Capehart 405E Restoration

[ketron281989]

Good day to all,

I wanted to share a restoration on a machine I am servicing for a gentleman out of Alabama. I love servicing early electric phonographs as well as radio/phono models produced by manufacturers which pre-date WWII. My passion and specialization is Capehart. This company offered the ultimate set up during the 1930's and early 1940's time period for all your radio and electrically produced record needs. Several of you may already know Capehart. This is my 20th Capehart restoration to date. I have serviced both 400 series and top of the line 500 series Capehart's and I wanted to document this 400 series here showing just how great, and complex, these machines are. I hope you enjoy. I also have a YouTube channel and will be posting restoration videos as I go for those interested.

Within the realm of Phonographs and early changers, I wanted to share a recent restoration for a customer based out of Alabama.
This Gentleman had seen this very Capehart first play back in the 1970's and was hooked ever since. Just recently after all those years, owning one became a reality for him. Ironically it was the same one he had seen play and flip records back in the 1970's!

In for service is a circa 1937 Capehart 405E. This the fancy early Chippendale cabinet. The 400 model Capehart's were some of the most premier radio/phonograph models available to the consumer back in the 1930s/1940s era. I would somewhat compare them the Victor electrola units of the late 1920's in terms of grandeur and innovation. Capehart took it up several notches, radio/amplifier technology did advance quite a bit by the late 1930's. Innovations such as superheterodyne tuners, bi-amplified circuits with two speakers, and more powerful tubes were available and utilized in the Capehart. This machine likely received a wood cabinet refinish sometime in the 1950's. It sports all of its original equipment including the famed one and only Capehart 16-E fully automatic record changer. This record changer is a marvel to watch operate. Fully restored and calibrated it will perform record playing and changing flawlessly. These are precision machines and must be properly adjusted to work correctly or they will indeed crunch records. This Capehart 405E was likely in a club or public area. As you can see there are two sets of locks on the unit. This is not a one-off feature as I have owned and seen other collector's Capehart's with the same feature. This was likely a dealer addition at time of purchase. The keys are missing, we are going to get new one's made. One locks the front door for the radio tuner, and another inside the cabinet locks out the AC power from ever arriving the tuner. This ensures no one could turn on the set without the master key. Rather interesting set up indeed.

Scope of work:

Our main objective in this restoration for the customer is to complete a full electrical and mechanical restoration. Cosmetics will also be attended to with great detail. All electronics will receive a full electrical evaluation, restoration, and professional alignment post electrical restoration. We will also check the speakers for damage, cable damage, and also check all radio tubes for defects. We will be attending to cosmetics such as remanufacturing the missing keys for the locks, re-plate of the two-dial escutcheon's, re-painting black wrinkle finish metal items in need of re-paint, as well as polishing and remanufacturing of metal surfaces and hard rubber items on the changer mechanism surface. The record changer and motor will receive a full disassembly, cleaning, new grease and oil applied, re-assembly, and testing of records post-restoration. My official signoff will be once we send the changer thru a 100-record cycle with no hang-up's. Lets dig in!!

VIDEO 1: https://youtu.be/3TbEFnXjNk0?si=V_y2dN-a9TtKMDt2

[ketron281989]

Chapter 1:

Upon preliminary analysis it appears this machine has not seen use in quite some time. According to the owner, this set has not been powered up since the 1990's. We had a mouse living in the unit at one point. Everything looks untouched for the most part. With all electronics and speakers removed we check underneath the chassis and look over the speaker cones. The cones are in mint condition, this is likely the first time they have ever been removed from the unit, very heavy. The radio chassis has seen some mouse damage as the wiring near several coil cans has been chewed with insulation missing. Several pilot lamp wires have also been chewed thru. Both amplifier chassis look to be in good condition with no rodent damage. Overall, very little electrical restoration has been performed. Most all paper wax capacitors and electrolytics are the originals from 1937. We will start restoration on both amplifiers now.

VIDEO 2: https://youtu.be/Vp2fM3mtgHI?si=WeeVnCxEifpUUzFz

VIDEO 3: https://youtu.be/aMoXNLZj1qs?si=L7ILgLdeoXZe_6Tv

[ketron281989]

Chapter 2:

In 1937 The Capehart 400 sported a treble amplifier and bass amplifier. The smaller amp went with the 12-inch baffle mount black Jensen speaker. The larger amplifier went with the 14-inch pedestal Jensen speaker. Both were driven independently although interconnected thru the larger amp and radio tuner. Each amplifier supports 6L6 push pull audio output and all together capable of 30 watts total power output. Very powerful for its day. Each amplifier will receive a meticulous electrical restoration as well as a light cleaning and testing of amplifier tubes.

Chapter 3:

Finished results below. In place of wet electrolytics I used dry non polarized capacitors of the finest modern quality today. These large black Solen branded capacitors are made in France and are some of the finest to be found on the market today. Wet electrolytics will eventually dry out and need to be replaced. Dry nonpolar caps will last a lifetime for the owner. All capacitors and all but one special wire wound resistor have been changed out for brand new components. These amps will last a lifetime.

Chapter 4:

The Capehart 400 radio tuner for 1937 included many fine features only top end radios of the day had. This tuner included sensitivity control, variable I.F. control, separate bass and treble controls, master volume control, four bandwidths making it an all-wave tuner capable of tuning in the most discriminating rf waves out there today. The tuner had never been touched previously. The following picture shows the finished result. All capacitors were changed including both very hard to access underneath the band switch control. All resistors and special value micas were checked and checked good. Be very careful with swapping parts on sensitive tuners as most manufacturers hand-picked values for their tuner circuits. These values can be very hard to find today. Both amplifier's, speakers, and radio tuner are now cleaned and ready for install into the cabinet once again.

VIDEO 4: https://youtu.be/g-18qWC0HUE?si=sLizNgA7T5HTgBcr

[ketron281989]

Chapter 5:



The radio and amplifier units sound great post restoration and alignment checks. Check out the video below of the radio/amplifier units once again singing their tune. Radio performance shown in this video. Next up will be the automatic record changer servicing.

VIDEO 5: https://youtu.be/a4eGcESw_vQ?si=-Uor_tRegArniP5Q

[ketron281989]

Chapter 6:



As we dig into the 16-E record changer, it is very evident someone had made incorrect adjustments long ago. These changers are sensitive and complex. Careful and precision adjustments must be made to ensure these changers work correctly during full cycles and within the play position.



Step one was to de-grease the entire changer mechanism. Most all grease had solidified long ago. Running the cycle by hand only I noticed binding in "one side" and "both side" positions. Once de-greased, I further discovered two of the inner guide pins completely out of their track. I had to perform a partial disassemble of this area of the changer, clean out all old grease from the cylinders and off the pins. Once complete I oiled the cylinders, pins, and roller bearings within the end of each pin. This process is critical to ensure a proper working changer. The only correct way to do this is to perform what I performed here as these pins are vial to correctly operate the machine. Careful to keep track of the location of parts at all time, I was able to re-assemble this area of the changer. Once completed, I finished greasing the changer, as well as provided oil on all oil-lite bearings. Once completed, I disassembled the tone arm and lift cam. Once again these items need cleaned and lubricated. They are always overlooked and will eventually cause issues if not tended to. The main shaft needs to be lubricated as well as the springs. The tone arm collar guides the vertical movement of the lift cam. light grease needs to be applied to the shinny shaft. Prior to this, the tone arm was sluggish upon set down onto the record due to the old solidified grease. Once this was complete and leather facing checked good, I started part 1 of the changer calibration and alignment. This is a very involved process. Will be back with more soon.



Jon

[Dischoard]

Wow, that is a LOT of moving parts! I love these old machines as well and have gotten into some electrical repair and changer repair. Haven't gone much past the 50s though. Looks daunting!

[JerryVan]

Wow! That changer mech is built like a battleship! What a machine.

[ketron281989]

Thank you gentlemen. Glad you are enjoying the restoration.

Jon

[ketron281989]

After many hours of calibration and adjustment, the changer is now complete. We first aligned the record tray, magazine, as well as set the lash in the magazine. Next we verified our measurements were correct with the reverse arm cam and pivot. Afterward, we set the elevation on the record tray near end of cycle so the falling record would line up the center spindle. Next we set the leather facing on the tone arm pivot cam and set the throw out arm and shaft. After installing a new piece of rubber on the throw out arm wheel we next set up calibration of the tone arm, lift cam, set down elevation, and pivot. I measured and verified the height of the tone arm to top of turntable felt, adjusted pick up elevation, as well as throw out lever and arm assembly for both 12 and 10 inch records. It's important the distance between the record tray and yoke to be set at ⅝ inch so it may clear during cycle. It is also imperative the needle sit's down on the record 5/32 inch from edge. There is a lot of adjustment that goes into making one of these changers perform properly. We not only cleaned all painted surfaces but also provided touch up, polishing of the chrome pieces, installed new record tray felt, and also installed a plastic sheet for the turntable which was a genuine Capehart bulletin issued in 1935 or before. Some time in the early days of the 16-E, customers reported records catching on the felt from time to time which in turn caused a mechanism jam and a broken record. A smooth polished disk was installed on many changers as a result by the original Capehart dealer. I have seen many changers over the years with this plastic item installed. It is for good reason.



My complete video detailing the Capehart 16-E Record Changer Restoration: https://youtu.be/PnrXtVU7dfU?si=PClWmqAjxbzgN9cD

[phonosandradios]

That sure is a beast of a changer and as someone else said its built like a battleship. It is so complex that getting everything adjusted correctly must be one hell of of job! So well done for doing such a great job with it to get it working so smoothly. I have been following the restoration of this amazing machine on you you tube channel with great interest and can't wait to see the finished thing with it all back in the cabinet.