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Old 20th Mar 2023, 3:31 pm   #1
vinrads
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Default Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

I saw this chassis in the for sale section , I just could not resist the challenge , thanks David (dekatron) parts missing were the mains tx HT choke and output tx loud speaker, I managed to squeeze in a bigger mains tx ,the rectifier is rubbing shoulders with it in fact there is a few mm gap.
The chassis was totally stripped cleaned ,painted ,next day re assembled replacing all the wax capacitors ,and all the rubber coated wire ,I managed to remove the two wires from the screened lead and threaded two thin wires in the screening , I had to fit a resistor to drop 6,3 to 4 volts for the rectifier I wanted to keep the original vale line up , the HT proved to be to high so I fitted a couple of resistors on the AC to the rect kinder to the valve I set the HT to 250volts the recommended HT for the EBL31.I wonder why Ekco used a tap on the mains tx for the dial lamp needless to say this one is connected to the 6.3 v
I had all the valves in stock , I an pleased to say it worked first time .
If I had seen the other items sooner ie the knobs and back that would have been a bonus . Err no I don't have a cabinet but you never know .Mick.
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Last edited by vinrads; 20th Mar 2023 at 3:52 pm.
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 3:58 pm   #2
stevehertz
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Default Re: Ekco A22 doner chassis brought to life .

Great job!
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 4:37 pm   #3
Leon Crampin
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Default Re: Ekco A22 doner chassis brought to life .

I think the reason for the dial lamp being underrun is that being in a small box and close to the scale, there could be a danger of damage to the scale from excessive heat. A bonus also is that the rather awkward job of replacing the lamp through the small access hatch is far less frequent. Congratulations on an excellent job you have made on the chassis.

A22 mains transformers always seem to fail - mine is non-original. A look at the winding resistances shows that the HT secondary must be wound with impossibly thin wire. I wonder why Ekco did that?

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Old 21st Mar 2023, 4:19 pm   #4
David G4EBT
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Default Re: Ekco A22 doner chassis brought to life .

Crikey, that's amazing Mick - you only received the chassis a week ago today!

Top job!

It had so many key items missing that I never imagined it would ever live to see another day as a working radio!

As a reminder of what state it was in, the chassis pics can be seen in this thread:

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=199049

Yes, on the original (rather puny) mains transformer, there was a 5V tapping so that the 6V3 pilot bulb, confined in its little box, would be under-run so as not melt or scorch the plastic dial.
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Old 21st Mar 2023, 7:06 pm   #5
vinrads
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Default Re: Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

Thanks for that David ,I was so keen to make a start that I forgot to take a before picture. Mick
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Old 21st Mar 2023, 7:11 pm   #6
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Default Re: Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

Wow,,well done Mick!
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Old 21st Mar 2023, 7:16 pm   #7
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Default Re: Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

Yes!!! That really is an impressive 'back from the dead' resurrectional achievement... I'm always fascinated by reworks of long-decayed consumer radios that I would personally have 'gralloched' for parts but others have sought to restore.

It's only a 'short superhet' but I wonder how well it would perform on shortwave? Perhaps try listening around 6.2/6.3MHz on sunday mornings to hear some of the more-interesting free-radio stations?
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Old 21st Mar 2023, 7:46 pm   #8
Lloyd 1985
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Default Re: Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

Great work on the Ekco chassis! And so quick too! It took me months to do mine…

I made a mould for A22 knobs a few years back, got some nice looking ones from it, but I struggled with getting the brass insert central, and as such the knobs I made don’t rotate nicely. I really must have another go, and make up a proper jig to get them right!

Regards
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Old 21st Mar 2023, 10:07 pm   #9
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Default Re: Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

The remains of an Ekco A22 cabinet. I did think about repairing it someway but gave up on the project. Any use to you?

DFWB.
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Old 22nd Mar 2023, 10:05 am   #10
vinrads
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Default Re: Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

Quote:
Originally Posted by FERNSEH View Post
The remains of an Ekco A22 cabinet. I did think about repairing it someway but gave up on the project. Any use to you?

DFWB.
Hi Thanks for that would you say that you had all or most of the pieces .Mick.
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Old 22nd Mar 2023, 12:32 pm   #11
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Default Re: Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

Hi Mick,
that's all that remains of the cabinet. Did consider having it 3D printed in mirror form but the cost might be prohibitive.

DFWB.
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Old 22nd Mar 2023, 12:54 pm   #12
vinrads
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Default Re: Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

Ok thanks anyway hopefully David may have one that is restorable .I don't suppose you have the spider thing and the chrome ring before I make one Mick.
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Old 22nd Mar 2023, 2:14 pm   #13
FERNSEH
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Default Re: Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

The A22 chassis and the remains of the cabinet were given to me by another radio enthusiast. It was his plan to do a repair to the cabinet but finally gave up on the project.
The rusty radio chassis was an easy fix.

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Old 22nd Mar 2023, 2:42 pm   #14
David G4EBT
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Default Re: Ekco A22 donor chassis brought to life.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vinrads View Post
Ok thanks anyway hopefully David may have one that is restorable .I don't suppose you have the spider thing and the chrome ring before I make one Mick.
That's with the cabinet I have Mick - I've just emailed you all the pics.

(I think it's called the 'trivet').
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