Another HMV 904 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Ian B · 18th Dec 2009, 7:45 pm

I can't keep this to myself any longer!
A week or so before Wooton Bassett I contacted Steve Harris (On the Air) as I had been told he was trying to buy a collection which included an HMV 904. Steve was trying to find a buyer for this before closing the deal, as he didn't think there was enough profit in it to put into stock (the dreaded cashflow). Having seen some pictures he sent me, I felt it was worth what he was asking, so we agreed a price. We agreed to meet at WB. Thus it was that before the hall opened, I had had a look at the set, handed over the cheque, (for £4000) and put it in the back of my car.
Later, in the auction, a pre-war Ekco TV sold for over £5000. Later Steve came up to me and said "I expect you think you've done very well today". His face was that of a man who wished he'd put a 904 in the auction! However, he gave me copies of the service information, so I think he took it like a man.
Having failed to buy any of the small HMV/Marconi radio+TV sets at the Bennet-Levy sale, I was thoroughly consoled when I won the HMV 900 there. But I felt that, going by the B-L auction prices, Steve's price for the 904 was by no means excessive, so I took a chance (with long-suffering Cherry's approval).
Today I risked hernia by taking the 904's chassis out of the cabinet. The main purpose of this was to replace the broken tuning dial cord. I've managed to do this without too much swearing, and of course had a better look at the works.
A small black spot in the centre of the screen turned out (as hoped) to be a bit of muck on the outside. There is an ion burn in the phosphor, but I'm told that's usual; we'll see how bad it is if and when I get it running. All the elctrolytics bar one cathode bypass cap. have been replaced in the distant past, as have loads of the waxies (by TCC waxies); I would guess this work was mostly done in the 1950s. The heat coil is missing, a piece of what looks like 5 amp fusewire replaces it

.
For now, it's back in the cabinet, work on the 900 will resume shortly, having been delayed slightly by a transformer rewind.
Serial number of the 904 is 4328 by the way.

Ian Blackbourn

Heatercathodeshort · 18th Dec 2009, 7:55 pm

That is a great looking 904 Ian. Well done! That tube screen does look a bit odd and I hope you have a vacuum. Regards, John.

Ian B · 18th Dec 2009, 8:46 pm

Thanks John. I took that picture before I'd removed the tube and cleaned its face and the safety screen. It looks a lot better than that now, especially in daylight.

Ian

Sean Williams · 18th Dec 2009, 9:01 pm

Once again Ian, I am green with envy......

Now, about getting it into School for an art class, Im sure my Daughter would like to draw it, well as long as it involved coming back here for homework.....

Duke_Nukem · 18th Dec 2009, 9:20 pm

Hi Ian,

As you probably know, i got the Ekco in the auction. Funny thing is, years ago I asked Steve Harris to let me know if a pre-war set ever came up as I was looking for one.

However, just because in a one-off instance a set goes in auction for a particular price it should not be taken as an indication of that being the true value (otherwise TV22's would now be valued at £1600!). I'd say the price you paid was about right and fair from a dealer. It looks in good condition - how about a pic or two of the insides ?

The phosphor burn you mention is indeed typical.

You mention the model 900 you have, I have EMI's ominbus edition of of pre-war models service manual (courtesy of BrianC and Heatercathodeshort) which will be on the next website update - PM if you need it before then.

TTFN,
Jon

chipp1968 · 18th Dec 2009, 10:07 pm

Good price i think . I paid that for my 907 , seems an avarage price at the moment . Presumably this set is already registered on the database?

ppppenguin · 19th Dec 2009, 9:34 am

Congratulations. Sounds like a nice set at a fair price.

Ought to mention that the pre-war omnibus manual doesn't cover the table sets (904, 905, 706, 707). Brian did a great job of cleaning up the scans supplied by John Wakely and myself. The bad bits of my scans were nicely covered by John's and vice versa. Brian also has nice clean scans of the 904 etc manual. I hope that Jon will be able to host all of this on his website soon.

brianc · 19th Dec 2009, 11:51 am

Yes Ian, I do have a good, cleaned-up scan of the 904 etc. service manual. PM me with your email address if you would like a copy - that goes for anyone else of course.
Cheers
Brian

Ian B · 19th Dec 2009, 1:36 pm

Btrian, thanks for the offer, but Steve Harris supplied me with a scan of the 904 manual which seems quite useable.
As regards price, I too thought it was fair. If Steve had put it into the WB auction, he might have got more, but he'd have had to pay the commission, so unless it had made near the ptice of Jon's Ekco, he wouldn't have been much better off. And it could easily have gone for less, after all, the Ekco is surely much rarer.
When I get the 900 going I'll get started on the 904 - one thing at a time, otherwise total chaos!

Ian

brianc · 19th Dec 2009, 2:20 pm

That's fine Ian. If anything is unclear, I can send separate pages.
You seem to be in the same (lucky) position as I am - I have a 706 and a 703, both of which are in my "program" but I can't start either one of them until I have cleared a few other post-war sets (TS49, B16T and 2807) otherwise chaos will reign. However, as you found a transformer in need of a rewind, perhaps I should power up both sets to check the transformers (4 in total) so that rewinds, if necessary, don't hold the retoration up too much. I hope that Ed has got over his party and finishes his tiling soon, just in case!
Cheers
Brian

18th Dec 2009, 7:45 pm	#1
Ian B Hexode Join Date: May 2006 Location: Arlesey, Bedfordshire, UK. Posts: 401	Another HMV 904 I can't keep this to myself any longer! A week or so before Wooton Bassett I contacted Steve Harris (On the Air) as I had been told he was trying to buy a collection which included an HMV 904. Steve was trying to find a buyer for this before closing the deal, as he didn't think there was enough profit in it to put into stock (the dreaded cashflow). Having seen some pictures he sent me, I felt it was worth what he was asking, so we agreed a price. We agreed to meet at WB. Thus it was that before the hall opened, I had had a look at the set, handed over the cheque, (for £4000) and put it in the back of my car. Later, in the auction, a pre-war Ekco TV sold for over £5000. Later Steve came up to me and said "I expect you think you've done very well today". His face was that of a man who wished he'd put a 904 in the auction! However, he gave me copies of the service information, so I think he took it like a man. Having failed to buy any of the small HMV/Marconi radio+TV sets at the Bennet-Levy sale, I was thoroughly consoled when I won the HMV 900 there. But I felt that, going by the B-L auction prices, Steve's price for the 904 was by no means excessive, so I took a chance (with long-suffering Cherry's approval). Today I risked hernia by taking the 904's chassis out of the cabinet. The main purpose of this was to replace the broken tuning dial cord. I've managed to do this without too much swearing, and of course had a better look at the works. A small black spot in the centre of the screen turned out (as hoped) to be a bit of muck on the outside. There is an ion burn in the phosphor, but I'm told that's usual; we'll see how bad it is if and when I get it running. All the elctrolytics bar one cathode bypass cap. have been replaced in the distant past, as have loads of the waxies (by TCC waxies); I would guess this work was mostly done in the 1950s. The heat coil is missing, a piece of what looks like 5 amp fusewire replaces it . For now, it's back in the cabinet, work on the 900 will resume shortly, having been delayed slightly by a transformer rewind. Serial number of the 904 is 4328 by the way. Ian Blackbourn Attached Thumbnails

18th Dec 2009, 7:55 pm	#2
Heatercathodeshort Dekatron Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Warnham, West Sussex. 10 miles south of DORKING. Posts: 9,147	Re: Another HMV 904 That is a great looking 904 Ian. Well done! That tube screen does look a bit odd and I hope you have a vacuum. Regards, John.

18th Dec 2009, 8:46 pm	#3
Ian B Hexode Join Date: May 2006 Location: Arlesey, Bedfordshire, UK. Posts: 401	Re: Another HMV 904 Thanks John. I took that picture before I'd removed the tube and cleaned its face and the safety screen. It looks a lot better than that now, especially in daylight. Ian

18th Dec 2009, 9:01 pm	#4
Sean Williams Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: St.Ippolyts, Hitchin, Hertfordshire QRA IO91UW Posts: 3,518	Re: Another HMV 904 Once again Ian, I am green with envy...... Now, about getting it into School for an art class, Im sure my Daughter would like to draw it, well as long as it involved coming back here for homework..... __________________ Engineers make things work and have spare bits when finished

18th Dec 2009, 9:20 pm	#5
Duke_Nukem Octode Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Birmingham, West Midlands, UK. Posts: 1,268	Re: Another HMV 904 Hi Ian, As you probably know, i got the Ekco in the auction. Funny thing is, years ago I asked Steve Harris to let me know if a pre-war set ever came up as I was looking for one. However, just because in a one-off instance a set goes in auction for a particular price it should not be taken as an indication of that being the true value (otherwise TV22's would now be valued at £1600!). I'd say the price you paid was about right and fair from a dealer. It looks in good condition - how about a pic or two of the insides ? The phosphor burn you mention is indeed typical. You mention the model 900 you have, I have EMI's ominbus edition of of pre-war models service manual (courtesy of BrianC and Heatercathodeshort) which will be on the next website update - PM if you need it before then. TTFN, Jon

18th Dec 2009, 10:07 pm	#6
chipp1968 Rest in Peace Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Somerset, UK. Posts: 2,356	Re: Another HMV 904 Good price i think . I paid that for my 907 , seems an avarage price at the moment . Presumably this set is already registered on the database?

19th Dec 2009, 9:34 am	#7
ppppenguin Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: North London, UK. Posts: 6,168	Re: Another HMV 904 Congratulations. Sounds like a nice set at a fair price. Ought to mention that the pre-war omnibus manual doesn't cover the table sets (904, 905, 706, 707). Brian did a great job of cleaning up the scans supplied by John Wakely and myself. The bad bits of my scans were nicely covered by John's and vice versa. Brian also has nice clean scans of the 904 etc manual. I hope that Jon will be able to host all of this on his website soon.

19th Dec 2009, 11:51 am	#8
brianc Rest in Peace Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Burghfield, Reading, Berkshire, UK, Posts: 1,055	Re: Another HMV 904 Yes Ian, I do have a good, cleaned-up scan of the 904 etc. service manual. PM me with your email address if you would like a copy - that goes for anyone else of course. Cheers Brian

19th Dec 2009, 1:36 pm	#9
Ian B Hexode Join Date: May 2006 Location: Arlesey, Bedfordshire, UK. Posts: 401	Re: Another HMV 904 Btrian, thanks for the offer, but Steve Harris supplied me with a scan of the 904 manual which seems quite useable. As regards price, I too thought it was fair. If Steve had put it into the WB auction, he might have got more, but he'd have had to pay the commission, so unless it had made near the ptice of Jon's Ekco, he wouldn't have been much better off. And it could easily have gone for less, after all, the Ekco is surely much rarer. When I get the 900 going I'll get started on the 904 - one thing at a time, otherwise total chaos! Ian

19th Dec 2009, 2:20 pm	#10
brianc Rest in Peace Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Burghfield, Reading, Berkshire, UK, Posts: 1,055	Re: Another HMV 904 That's fine Ian. If anything is unclear, I can send separate pages. You seem to be in the same (lucky) position as I am - I have a 706 and a 703, both of which are in my "program" but I can't start either one of them until I have cleared a few other post-war sets (TS49, B16T and 2807) otherwise chaos will reign. However, as you found a transformer in need of a rewind, perhaps I should power up both sets to check the transformers (4 in total) so that rewinds, if necessary, don't hold the retoration up too much. I hope that Ed has got over his party and finishes his tiling soon, just in case! Cheers Brian