evidently, the starter in the new florescence coil-wound bulb puts out a wave length that drives my '35 Ford radio "crazy." You can't imagine the frustration and waste of time I underwent just to discover that I can't use the new coil-wound florescence bulbs in the garage especially, if I am going to work on anything that potentially can be effected by these "modern" light bulbs. As I understand it, the old tried and true incandescent light bulb is soon to become "history," so it probably would be a good idea to build-up a reserve of them if you plan to work on any old radios in the future. What a pile of grief.......... Tom
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| TomO | -- 02-15-2011 @ 8:09 AM |
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There have been several reports of new twisted bulb being defective. Most of the complaints have been due to the starters. The bulbs flicker and fail to start, lasting only 3 or 4 months. I can only assume that this is due to excessive cost reduction at the manufacturing level to maxim ize profits at the retail level. It sounds like you got one of the bad ones. Tom
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| supereal | -- 02-15-2011 @ 11:12 AM |
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AM radios are suscepible to any kind of electrical "hash", some of which is more interesting than the programming! If you have lots of interference, look for the trimmer condenser. It will be a small screwdriver slot usually near where the antenna plugs in. Tune to a distant weak station, and adjust the trimmer to minimize the noise. We have seen cases where someone opened the radio case and tightened the screws on top of the square cans. Those are IF transformers, and must be adjusted with a signal generator. Most radio shops, if you can find one, may know how to align your receiver, but I wouldn't bet on it.
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| v8teditor | -- 02-15-2011 @ 11:54 AM |
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I agree with other "posters." I have several neon signs in my garage. If I have the AM radio on even with garage lights - those curly fry bulbs on - everything is fine. BUT if I turn on the neon lights the radio goes BLAAAH.
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