Philips 'Tornado' 860 Radio

Just found my grandmother's old Philips 860. I think she and my grandad owned it from new as my mum remembers if from when she was growing up. According to radio museum.org it was produced in 1977/1978. I know my gran was very fond of it but it stopped working a few years ago. Unfortunately, she passed away earlier this year so I would like to restore it so I have something to remember her by, I'm sure my mum would appreciate it too.

I've turned it on using the mains lead and it sounds fine but it's stuck on a single station because the tuning knob isn't working properly. I suspect there's a string inside that's come loose or frayed, haven't opened it up yet. Also, there's a LOT of rust in the battery compartment, not really sure how to clean it.

Oh, and it needs a damn good clean.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

I just had a box from a member with all the batt springs rusted up, a bit of wet and dry sandpaper wd40 and servicol good as new, what was worse for me it was 100v only so she had to work on batts lol...can't help with the rest but good luck anyway Chris

 

Thanks, I'm just happy my grandparents kept the mains lead!

 

Great to have a radio with family connections

 

Taken it home and given it a bit of a clean.


I opened it up to look at the tuning mechanism but it's behind the circuit board which I'm struggling to remove (can't find a service manual anywhere). Not going to risk breaking it.



There's a lot of white stuff around the speaker, not sure what that is.


The battery compartment is very rusty on one side and corroded on the other.



There's also a bit of plastic that covers one of the mains lead prongs meaning you can use a 240V power supply or a 120V. I suspect this is because it was also sold in the US and Philips wanted a single model for both markets.






Anyway, I hope to find a service manual soon, so I can fix it. If not

 

https://elektrotanya.com/philips_90al860-00-15-22_portable_receiver_sm.pdf/download.html

Click on "Get Manual" just below the preview picture.
It seems to take about ten seconds for the link to appear.
Ignore all other (larger) links which are click through advertising.
The challenge on these free manual sites is finding the correct link.

It sounds as if the dial cord has broken. On the back of the square white Variable Capacitor next to the Ferrite rod there will be a big pulley.

There should be cord around that, probably with a spring to tension it, which goes around other smaller pulleys and the shaft attached to the tuning knob.

This is all shown on page 12 of the service manual.

 

Thanks for that, hopefully this should be a lot easier now

 

Thanks, I still haven't managed to clean the battery compartment so I might try that next.

I've just received a Philips AR080 'Clockradiorecorder'. It works perfectly and it's in pretty good condition. I'm using it as an alarm since my Amazon Echo keeps disconnecting from the WiFi every few days. Seems strange that I've replaced the Echo with something 38 years older.

 

Is there any replacement coil for battery compartment, one of the coil is clean but the other one is rusty. I never had good experience cleaning them, is there any replacement part for this coil?

 

That is real old one Chris.

Lets have some photos.

It wouldn't surprise me if the AR080 cost more than the Amazon Echo. The AR060 without the clock cost £39 back then.



I didn't realise Clockradiorecorders were around back then although there is a Waltham (a brand more normally associated with places like Woolworths)
in the 1979 Argos catalogue for £58 ! That would have been over two weeks wages for me back then.

The flat style became more popular in about 1983 when they were down to about £30. I remember a colleague saying both his daughters wanted them for Christmas,
and thinking it was going to be expensive for him.

 

Not that I've seen. I could probably use a generic coil.

I didn't pay very much for my AR080 because it was 'faulty'. The only thing wrong with it was that the tape head needed cleaning which I've done and it sounds great.

It cost £60 in 1979, taking inflation into account, that's about £280 today!:
https://issuu.com/retromash/docs/argos-no12-1979-autumn/40

Just seen a couple of Walthams in a 1977 Argos catalogue. They don't have alarms but they would still be great for general listening. I've noticed one of them cost £70, could anybody actually afford that?!:

https://issuu.com/retromash/docs/argos-no08-1977-autumn/46



Not really keen on the flat models.

 

I should have looked a bit closer. Retromash is a great site

For them to be in the catalogues they obviously could. Whenever I need a reality check I compare prices to something like a MacBook today.
Of course computers were only for the nerdiest of nerds back then, usually having to be soldered together. Mobile phones and Satellite TV were unheard of so people didn't have to pay for those. Adding a digital frequency readout to a tuner, or making a LCD digital clock (as older richer colleagues did) was considered high tech back then, although if you won the Premium Bonds top prize you could buy yourself a VCR.