Autronic Eye Parts Source

[Greg Powers]

I am looking for a source for tubes for the autronic eye on a 1954  Series 62 Sedan. I located a company in Pennsylvania but they accept no form of payment but Google Pay. I contacted them by phone and they reinforced this policy. I do not have a Google Pay account and am not interested in opening such. Do any of you have a source for parts for the Autronic Eye that might be more flexible in their manner of doing business? I really appreciate your help. - Greg

[PHIL WHYTE CLC 14192]

Look on Ebay for tubes or some of the vintage radio suppliers should be able to supply the tubes. With my Autronic eye it was the vibrator that failed - all the other components are fine 58 years after my car was built !
Phil

[J. Gomez]

Greg,

I have to second Phil’s comments, the amplifier and ballast vacuum tubes in the amplifier unit would last a long time, unless the glass is cracked or broken. The vibrator would be the predominate piece to fail. 

Are you sure you need these for your unit? Were you able to test them?

[bcroe]

If the vibrator is bad, best to use a solid state replacement, which will
last longer.  I would just put one in on principal.  Bruce Roe

[Doug Houston]

I'll have to look around, but I may have the Photomultiplier tube. I have all of the service data for the Autronic Eyeball, and if memory serves, the Phototube is the same on both the 6 Volt models, and the 12 Volt models. That means that a resistance is used to drop the filament voltage for the photomultiplier. That must be what the ballast does. 

[Glen]

Looking at the circuit diagram for 1955 the photo tube does not have a filament.  The amplifier tube is a duo triode but they don’t have a standard tube number for it.  Might be able to find one if I search the tube manuals. 

The ballast might be nothing more than a light bulb with a vacuum tube base. 

I wonder if the vibrator is the same as the ones used in the radios of the era. 

[J. Gomez]

The Autronic eye AC version the amp tube 594-3333 is a general twin triode tube, a 12AU7 would be a generic replacement.

The ballast tube drops the supply 12V voltage to about 6.5V for the vibrator. There are 6V ballast tubes however the pin-out on these is different from the OEM 594-4299 type. The vibrator is a 6V type while the radio is a 12V type.

I’ve replaced the OEM 594-4300 vibrator with a generic 6v electromechanical type with no problem. However I’ve not try using the electronic type vibrator, can’t say if these will work or not.

Hope this helps..!

[Doug Houston]

Again, I need to go downstairs (I walk poorly), and look in my Delco books to see if the vibrator for the Eyeball has the conventional 4 pin base (and if it's the conventional can size. too) .
I tend to feel the same way about the solid state vibrators. I've encountered only a few of them, and all but one were bad. A friend who used to service auto sets sent me pictures of one of the solid state jobs, and it had only a little chip inside, that was supposed to do all of the contacting for the vibrator function.  I was most underwhelmed.

I also have a control unit that I want to install in my '56 Cadillac. A look in there should tell me a lot.

There is a method of re-starting a vibrator, after a long time of not operating. I should do a post here of how to do it. It may help some of those with a good vibrator that has tarnished contacts. I've rescued quite a few from the trash can over the years. 

I know better than to try to insert a technical article in the Self Starter nowadays. I once did a monthly series on radio service, but the editors would laugh at me now!!

[bcroe]

Again, I need to go downstairs (I walk poorly), and look in my Delco books to see if the vibrator for the Eyeball has the conventional 4 pin base (and if it's the conventional can size. too) .
I tend to feel the same way about the solid state vibrators. I've encountered only a few of them, and all but one were bad. A friend who used to service auto sets sent me pictures of one of the solid state jobs, and it had only a little chip inside, that was supposed to do all of the contacting for the vibrator function.  I was most underwhelmed.

There is a method of re-starting a vibrator, after a long time of not operating. I should do a post here of how to do it. It may help some of those with a good vibrator that has tarnished contacts. I've rescued quite a few from the trash can over the years. 

John Oldenburg recommends solid state vibrators.  I never bought one; wired a couple MOSFET transistors
under the socket to do the job. 

I have been rescuing tarnished contacts (points, vibrator, horn, etc) by connecting them in series with a
similar current, 120V resistive device (150W bulb, electric heater) and plugging them into 120 VAC.  Goes
right through that oxide.  Bruce Roe

[Doug Houston]

I have had decent results by pulsing DC, around 12-24 volts on the interrupter contacts. I have used a variable AC source as sort of a last resort. A transformer and variac do a good job for that purpose.
This applies equally to vibrators in a set, or ones that are NOS, in boxes.

Nowadays, since it's been decades since the last vibrator was made, and  reviving the tarnished contacts has gotten harder and harder. My personal policy is never to open up a vibrator to clean he contacts. Some are successful, but I'd never trust myself. 

[PHIL WHYTE CLC 14192]

Ok, I might be able to shed some light on the solid state vibrator question. The autronic eye worked in my 54 from the time I got it in 1989. A number of years later it packed up - it turned out to be the vibrator. I took it to a vintage radio workshop that I attend once a year and a very experienced electronic engineer [who had done his apprenticeship on tube equipment] guided me through the job. He opened up the vibrator and cleaned the points - this worked for a number of years, but has recently failed again. He set the whole operation up on the bench and tested everything [I own the Kent-Moore autronic eye tester]. He explained to me that the eye is not a photo-electric cell, but is what he called a "batch counter" - although he explained the significance of this, it has slipped my mind since, though I do remember him saying that the same part was used for counting stuff that passed on a conveyor belt in a factory. He also said that he had some in his parts boxes at home.
Back to the solid state vibrator - it says in the manual not to use a radio vibrator, but , as the only ones available are the solid state radio vibrators I bought and fitted a six volt , four pin, neg ground one. As stated by someone else it's a six volt system [in 54 anyway] with a step down barretter type tube as the car is 12 volts. Anyway, the upshot is that it doesn't work ! It appears to not produce enough volts, but there is a variable adjuster in the unit for this. However, I will refit the original and start it with a flick of a screw driver just to check that the rest of the unit is working. If it is I will refit the new one and adjust the volts upwards. Maybe the standard radio vibrator doesn't kick out enough volts and that is why the manual says not to use a radio vibrator, or maybe they meant not to use a 12 volt radio vibrator - does anyone know?
Phil     

[J. Gomez]

Phil,

I’m not familiar with the DC version as I do not have a copy of the diagram or the 6D-453 bulletin for this version.

Assuming the circuitry up to the vibrator is similar as the AC version the ballast tube provides a resistance to reduce the voltage from 12V down to 6.8V. The radio vibrator is a 12v while the Autronic eye one is a 6V type; this is why the manual mention not to use the radio type.

As I mention on my previous post I have used a 6V radio vibrator electromechanical type on one of my units with no problem, however I had to tweak the potentiometer just a bit to get the 6.8V.

Hope this helps..!

[PHIL WHYTE CLC 14192]

Thanks Jose,
Potentimeter - that's the word that I couldn't remember! It doesn't tweak the 6.8V it tweaks the output. From memory the dc version [in 54 anyway] needs 900v and presently I'm getting just over 600V. But as I said above I want to recheck that it works with the old electromechanical vibrator [ie check if the problem isn't something else] first - I can do this by starting the points with a screwdriver , they won't start themselves!
Phil

[Glen]

I have a 1955 manual for the Autotronic eye. It shows 300 to 800 volts for the high voltage.  Your 600 volts would seem to be good. 

[PHIL WHYTE CLC 14192]

Thanks Glen,
I think the 54 and 55 are diferent - 54 is DC and I think they changed to AC for 55, so the voltage may be more crucial in the 54 [just a guess].
Phil