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Old 30th May 2016, 7:36 am   #1
mjddewet
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Default Ferguson 218 UXL

Good day from Cape Town, South Africa.
I've just been given a Ferguson 218 UXL radio by my son, who picked it up in some backward little "dorpie" (small town) here in South Africa.
The set is operational, with the case in VERY good condition, all knobs in place. It is quite mucky on the inside, as can be seen from the pictures, but it seems unadulterated with no visible mods/repairs.

I plan to do a restore, and bring her back to a new life, redeemed from dust and muck...
I'll download the schematics, and recap the ol' gal with the only addition being a safety earth.

Will keep you posted on progress.
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Old 30th May 2016, 9:02 am   #2
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

That is a live chassis so you can't earth it.
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Old 30th May 2016, 9:08 am   #3
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

Thanks for the heads-up on that one.
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Old 30th May 2016, 10:24 am   #4
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

Yes, take care if you are new to vintage radio work. There are lots of threads about live chassis sets if you search the forum. The most important precaution is to always make sure that the chassis is connected to mains neutral not mains live when any metalwork is exposed.

It looks in unmolested original condition despite being filthy.
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Old 30th May 2016, 12:17 pm   #5
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

Be careful of those rusty valve rim spring clips make sure you unclip them before removing any valves as they will almost certainly break off the glass pip and render the valve useless.
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Old 30th May 2016, 3:11 pm   #6
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

The UK version was a 209 UL so the circuit may be similar although whe waveband coverage is different.
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Old 30th May 2016, 3:44 pm   #7
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

Thanks guys for all the tips and warnings.

I'm a novice when it comes to the valve radios, although I grew up with them on a wheat farm with no electricity.
A few years ago I helped my son-in-law build clone of a Fender Tweed guitar amp from scratch, and afterwards built a clone of the Fender Blackface Champ.

Old PYE set running off a 6v battery, and I was forever wanting to know "but how do the people get in there to talk to us?"

When there was rugby test or a big game going on the Saturday, Dad had it down to a T:
He'd figured out that the old Dodge truck's generator had the highest 6V output of all the vehicles. The last 3 days before the game, and on Saturday morning too, the Dodge always parked on a downhill to do a running start, to keep the battery fully charged.
And come the time of the game, the battery was swopped out 5 minutes before kick-off, and you had to keep quiet. "There's a game on"
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Old 6th Jun 2016, 12:44 pm   #8
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

So the weekend was spent constructive-destructively:

After removing the retaining clips, 4 of the valves eased out of their bases easily, but the UL41 offered some resistance.

Hmmm, Capacitor C29 between L & N had waxed lyrical at one stage, causing V5 to be waxed in it's seat...
Carefull fiddling and gentle persuasion brought about the non-expected result. Just as I had V5 extracted, the glass enveloped self-desctructed at the base...

I do intend to re-cap the radio, to prevent more caps waxing lyrical.

A thorough cleaning of the chassis followed, with lots of old dust bugs removed. I scrounged up a suction tube on the vacuum cleaner, and removed some of the 'character' off the chassis. Not as clean as I'd like, but for now it'll do.

The onto the cabinet. This was just a matter of cleaning off the fly-spatter with a mixture of dishwashing liquid, some vinegar and water (The same mixture is used with great effect on those small pesky ants in the house, and aphids on plants as well...)
I then did a light buffing with rubbing compound, and voila, she's as clean and as shiny as the day it left the mold in the factory.

Photo 1: Chassis after removal from cabinet.
Photo 2: Valve V5 (UL41) still well waxed down, showing dearly departed C29 to the right (above).
Photo 3: UL41 all waxed "down" by the look of it.
Photo 4: Anyone want to change the innards of a UL41?
Photo 5: A 'before 'picture' of the cabinet. One can almost hear it if you close your eyes: "This is the English service of the SABC broadcasting on Medium Wave on 880 kilocycles and on Short Wave on 90, 60 and 30 meter. The news follows after the time signal." The Afrikaans service from SABC had the same message, but just in Afrikaans on different wavelengths.
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Old 6th Jun 2016, 2:43 pm   #9
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

Lets hope you can find a UL41
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Old 6th Jun 2016, 3:45 pm   #10
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

If all else fails, I'll have to supplement a UL84 or equivalent :-(
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Old 6th Jun 2016, 7:46 pm   #11
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

UL84 conversion described here: http://www.vintage-radio.com/recent-...bush-ac11.html
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Old 7th Jun 2016, 3:30 pm   #12
mjddewet
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

Thanks for the feedback.

For a relative noob when it comes to valve radios, the info that I garnered from browsing and lurking here, has already helped me a great deal!

A UL84 seems logical to me too. And the "fix" as described looks easy enough.
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Old 7th Jun 2016, 4:22 pm   #13
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

It's what any repair shop would have done, in the late '60s / early '70s when Rimlock valves were going out of fashion. Valve data books usually even included advice on replacing obsolete types with newer ones.
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Old 7th Jun 2016, 4:28 pm   #14
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

UL41s are still available but tend to be pricey. UL84s used to be much cheaper but the current record player craze has increased demand for them.

There are commercial adapters available on eBay if you don't want to make your own.
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Old 7th Jun 2016, 8:55 pm   #15
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

I'm sure I've got a UL41 somewhere. I'd have to test it though.

Don't know what postage to SA would be though, or about import duty etc.
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Old 8th Jun 2016, 11:23 am   #16
mjddewet
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

Thanks once again for all the positive info and remarks.

I'm in the lucky position that I've got children living in the UK now, and hence the 'collection point' for Dad's "goodies" will not be a problem.
Daughter and grandkids have been living there for 10 years, and son and daugther-in-law are in the process of relocating.
He's the one with the electronic brain: trained electronic engineer (but working as IT developer), so I can always 'skype-a-friend' when I get stuck!
Me thinks the UL84 way is the way to go, as the ol' wireless will only be used as a showpiece.

We're planning a visit later in the year, possibly end of November.
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Old 8th Jun 2016, 11:34 am   #17
mjddewet
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

From the trader service sheets that I've downloaded, it seems to me that the 218uxl that I have, resembles the 238U more than the 208U that I've downloaded.
The 208U is also a LW/MW set, whilst the 218 UXL is a MW/SW1/SW2 set, similar to the 238U.
My son tells me that the radio worked 100% (dust and wax not withstanding), so it's a matter of tidying things up will have it going again soon.
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Old 8th Jun 2016, 11:46 am   #18
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

No!

Your pictures show that this set is full of waxed paper capacitors., the sticky brownish/yellowish parts. These will fail sooner rather than later and could destroy other components including the replacement UL41.
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Old 8th Jun 2016, 12:13 pm   #19
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

The waveband arrangements are typical of British export sets of the period, with LW replaced with one or two SW bands. It's normal for service data to be thin on the ground for these sets because they were never intended to be sold domestically so the dealer networks didn't need to know how to service them.

As Graham says, you will need to replace all the wax caps between 0.001uF and 0.1uF if you are going to actually use the radio. This isn't difficult or expensive. For a simple repair job rather than a full restoration you can snip out the old caps close to the body and attach the new caps to the leads. Just take care not to introduce any short circuits.
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Old 9th Jun 2016, 3:25 pm   #20
mjddewet
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Default Re: Ferguson 218 UXL

Thanks Graham & Paul!

For a start a complete recap is on the cards. Those old caps are just too much 'waxing unlyrical'...
I'll check out the resistors too. This will be a new venture for me. Have got soldering iron... Will fiddle for shocks...

Even the can electrolytic one will be refurbed. I intend to open up the old can and try and install with new electro's of at least 300v.

But with the exchange rate, a lot of money will get little caps. Currently ZAR21.50 = GBP1.00...
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