Radio - speakers

[john108]

1968 Charger Radio
I had sent my radio to Wards to get totally repaired.  I bought a new speaker.
I am rebuilding my complete dash assembly and have it on a table in my living room.  
I installed the radio and speaker and put power to the radio only.  It did play a few stations (no real antenna), and I let it play for a couple of hours.

About a week later, after I finished assembling the dash assembly, I tried the radio again.  Not a sound.  With approximately 12v applied, it drew .73 amps.
One speaker terminal indicated approximately 3v and the other 1v.

Does this sound like a speaker problem or radio??
I will try to get another speaker and see what happens.

Any other advice???
Thank you - John

[green69rt]

Sounds like a radio problem to me.  You can check the speakers with a regular flashlight battery.  Just take a couple of pieces of wire and hook to the speaker then hold one onto one end of a battery then flick the other wire over the other end of the battery,  it'll crack and pop but that just indicates it's good.  Doesn't even have to be a very good battery, don't use a car battery, probably to much voltage.

[john108]

I disconnected the wires from the speaker. I used just under 2 volts.  
It didn't crackle or pop BUT I did hear the magnet travel (click or thud).  Polarity didn't matter, it did the same, both ways.

[PlainfieldCharger]

You say you applied aprx 12 volts. Was it under 12v? Many electronic devices stop working with small drops in voltage..

[Pete in NH]

Hi John,

From your testing I would say the speaker is okay. I suspect it's a radio issue. Hopefully Wards will stand behind their work, I would contact them.

[john108]

Pete
I did contact Greg and he said I can send it back.  But I plan on connecting another speaker, if I can borrow one, as a second check.
I think we all believe it is the radio.  When I first received it, I tested it the same way I just did, and it worked.  Now it is silent (no static) but still draws 3/4 amp.

Plainfield: I can retest again.  I can control the voltage very accurately.  It previously played with  less than 12v.  I tried not to exceed 12v.

[b5blue]

Did you turn the volume knob up?

[Dodge Don]

You mentioned "new speaker".....you cannot use modern 4 ohm speakers with classic radios which operate at 8 ohms. You will burn out the output resistor. Factory stock radios require classic 8 ohm speakers. My 70 AM/FM radio was restored by Wards and I upgraded to modern speakers....after burning out my radio twice I learned about the speaker ohm issue    If bad enough you will actually see smoke coming out of radio bezel! Lesson learned the hard way.

[PlainfieldCharger]

You mentioned "new speaker".....you cannot use modern 4 ohm speakers with classic radios which operate at 8 ohms. You will burn out the output resistor. Factory stock radios require classic 8 ohm speakers. My 70 AM/FM radio was restored by Wards and I upgraded to modern speakers....after burning out my radio twice I learned about the speaker ohm issue    If bad enough you will actually see smoke coming out of radio bezel! Lesson learned the hard way.

I would have to say you can use 4 ohm speakers on an 8 ohm system. You just have to use two of them on the same channel. Ohms is a measure of resistance so 2 x 4ohm =8ohm.

[john108]

I am BAD!
The antenna I tried to use (a length if wire) shorted to ground and killed the signal.
The speaker was identified as for a 1968 charger and I believe is 8 ohm.
Correcting my GOOF-UP, the radio works but only 1 station is acceptable to listen to.
It needs a real antenna.  Now, it is almost all static.
I did play with voltage and it will play with a minimum of approximately 6.5 Volts.
Thank you for trying to help me but goof-up stood in the way.
John