PHILIPS BZ437A 'ARBORLITE' (1953)

The Philips BZ437A was manufactured by Philips Electrical Industries of N.Z. Ltd in 1953.

Other radios based on the same chassis:

5-valve, all-wave semi-bandspread table radio in Arborlite cabinet

The plastic cabinet design was supposed to mimick timber grains and the pattern was apparently known as 'Silky Oak'.  Its reminiscent of their early cabinets from 1929-31ish, and a little bit like the photofinish that Philco used in plain timber cabinets in the late 1930's.

Philips BZ437A 'Arborlite'
From Philips Sales Literature

Technical Information

Valves (5): ECH43, EAF42, EBC41, EL41, EZ40

Intermediate Frequency: 455kc/s

Frequency Bands: 3

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

Service information Philips_BZ437A.pdf

Philips BZ437A 'Arborlite'

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).

Other documented models using this chassis (2 in total)

YEARMODEL NAME
1953 Philips BZ437A 'Tablegram'