Philips L5W34T - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

vinrads · 27th Feb 2021, 6:20 pm

This is my latest Ebay buy , I love these 60's Philips radios , after connecting it up to my power supply , 6volts, the v/c was very noisy and w/c noisy , a quick squirt of the switch cleaner cured this , It worked and sounded excellent on FM , this could be my every day radio it sounds that good , a lot of radio for £26 inc p/p Any one know why a bulb at the end of the selector switches flashes when selecting dial lamps the two dial lamps stay on when the button is pressed, as normal oh! it needs one or two push buttons, ,Mick. Happy days

Mick.

Paul_RK · 27th Feb 2021, 9:44 pm

Hello Mick,

I had this model stuck in my mind for years and couldn't find one: ever since I would guess 1966-7 when my primary school teacher's son visited the classroom - he was studying Russian at Cambridge, I remember that because one day at the beach I picked up a bottle with a message in it and after I took it into school it was passed to him and he provided a translation - and, to get swiftly back to the topic, for some reason he had this model of radio with him. At least I think it must have been this model, though my memory long insisted it was green and I've only ever seen these in grey. Well, I bought quite a ropy example when a first opportunity came along, and then, not long before we moved home a couple of years ago, another in better condition but needing a good clean. Still haven't cleaned it after the upheaval, and I hadn't even tested it, but your post inspired me to pull four 'D' cells out of the Tandberg Transistor Portable, load them in and see what would happen.

At first, not much happened at all, except for the dial lamps behaving as you describe, which is a puzzle to me too. The waveband switch bank was very noisy, though, and after working the buttons a few times medium wave arrived with, for a transistor portable, a remarkable multitude of stations: seems years since I last experienced the band as anywhere near so packed with options. Lovely punchy sound quality too. A few more button pressings and FM became available. I'll be surprised, then, if the set isn't working pretty well on all bands once I see to the switch bank - mine too has a noisy volume control - and like yours it may well become a household favourite. Already it will have taken me about 54 years to acquire one and get it up and running, I shouldn't procrastinate much longer

Paul

vinrads · 28th Feb 2021, 9:26 pm

Hi Lovely story Paul thank you , I gave the case a clean although it wasn't to bad I bet it's the first clean it has had , I wonder if you could help me I am in need of a push button for the radio , I have made a piece of blue plastic to fit where the flashing lamp is, looks ok ,regards Mick.

27th Feb 2021, 6:20 pm	#1
vinrads Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 3,762	Philips L5W34T This is my latest Ebay buy , I love these 60's Philips radios , after connecting it up to my power supply , 6volts, the v/c was very noisy and w/c noisy , a quick squirt of the switch cleaner cured this , It worked and sounded excellent on FM , this could be my every day radio it sounds that good , a lot of radio for £26 inc p/p Any one know why a bulb at the end of the selector switches flashes when selecting dial lamps the two dial lamps stay on when the button is pressed, as normal oh! it needs one or two push buttons, ,Mick. Happy days Mick. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by vinrads; 27th Feb 2021 at 6:30 pm.

27th Feb 2021, 9:44 pm	#2
Paul_RK Dekatron Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Fakenham, Norfolk, UK. Posts: 4,256	Re: Philips L5W34T Hello Mick, I had this model stuck in my mind for years and couldn't find one: ever since I would guess 1966-7 when my primary school teacher's son visited the classroom - he was studying Russian at Cambridge, I remember that because one day at the beach I picked up a bottle with a message in it and after I took it into school it was passed to him and he provided a translation - and, to get swiftly back to the topic, for some reason he had this model of radio with him. At least I think it must have been this model, though my memory long insisted it was green and I've only ever seen these in grey. Well, I bought quite a ropy example when a first opportunity came along, and then, not long before we moved home a couple of years ago, another in better condition but needing a good clean. Still haven't cleaned it after the upheaval, and I hadn't even tested it, but your post inspired me to pull four 'D' cells out of the Tandberg Transistor Portable, load them in and see what would happen. At first, not much happened at all, except for the dial lamps behaving as you describe, which is a puzzle to me too. The waveband switch bank was very noisy, though, and after working the buttons a few times medium wave arrived with, for a transistor portable, a remarkable multitude of stations: seems years since I last experienced the band as anywhere near so packed with options. Lovely punchy sound quality too. A few more button pressings and FM became available. I'll be surprised, then, if the set isn't working pretty well on all bands once I see to the switch bank - mine too has a noisy volume control - and like yours it may well become a household favourite. Already it will have taken me about 54 years to acquire one and get it up and running, I shouldn't procrastinate much longer Paul

28th Feb 2021, 9:26 pm	#3
vinrads Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 3,762	Re: Philips L5W34T Hi Lovely story Paul thank you , I gave the case a clean although it wasn't to bad I bet it's the first clean it has had , I wonder if you could help me I am in need of a push button for the radio , I have made a piece of blue plastic to fit where the flashing lamp is, looks ok ,regards Mick.