PHILIPS BZ156U (1955)

The Philips BZ156U was manufactured by Philips Electrical Industries of N.Z. Ltd in 1955.

4-valve broadcast band mantle radio.

Note: Radio and Electronics show a different cabinet to that in the service document and photos - this is possibly a misprint, although it could have been released in different cabinets.

Colour options were either cream, or maroon with a cream front.

Also sold as a Mullard model 466, and similar to the previous years model, BZ146U (photos of this model show how the back panel should look)

Note: This is a series-string heater, transformerless, set which means the chassis has the possibility of being at mains voltage levels.  If you don't know what you're doing then this set can be lethal.  Note that the photographed model is missing its back, which is potentially very dangerous.  The burnt wirewound device second from the right is a step-down resistor and it sees potentially lethal voltages as well as extreme heat.  It is the authors view that sets of this nature should have the power cords removed and not be used for anything more than a decoration.

1955 Philips BZ156U

Technical Information

Valves (4): UCH42, UAF42, UL41, UY41

Intermediate Frequency: 455kc/s

Frequency Bands: 1

Chassis Notes(most schematics can be clicked to download a full size version)

WARNING: Transformerless set - ensure the back is present and intact, and that the chassis connection is neutral

1955 Philips BZ156U

Service information (Philips_BZ156U_-_4V_BC_ACDC_-_19xx.pdf) here

General Construction Notes for Philips Electrical Industries of N.Z. Ltd:

Philips early-mid century were probably the Google of their time - they had branches in many countries and a global brand that everyone knew - and were apparently happy to let engineers come up with new ideas and implement them.  Construction is often overly complex but very well engineered - although repairs can also take a complex path.  They used time-in-motion studies to find the most cost effective way to asemble sets and sometimes this means repairs can be nightmarish (if you've ever worked on a V7A Theaterette this will be all too aparent).  U suffix model numbers are transformerless (hot chassis) sets and great care should be taken, or the sets avoided altogether.

Philips model codes are complex - they are explained in-depth on the Philips brand page. 

Mullard codes: The model codes from Mullard sets (unlike their Philips counterparts) appear to contain valve count and date information.  For example, the model 525 is a 5-valve 1945 design.  The 2 appears to just be an identifier (most likely in case there were two models in 1945 with 5 valves, which there was - the 515 is the small 'Meteor' mantle set).

Fleetwood codes are often just a rearranged version of the Philips code.  For example, the FL374T transistor radio is a rearrangement of the Philips model L3Z74T.  Early Fleetwood codes were numeric with F on the end.  From about 1959 onwards the codes were much more like their Philips counterparts.  They start with F or FL (or sometimes FZ for larger consoles)...  These later codes also tend to end in a Philips-style identifier for the power source (A for mains, B for battery, T for transistor battery, etc - see the Philips brand page for more info on that).