In 1936 outlets were non-polarized and ungrounded. This was made more dangerous by a design shared by all All American Five radios. One side of the power line runs through the switch and connects to the chassis. This can either be hot, or neutral depending on the way the non-polarized plug is inserted into the wall outlet.
The power line is connected this way so the metal chassis can be used to supply power to different parts of the circuit, without having to run a lot of extra wires.
As we’ve learned, having a non-polarized, ungrounded device with power on the chassis is a recipe for disaster. They knew this in 1936, of course, and that’s one reason most All American Five radios are made of wood, or resins, which serve to insulate the user from the metal chassis.
If a radio had a missing knob, or a person touched the exposed chassis in the back, though, a painful shock could still occur.
To prevent this, I recommend changing a few things on All Americas Five radios. On ours, I first added a polarized plug. This ensured that the chassis could only be connected to neutral which we’ve learned is safer.
Then I rewired the radio so that instead of the neutral being switched, the hot was switched. Again, the hot side is more dangerous, so it helps to make sure it’s switched off when the radio is not in use.
These are the new hot wires I attached to the switch, and a diagram I made to help guide me. You can also see in the diagram that I wanted to add a fuse to the hot line.
This can help because sometimes a dangerous short circuit can occur, that’s not enough to trip the 15 or 20 amp circuit breaker.
By adding a one amp fuse, the radio is allowed plenty of power, but any current draw over one amp will blow the fuse, and cut the power.
Here you can see I’ve soldered the fuse holder to the hot line. And here it is fully installed.
On the next video, we’ll learn about these five funny light bulbs that put the five in our All American Five radio. To stay updated, please subscribe and click the bell. And if you like this video, give it a thumbs up. See you soon.
#radiorepair #radio #electronicsrepair #restoration
Rewire Antique Radios for Safety
Теги
Polarized outletUngrounded outletAll American fiveantique radioantique radio repairantique electronicsvintage radiorewiring old radiosrewiring all american fiveadding fuse to radioradio power lineradio schematicradio restorationradio fuseradio collectingradio shock hazardhot chassis radiohot vs neutralwhat is hotwhat is neutralradio groundAntique radio restoration
