Grundig Model 95U Radio

I actually found this radio some time last year at an estate sale, where I picked up several other items. Since pickings have been slow lately and I was recently able to get this guy working, I thought I'd talk about my fix.

Immaculate Wood Finish

So when I got home with the radio I foolishly plugged it in - a huge spark flew and the breaker kicked. Looking carefully at the cord there was a break right where the cord melded into the housing. I took the time to take the cord apart and open up the case, mostly to see how bad the paper cone was deteriorated. Amazingly the interior was very clean and the paper still intact - no brittleness that you usually see in old radios and speakers.

So this is what the cord looks like:

And you can see the culprit here:

I made a few inquiries online with various radio "experts" - one guy I found specializes in restoring old Grundig radios. I related the cord issue and asked if there were any replacements available - his reply was that there weren't. At that point I was resigned into cutting the piece apart, rewiring and epoxying everything back together - so it became a back-burner project.

Fast forward to yesterday - I was at my local Goodwill and looking for an externsion cord to test a piece of outdoor equipment - I came across this old appliance cord and thought "this looks just like the cord on that old Grundig radio!" It came home with me for $1.91

And viola! A perfect fit:

Here's the test - plugged in for the second, hopefully successful time:

I put together this short video as I tested the stations and controls:

Another cool, useful item saved from the landfill!

-- John