Atwater Kent 559N

The AK 559N is a 9 tube radio with an RF amp and a signal meter. Push pull 2A5s provide audio power to a single 10.5" field coil speaker. The cabinet is small by 1930s standards.

Earlier I had said that I had reached the bottom of the radio pile given to my by Jerry. Well, that was true. Of the 40 or so radios several were in such bad shape that restoration was either going to be nearly impossible or very time consuming. Several of the early AC powered "bread box" radios had both poor cabinets and failing pot-metal parts. There are some models where failure of the pot-metal castings is so common that it is unlikely that a good replacement could ever be found. These radios may still be desirable for display but if the cabinets are shot then there is no really good reason to work on them.

Some of Jerry's radios had the unfortunate luck of being exposed to moisture when a fir tree limb punctured the roof of his two-story shop. I believe that this AK 559N was among them.

As you can see from the BEFORE picture (above left) there was significant damage to the cabinet. This added to the fact that restoration of most 1934 Atwater Kent chassis is always a big job pushed this project towards the parts pile. But I also knew how nice it could be.

Anyone visiting the shop/museum has seen the "wood shed". Not used for fire wood (mostly), rather for wood and veneers used in cabinet repair and for parts chassis. The shed keeps the clutter down in the shop. There is room in the shed to keep a couple of cabinets. I usually decide right away if there is a future for most radios but sometimes a radio like the 559 gets disassembled, the speaker/chassis stored and the cabinet placed in this area. If it gets in the way, well, at least the veneer is salvaged. But sometimes (seldom) there will be a break in the demands of shop/house/tree farm and the project will be revived.

These AK chassis are outstanding for a mid-rage radio manufacture of the mid 1930s. I think that they attempted to use very good parts in the assemblies. I doubt that any consideration was given to the ability to survive a century. We are lucky that some have survived - more or less.

I really was not looking forward to working on the delaminated cabinet so I started on the chassis restoration, a good project for the cold winter months.

Above is the before and after shot of the underside of the 559 chassis. As always the objective was to repair damage/deterioration and find/replace missing original parts. The result should look like the chassis did a year or two after manufacture. (to look new most of these chassis would need to be replated, something that is done for high-end radios)

Unfortunately nearly every part and wire needed some restoration or replacement.

I usually move through a chassis like this servicing or replacing all of the parts hooked to a lug at one time. Often this will result in a lot of parts being pulled out at once. I have a good memory and schematics help a lot but it is highly advisable to take a lot of pictures before and during the process. Most radios work upon completion. Once in a while there will be a miss-wired connection but this is so seldom that upon completion I just plug the radio in and begin alignment.

This radio has a modular RF/IF section. Since all of the wire and most of the components needed to be serviced or replaced this sub-chassis must be removed.

Above is the before and after of the rf/if chassis. At this point someone should ask if I know where all of those wires go.

In addition to the point to point wiring all of the RF, IF, Power and audio transformers need to be rewired. This also includes the filter chokes in the power supply. AK liked to put tar all over most coils and windings (potted). The connections need to be located inside of the cans and housings so that all new "rubber" wire can be added.

Above is the original wire. Some techs look at this and say that this wire is serviceable. Well some of it isn't. and one day soon, none of it will be. I have never had an AK power transformer fail after it has been rewired. I believe that the general consensus that they are "weak" is derived from the likelihood that shorted rubber wire is involved in the failures.

Above is a "restuffed" AK paper capacitor. It is tough to preserve the rather flimsy paper label and barrel along with the leads that exit through the side, rather than the ends. AK did not make it any easier for the restorer/tech having used a part number rather than a value on the label. For this a schematic/parts list is necessary to assure the proper replacement.

Resistors in the chassis are a real problem. For the most part, they are all bad. To make things worse for the restoration, the construction does not lend it's self to easy reproduction/replacement.

The styles of resistors used are either an early "dog-bone" or various wire wound types. In many radios the wire wound resistors, built on some form of substrate, have survived. AK built their WW resistors in the form of a flexible attachment that looks like a heavy gauge wire (right above). Many of these have not survived or have become intermittent. Unlike the types built with visible wire these corrode badly.

The dog-bone style types rely on a carbon rod inside of a ceramic holder with lead ends that make a mechanical contact with the carbon rod. This connection becomes intermittent over time.

The two examples above have been rebuilt. In the case of the WW resistor 4 or 5W modern resistors are hidden in the ends - usually in both ends - and the original cloth cover is slipped over a new wire connected to the new components. The old dog bones need to be drilled. A hole in the center of both ends allows the carbon rod and the ceramic to be driven out of the end. Care must be exercised so as to not damage the soft metal ends. A new 2 or 3 W resistor is covered with high temp spaghetti and soldered to the ends.

The AK all wave is what most collectors call a robot dial or shutter dial (as with Zenith). The dial displays slide up and down allowing only the selected band to be displayed. There is also a shadow meter used to display signal strength. These shadow meters often become less sensitive due to  depolarization of the needle (movement).

Well, with the chassis completed I needed to roundup my glue and brushes. While the grill cloth is intact, the baffle board it is mounted on is just a pile of delaminated plywood.

Most of the veneers is still present though much of it is loose.

Here we have a piece of elm burl that can be used for replacement (not bird's eye maple).

Above is the brother of the 559, the 7 tube 447 table model. It's construction is very similar as are is the veneers used in the cabinet.

I'm glad the 559 did not become spare parts.