Tom's restoration of Vintage Philips B3SF21A Radio
This radio was functional but it had some sound issues and was very worn and dirty.
Cleaning and repairing knobs. Bass and treble knobs were glued in place and broke when I tried to remove them. Fixed by 3D printing new interior.
The push buttons were broken and dirty. I replaced all by 3D printed versions. Material is polished ABS.
The speaker grill was very dirty. To clean it I had to forcefully remove it by breaking loose the whole front panel that was glued in place.
Potentiometers were making noise, which is always expected in old radios. I disassembled them and cleaned them and lubricated them.
The bass and treble potentiometers were peculiar with a transparent rotating body:
The Bass potentiometer had a failed contact between solder lug and rivet going to the carbon track. I fixed it by soldering, which was challenging as solder did not want to stick to the metal and the plastic wanted to melt.
The station dial glass was also dirty and needed to be removed for proper cleaning. The rubber gaskets keeping it in place had hardened so I had to cut them away and replace them with 3D printed replacements.
The cleaned and restored radio in all it's glory!
© 2021 Tom Ahola