VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Fuse size for 48 radio

Does anyone know the fuse size for a stock 6 V radio. on the name plate it says Chevrolet. I tried a 10 amp & that blows. Just purchased it & seller says it works, I do not want to stick a wire in the socket & cause damage. I looked through the owner's manual & could find nothing.

Thanks for any help,

tom,

I don't really know a thing about six-volt radios, but your post caught my attention...just thinking intuitively, that ten ampere fuse is providing 600 watts of power...maybe it requires that, but I think it seems like quite a bit of power already...

I agree that it'd be better to wait for one of the knowledgeable people here to reply, rather than fry your radio with too much power...


epi

If the radio blows a 10 amp fuse it needs to get to some ones bench for diagnosis and repair.

hey ray,

just curious as to how much power those six-volt radios used for all those tubes...


epi

Approximately 6 AMP on the mechanical PB radios and over 12 AMPs on the electronic tune radios. At rest, 6-8 AMPS.

oh, so ten amperes isn't outrageously out of the range of normal, but seems high for tom above, as his would have just been starting up when his fuse blew?..


epi

Thanks guys the seller has agreed to take the unit back.

Thanks again for your input,

For all radio related questions / concerns / issues I suggest that you contact Mr. Ray Holland at 360 695-6349 or chev33radio@comcast.net. He is a VCCA member and a GREAT resource for all radio related issues. He knows these units inside and out. Bowtie

Ray,could you explain the difference between the 2 radios you mentioned above,mechanical PB and the electronic, and which is the correct accessory for the 48 fleetline?Thanks chef-

Chevrolet offered three radios for the 1946-48 cars. The small 4 pushbutton radios could be used in the cars and was also correct for the trucks of the same years. The radio was the only one for the truck. The cars deserved a much better radio.


The middle radio was a 6 pushbutton radio that mounted in the dash of the 1946-48 cars. This was a very simple radio and worked very well in the car. You could adjust the tone in addition to the stations that could be preset for each push-button.


The last radio is the “monster” radio. This radio had a control unit that mounted on the steering column. The knob on the dash unit that was usually the on/off/volume was used for the dial light dimmer. The change of stations through 5 preset settings was accomplished by the knob on the steering column control and was activated by pressing in on the knob. Stations could be “dialed in” by the right knob on the dash unit. The same knob controlled the on/off/volume by twisting through the three functions of on/off/volume. The quality of this radio would be rated as ”˜excellent’.


All three radios used either the side-mount-antenna or the cowl mount antenna.

An article on the small radio is in the Dec 87 G&D. The middle radio was in the May 87 G&D. And the "monster" radio was in the May 85 G&D.

Just to add to the radios above the universal retailed out at 39.50 . The De Luxe @ 62.50 and the steering column central @ 69.50 . Boy, that was big bucks back then (1946). Probably 2 weeks wages back then. And we think our kids are nuts for spending a grand on their stereos for their cars. But then we can still hear.lol.
Cheers!!!

I have a 5 button radio for my '48. My buddy just finished refurbishing it with new tubes and new caps and such. The fuse holder was empty when I got it. We're going to bypass the original fuse holder and put one in-line on the power wire.

I stopped at Radio Shack yesterday the get the holder and some fuses and happened to meet an old guy who restores radios. He said he'd never done a car radio but the general rule for determining a fuse rating is:

Output wattage divided by power voltage, then multiplied by two.

So, if the radio output is 20 watts (I have no idea what it really is...) and is powered by 6 volts, that's (20 / 6) x 2 = 6.667.

Can anyone confirm or deny this equation?

Anybody know the wattage output of a 40's Chevy car radio?

DCMatt

I have a 5 button radio for my '48. My buddy just finished refurbishing it with new tubes and new caps and such. The fuse holder was empty when I got it. We're going to bypass the original fuse holder and put one in-line on the power wire.

I stopped at Radio Shack yesterday the get the holder and some fuses and happened to meet an old guy who restores radios. He said he'd never done a car radio but the general rule for determining a fuse rating is:

Output wattage divided by power voltage, then multiplied by two.

So, if the radio output is 20 watts (I have no idea what it really is...) and is powered by 6 volts, that's (20 / 6) x 2 = 6.667.

Can anyone confirm or deny this equation?

Anybody know the wattage output of a 40's Chevy car radio?

DCMatt

Just a little more info...

I looked in the 1951 radio service manual (Thanks to Keith Hardy!). It says the '51 radios are 5 watt. I think that blows (no pun intended) the fuse rating equation I got from the guy I met at Radio Shack.

Secondly, I found a part # and description for the '48 radio fuse. It says 14 amps! :eek:

My repair guy put a standard 6 amp fast blo fuse in my radio. It powered up without popping the fuse - but the radio isn't working properly yet, either, so we'll see...

My guy did some research and found other references to 10 - 15 amp fuses for car radios of this era.

DCMatt

From my memory the 6 volt radios used a 14 amp fuse.In normal use I belive the radio has about a 6 or 7 amp draw.The old vibrator draws the majority of the amps.
The fuse size you mentioned would not cause a "radio" problem.