800B Escutcheon Panel Differences

[Joseph W Strickland]

Since I have both the Early and the Late radio tuner chassis of the 800B, I took note of some differences in their front escutcheon panels. These panels are directly behind the front control knobs.

The material the Early escutcheon panel is made from is stamped aluminum - rather thin. The one on my Early version has suffered bends over its lifetime. I had to very carefully straighten it along the top and bottom long edges. The stamped-raised circular area around the small knobs has the S M B PH TEL; INCREASE; BC SW labels stamped into the metal and then filled with black paint. The words SELECTIVITY, TREBLE, SENSITIVITY, A M BANDS, BASS & VOLUME are stamped into small semi-circular thin metal plates which appear to be chrome plated. These are then glued in place in stamped depressions in the aluminum escutcheon panel.

In the Service Manual there is an illustration of the front escutcheon panel in Figure 9 on page 23 which shows the words SELECTIVITY, TREBLE, SENSITIVITY, A M BANDS, BASS & VOLUME stamped in a straight line - not semi-circular.

The material the Late escutcheon panel is made from is stamped brass - thicker than the aluminum used in the Early version. This version escutcheon panel is quite sturdy and has suffered no bending. The overall finish appears to be a satin nickel paint finish. The stamped-raised circular area around the small knobs has the same treatment as the Early version with stamped lettering filled with black paint. The words SELECTIVITY, TREBLE, SENSITIVITY, A M BANDS, BASS & VOLUME are stamped directly into the brass escutcheon and filled with black paint.

It appears that there may be as many as three versions of the front escutcheon panel. I see no part numbers shown for any of these parts.

Joe

[Joseph W Strickland]

Here are a couple of pictures that show the differences in the two escutcheon panel types I have examples of.

This is the Early version.

This is the Late version.

Joe

[Norman S Braithwaite]

Joe:

Here's a third version that is rather crudely made and has been modified with an extra hole.  I am curious if anyone else has come across this version.

Norman

[Joseph W Strickland]

Norman;

That one may be the one illustrated in the service manual. It appears to be aluminum like my Early model, but with straight label inserts instead of semi-circular ones. I suppose the added hole may have been for earphones or a microphone input.

The labels are not quite straight, which might indicate it was an early engineering version.

Joe

[Norman S Braithwaite]

Joe:

It is steel and I also have thought it may be an early developmental version of the faceplate.  I have only seen the painted aluminum faceplates on some of the last 800B sets.  A number of 800B chassis have had parts swapped by collectors that formerly owned them.  The only way to know for sure if a particular feature was early or late now is to inspect known virgin receivers.

Norman

[Joseph W Strickland]

Norman;

Yes, collectors often make changes as they service or restore units. I like the escutcheon panel that came with my Early unit. I recently acquired another Early model 800B and it appears to have the same escutcheon panel as my first unit. Only the Late unit came with that painted brass panel. I had to coin the back edges of that panel as it had such sharp edges it could easily cut a person. I took the time to do it and that was when I noticed the brass color where I scraped the sharp edges off.

That Late version radio-tuner chassis is badly corroded on top. I believe, after looking closely, that it is likely due to mice or rats. Fortunately the underside is in good shape since E H Scott used good covers on the bottom of their chassis. It kept the critters out of that area.

Yesterday I removed the AM RF compartment from that Late model. I used it today to help me restore my Early AM RF compartment. I was rebuilding the bathtub capacitors in the RF and Mixer stage which had been reworked by cutting their leads and adding external capacitors in the past. I managed to rebuild these and put the lead dress back like it was to begin with. In the Mixer compartment the added capacitors had been soldered to the bracket that holds the trimmer capacitors. It did not provide a good ground as the solder did not take well. The heavy metal surfaces carried away the heat quickly and the solder was a poor bond. Placing capacitors in the bathtub enclosure and restoring the original wiring arrangement helped provide a good ground for the bypass capacitors closer to the tube sockets.

In the process of removing the AM and FM RF compartments/circuitry from that Late model, I discovered how that area is put together and how it has to be taken apart. I took pictures and will do a procedure later on to document how it is done. It looks quite complicated, but actually is not too difficult to do. I now have a ready source of parts. The one thing that distinguishes a Late version underneath is the added K4 and K5 relays attached to the front edge of the AM RF compartment. I see that some of the B+ resistor values are different too, so I need to document that as well.

Have fun!

Joe

This is that 2nd Early model 800B. It has the aluminum escutcheon panel like my first one.