RCA 2-C-522





Brand: Radio Corporation of America  Year of Manufacture: 1953  Frequency Range: 550 - 1600Kc
Tube Lineup: 50C5 Output, 35W4 Rectifier, 12AV6 Det.-AVC-A.F. Amp, 12BA6 I.F. Amp, 12BE6 Converter
Schematic: Available here, courtesy of Nostalgia Air. Riders 23-29

    In the fall of 2006, I was spending several afternoons during the week seeking out antique malls and flea markets. I have had a fair amount of success finding radios at this one particular flea market in Clarksville, Indiana. Some examples of my finds from this venue include a Radiola 18, Crosley 715N, and a Silvertone 9000. This fine example was found perched on top of a large display cabinet, with the meager price of $4.99. An initial inspection revealed the radio to be complete, minus the knobs on the clock controls. This style of common 1950's clock radios generally has no appeal to me. Given the price and condition, this one followed me home.

    Repairs were rather simple. The paper and electrolytic capacitors were replaced, and since the power cord was in good shape, it was just cleaned. The final electronic repairs where a though cleaning and lubrication of the controls, and the receiver was aligned. Like many radios from this era, this radio uses a Telechrom clock. When powering up the radio, the clock was frozen solid. Some research online revealed that this is a common problem, due to grease in the gear assembly that hardens over time. The gear assembly is mounted in a round copper casing. To fix this I drilled a small hole in the casing and heat was applied for several minuets using a high temperature heat gun. While the heat was being applied, some all purpose oil was pumped into the casing though the drilled hole. Slowly the clock came back to life. Once the clock was working to my satisfaction, the hole was sealed up.

    The cabinet only required some cleaning to remove the many black spots. The missing knobs were found at a swap meet.
Unfortunately I could not find three knobs of the correct color, so they had to be painted using "Antique White" colored paint, with a final coating of clear lacquer. Below center: The radio before restoration.





   

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