The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Connecting Power to 6v Delco Radio

I just restored my 54 pushbuttion radio but can't figure something out.

I have 2 wires coming from the radio. One wire goes directly to the ON/OFF Volume pot - Is this the 6v Power wire?

The other runs to a 1"x2" metal plate mounted on the inside top of the tuner case which then goes to the ON/OFF Volume pot. What the heck is this animal? Perhaps from the lightswitch to feed the dial light?

I apparently replaced both wires some time back with 14 AWG, so wire size doesn't give me any clue. I did have the radio working several years ago but can't remember the hookup.

Thanks for any help!

One should be power in and the other goes to a speaker terminal. Both the radio case and the other speaker terminal ground to frame.

jgalt,

Are you referring to a '54 car radio (there were no pushbuttons on the 54 truck radio)? Does the radio mount in the dash of your truck?

Most likely the two wires are for the radio power and radio light bulb (as you stated). Both are 6v and you should be easily able to test which serves what purpose (ground the case and feed 6v to each wire (one at a time). If you have a good light bulb, you will soon figure out the leads.

The truck radio had two additional leads that were soldered to the speaker (mounted on a plate on top of the radio). The 53 manual-tune auto radio that I have seen has a phono-plug outlet for speaker connection (this plug may not be original). How do your speaker wires connect to the radio? Are you able to post a picture?

Good luck,
Tim

On this radio, the speaker is connected thru an RCA jack. Someone on another forum suggested that the other wire might be for the radio dial light. This makes sense, so I'll dig in that direction.

I still wonder what the heck the metal plate is for. It would act as a capacitor or perhaps noise supressor I'm thinking, dunno.

On my '51, one is for the light, the other for
power. On mine, the one for power, has an in
line fuse. I hooked them both up to a hot
source. Cecil........

My radio is from a 54 car. Does anyone know the correct connection point for the lamp wire?

I wonder if it should go to the light switch assembly - to the terminal which feeds the instrument lamps. In this arrangement, the radio lamp would be dimmable.

Hooking both leads to power would certainly be a decent solution, the radio will see only occasional use I'm sure. Especially so after the 6 volt MP3 sound system plan is implemented :p .

Thanks for the replys!

Your correct in that is suppose to go to the
light switch assembly. I have mine going
to the accessory terminal on my ignition
because the light only goes on when the radio
is on. I won't be using it that much anyway.
I have a tough time getting to the light switch
right now with everything hooked up. Cecil.....

One lead is for the light. Normally this is connected to the instrument lamps for dimming control. The other is the power that runs the radio. The metal plate is a capacitor, sometimes called a chassis capacitor. The wire coming from the metal plate should have a small coil formation about an inch long, 1/2" in diameter. Together they form a filter to stop the electrical noise from the rest of the system from getting into the radio.