BY RICH BONKOWSKI, W3HWJ

REPLACING SELENIUM RECTIFIERS

Rich’s article will be especially helpful to radio ment. Two small selenium “stacks” could easily
restoration newcomers, but even our old-timers replace a type 80 or 5Y3 vacuum tube rectifier in
will find points of interest in this thorough dis- many circuits. Since each plate of the selenium
cussion of how to handle an obsolete rectifying stack could support about 30 volts, you will typ-
device commonly found in vintage electronic ically find 5 or 6 plates in a 120 Vrms rectifier.
equipment—mfe. Tube rectifiers need filament power to ther-
mally stimulate electron flow. The 5Y3, for exam-
elenium rectifiers are often found in TVs, ple, requires 5 volts at 2 amperes to heat its fila-

S amplifiers, and test equipment dating from

the late 1940s to late 1960s. If the equip-
ment is to be renovated, the selenium units
ment. That means that 10 watts must be furnished
and dissipated as heat in order to rectify enough
DC to supply a 10 or 20 watt amplifier. With sele-
should be replaced. This article will discuss some nium rectifiers no filament power is required.
background on selenium devices, their benefits
and drawbacks, why they need to be replaced, Other Benefits
and how to do the replacement correctly. Besides the obvious efficiency advantage of
selenium over vacuum tubes, there were other
Background benefits to consider:
Selenium is a shiny gray metallic element dis- • Selenium rectifiers were typically smaller
covered by Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob than the tubes they replaced.
Berzelius in 1817. In the 1920s, German scien- • No sockets were required, since selenium typ-
tists discovered that a “sandwich” of a selenium ically had a long life (10+ years).
layer against another metal layer would pass cur- • Selenium is “self-healing.” A short-term volt-
rent in only one direction. That meant it could be age spike might “zap” the selenium film, but
made to rectify alternating current (AC), chang- it soon heals itself and functions again.
ing it to DC for use in electronic apparatus. After • When used in 120 Vrms rectifier circuits, the
World War II, both European and American selenium unit had a drop or loss of only about
companies began to make commercial rectifiers 5 to 10 volts while the tube rectifier drop was
by evaporating selenium onto small plates of 10 to 25 volts. This lower drop meant that DC
steel or aluminum. voltages were higher when selenium replaced
These rectifiers were a real break-through in a tube.
improving the efficiency of electronic equip-
Disadvantages
With so much going for it, why did selenium
disappear from most designs by the late 1960s?
• Small silicon diodes became available. Sili-
con diodes could easily handle 10 times more
current than selenium with only 1 volt of drop,
compared to 5 or 10 volts for selenium.
• Selenium is an essential trace element (you’ll
even find it in dandruff shampoo), but in
larger quantities it is dangerous and toxic. The
US EPA regulates the use and disposal of se-
lenium. See reference (3).
• Selenium rectifiers “age.” That is, as they get
older both their forward voltage drop and re-
verse leakage current increase, making them
less effective. The DC voltages supplied to the
Typical selenium rectifiers. associated electronic equipment gradually de-
crease causing poor performance.
3568 SOUTHRIDGE DR., SANTA, ROSA, CA 95403

26 THE AWA JOURNAL / JANUARY 2007

• As selenium units get older and run hotter,
they are more prone to catching fire, causing
a foul-smelling, pungent smoke. Some old-
timers compare this to burning garlic.
• By 1970, silicon diodes cost only pennies and
were 10 times smaller than the selenium units 1N4004 diode. Band identifies cathode, or (+) end.
they replaced.
to find,, though they are still made in India.
Some manufacturers’ data indicate that sele- Don’t bother buying a new old stock (NOS) se-
nium rectifiers could handle as much as 250 mil- lenium unit. It will be at least 50 years old and al-
liamperes per square inch of plate area. From the ready well-aged toward failure.
table above, you can see that 100 milliamps is
more typical. This isn’t a problem, as a replace- Silicon Diode Specs
ment silicon diode will easily handle almost half Most parts distributors, including Radio
an ampere. Shack, carry one- ampere silicon diodes. The
most popular are the 1N400x series. If you are
Replacement a Must replacing a typical 130 Volt selenium, choose at
Even if your equipment seems to be working least a 1N4004. This is a 400-volt rated part.
well, you should replace the selenium rectifier Seems like over-kill? Not really. Unlike sele-
unit. It is only a question of time before it will nium, silicon is not “self-healing.” Even a few
fail. If you are lucky, it will fail gracefully, blow- microseconds of a voltage spike can zap a silicon
ing a fuse or showing an “open” circuit. Unfor- diode. My personal preference is to use a
tunately, if your rectifier overheats, you could 1N4007 (rated at 1000 volts). It costs only a few
have lots of nasty, toxic smoke. pennies more and provides a lot of extra margin.
Replacement is easy and silicon diodes are If you are really conservative, the 1N5408 diode
cheap, so there is no reason not to do the re- will handle 1000 volts and almost 3 amps!
placement. New selenium rectifiers are difficult Silicon diodes are packaged as small cylin-
ders with a wire lead emerging from
MANUFACTURER PART NUMBER PLATE SIZE CURRENT each end. One end of the cylinder will
NUMBER (INCHES) (MA) have a band marked on it. This is the
Federal ITT 1005A 1.25 x 1.25 150 cathode. Some diodes will have a
IRF RS050 .67 x .67 50 taper or chamfer to mark the cathode
end. Be sure to observe the proper po-
IRF RS065 1x1 65
larity when connecting a silicon diode
IRF RS075 1x1 75 in place of a selenium rectifier! My il-
IRF RS100 1.2 x 1.2 100 lustration of a 1N4004 diode shows a
IRF RS150 1.2 x 1.2 150 (+) indication for the cathode—which
IRF 6RS150 1.2 x 1.2 150* was the convention used on selenium
IRF RS200 1.5 x 1.5 200
rectifiers.
IRF RS350SL 2x2 350 Adding Resistance
IRF Q4B 1x1 100 (full wave)
xxThe typical US power line is rated
IRF E-150L 1x1 150 at 120 Vrms. This means that the peak
IRF E-650L 2x2 650 voltage is 1.414 x 120 or roughly 170
Radio Receptor 8Y1 0.5 x 0.5 20 volts. When you rectify the 120 Vrms
line and used it to charge a filter ca-
Radio Receptor 8J1 0.56 x 0.56 65
pacitor, you might get as much as 170
Radio Receptor 5Q1 1.5 x 1.5 250 VDC on the capacitor. In practice, the
Radio Receptor 5S1 2.0 x 2.0 500 voltage is a bit lower due to losses in
Radio Receptor 6S2 2.0 x 2.0 500* the rectifier and the wiring.
Sarkes ST-65 1x1 65 xxWhen you exchange a selenium
Sarkes ST-100 1.25 x 1.25 100 rectifier for a silicon diode you will
find that the DC output voltage to your
Sarkes ST-200 1.65 x 1.65 200 equipment has increased by 5 to 15
*Rated for 156 Vrms; all others are 130Vrms. volts. In order to maintain the origi-
nally specified output voltage, you
Table 1. Some typical selenium devices you might encounter. will want to add a series resistor be-

JANUARY 2007 / THE AWA JOURNAL 27

 restorations. In AC-DC power supplies, make
sure that your new filter capacitors are rated for
at least 170 Volts. Old equipment might have
150 V caps, but use the higher voltage rated ca-
pacitors when renovating.
Replacement Considerations
You may decide to remove the old selenium
unit or merely disconnect it. It’s usually best to re-
move the unit and mount a multi-terminal con-
nection strip in its place. Connect each wire of the
Selenium rectifier substitute is made up of silicon new silicon diode to one lug of the terminal strip.
diode, power resistor and terminal strip (see text). Connect the resistor (calculated above) between
the cathode lug and one of the free lugs of the ter-
tween the diode’s cathode and the first filter ca- minal strip. It goes without saying that you should
pacitor. Sometimes the increase in output volt- not use any lugs that are grounded to the chassis.
age is not a particular problem, but a resistor The AC wire is the one that had been con-
should be added in all cases to reduce the avail- nected to the unmarked or minus (-) terminal of
able surge current. the selenium device. Now connect it to the un-
When a filter capacitor first charges up, it ap- marked side of the silicon diode. Connect the (+)
pears to be a momentary short circuit, drawing a terminal of the first filter capacitor to the free
huge current through the diode. Selenium recti- end of the resistor. Make sure that the banded
fiers have a naturally higher internal resistance, end of the diode is the one that is connected to
so they “self-limit” the surge current. Silicon the resistor and through the resistor to the (+)
diodes have a lower forward resistance, so you terminal of the first filter capacitor. If you get
need a resistor in series just to reduce the surge. the polarity wrong, you can short or destroy
My rule-of-thumb is to size the resistor to the filter capacitors, blow a fuse, and blow the
drop about 10 volts, simulating the drop of the new diode. Be careful. Be certain you know
old selenium rectifier. If the equipment requires which end of the diode connects to the DC.
50 milliamperes, we can use Ohm’s Law to
calculate: Possible Configurations
You will typically find selenium rectifiers
R = Vdrop/IDC = 10 V/0.050 A = 200 ohms
used in audio amplifiers, test equipment, and “3-
This is only a rule-of-thumb. If you want to Way” portable radios. Selenium was not used in
duplicate the exact original output voltage, start the popular “All American Five” radios, because
with a resistor of about 100 ohms and measure the rectifier tube was necessary to complete the
the output voltage with the equipment operating. heater series string for 120 VAC operation.
Adjust the resistor value up or down until you In most equipment, there will be one selenium
achieve the voltage specified by the manufac- rectifier connected as a half-wave circuit. This
turer of the equipment. Typical values will be was the lowest cost rectifier configuration. Rip-
from 20 to 200 ohms. The resistor has to dissi- ple voltage is higher at the output, but that was-
pate some power, which means it will generate n’t a problem in most equipment. More sophisti-
heat, so be sure to use a resistor rated for the cated equipment might use two selenium recti-
power. In the example above, the approximate fiers in a full-wave configuration. That means
power required will be: you need two silicon diodes and associated
resistors.
P = V2/R = 102/200 = 0.5 watts
Likewise, TVs from the 1950s often used a
Don’t use a half-watt resistor! A half-watt re- voltage doubler circuit. Two selenium rectifiers
sistor gets very hot when dissipating a half-watt. were used in a circuit that boosted the DC output
I would recommend at least 100% to 200% to twice the AC input voltage. Use particular
safety factor. In fact, 5 watt resistors are proba- caution in this case as the “boosted” DC can
bly easier to find than 2 watt types. If your cur- reach up to 400 V!
rent calculation is different, use a resistor rated Be careful in replacing selenium units in so-
for at least twice the power calculated. Resistors called “battery eliminators” or “3-way” portable
are cheap, so don’t cut corners. radios. This equipment usually uses low voltage
You’ll undoubtedly also be replacing the fil- tubes in configurations involving the tube fila-
ter capacitors—standard practice in most (continued on next page)

28 THE AWA JOURNAL / JANUARY 2007

BY ROBERT F. HAWORTH, W2PUA 112 TILFORD RD., SOMERDALE, NJ 08083

AN RCA RADIO FOR THE BLIND

f you’re like me, you have probably given lit-

I tle thought to how a blind person might enjoy

tuning and listening to a radio. True, only a
small percentage of the world’s population is af-
fected this way, and we who are sighted don’t
usually give much thought to the problems of the
blind. As I now reflect on this issue, I can un-
derstand the frustration that must accompany
performing such tasks as tuning a radio to a spe- View of a section of the radio’s top. Note braille
cific frequency. Close your eyes and try it! markings on slide switch at upper right and on
An RCA radio designed for the blind was tuning drums beneath access windows.
given to me recently by an old friend and col-
league from my days of working at the company. sticker that might have carried this information.
I don’t know if the set was strictly a philanthropic The identification “Japan 303” molded into the
project of RCA’s or produced with financial as- bottom suggests that the set was manufactured in
sistance from one of the organizations that assist that country.
the blind. Certainly the costs of tooling for this This is the only radio for the blind I’ve come
special manufacture must have been significant. across in better than 20 years of attending ham-
The controls of this radio are identified in both fests and antique shows. It occupies a prominent
braille and English. Note the window at the top spot in my collection.
of each knob. It gives access to a drum, carrying
braille frequency identifications, that rotates as
the knob is turned. The raised braille characters
are molded into the plastic.The set’s design and
appearance suggests that it is a product of
the 1960s.
Note that the set tunes the UHF and
VHF TV audio in addition to AM and
FM. No external antennas are required.
All bands either use ferrite antennas or are
capacitor-linked to the AC line in the man-
ner of the FM sets of the 1940s and 1950s. RCA radio for the blind
There are no model numbers on the has braille markings,
unit, though there is a shadow of a former tunes AM and FM as well as VHF and UHF TV audio.

Replacing Selenium Rectifiers, continued www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/selenium.html

4. “Insel Rectifiers.” http://www.rectifierindia.
ments in the DC power circuit. These kinds of com/product/seleniumrectifiers/index.html
circuits have too many variations to cover here. 5. “Metallic Rectifier Design & Application.”
A typical example is the Zenith Trans-Oceanic, http://www.pmillett.com/file%20down-
one of the most popular of the 3-way portables. loadss/selenium.pdf
See the references (6) through (9) for more 6. “Zenith Trans-Oceanic.” http://oak.cats.
help. ohiou.edu/~postr/bapix/H500_2.htm
7. “Power Supply Rebuilding.” http://
REFERENCES trans-oceanic.fortunecity.net/te01015.htm
8. “Motorola VT-73.” “Replacing Selenium.”
1. ARRL Handbook 1959. American Radio http://antiqueradio.org/motvt73.htm
Relay League. 9. “Powering your Antique Portable Radio.”
2. Allied Radio Catalog 1970 http://antiqueradio.org/bsupply.htm
3. “Selenium Compounds; Hazards.” http:// 10. Radio Shack 1959 Guide to Electronic Buying

JANUARY 2007 / THE AWA JOURNAL 29

 Replacing Selenium Rectifiers
Further Thoughts Six Years Later

Since the Antique Wireless Association published my article in January of 2007,

I've received numerous comments, mostly good, about the article. I think it's a
good place to start for someone who is dealing with a selenium rectifier for the
first time. Certainly, not all situations are covered, but the basics are still useful
today.

Here are some corrections and additions:

1. The comment about using selenium to replace a type 80 or 5Y3 vacuum tube
rectifier is not really appropriate. These tubes have a reverse voltage rating
exceeding 500 V. To replace them with selenium would require a very long
stack of plates, certainly a dozen or more in series. But this fact highlights the
really dramatic advantage of silicon rectifiers. In many circuits, one 1N4007
can be used to replace each plate of a dual rectifier tube. This saves more than
10 Watts of heat and allows nearby components to run cooler.

2. AT&T Bell Labs reported on selenium rectifier performance in an extensive

report in the 1950s. J. Gramels explains in detail how selenium rectifiers
are made and how they age with time. From the beginning of their use, it was
understood that the rectifier characteristics would change with age.
www3.alcatel-lucent.com/bstj/vol32-1953/articles/bstj32-6-1469.pdf  

3. The 1N4007 diode is the best all-around choice for replacement of selenium
rectifiers found in radios, test equipment, and TV sets. The price is so low,
under 10 cents, that it doesn't pay to use anything less. The 1N5408 is another
choice, though really overkill in most cases.

4. I continue to recommend a "cut and try" approach on the series resistor. The
current waveform is not a nice sinusoid, as the rectifier supplies current only
during the middle of an AC cycle when the filter capacitor needs additional
charge. Peak currents can be 5 or 10 times higher than the measured DC
average value.

5. Don't save money by using 150 V electrolytic capacitors. Yes, the old radios
used them, but line voltages are higher today and capacitors are cheaper. I
wouldn't use anything less than 200V for typical 120V (rms) line voltages. If
the equipment you are repairing has a transformer, then use capacitors that are
rated for at least the peak output voltage plus a 10 or 20% safety factor.

6. European radios favored a 4-diode full-wave bridge. These can be replaced

with four 1N4007s or a commercial bridge rated for at least 600V. With 220V
input, the peak diode voltage is in excess of √2 x 240 or 340V.
7. Automotive battery chargers and "eliminators" (like those sold by HeathKit
and EICO) used large single- or double- plate selenium rectifiers. The circuit is
usually a full-wave center-tap. For higher current levels you will need to
choose a larger rectifier that bolts down to a heatsink. You must electrically
isolate the rectifier if you choose to use the metal chassis or cabinet as a
heatsink.

Some helpful reading materials:

• "Metallic Rectifiers," Theodore Conti.

http://www.vacuumtubeera.net/MetRect-CrysDiodes.pdf  

• "Design Guide for Rectifier Use," Hammond Transformer.

http://www.hammondmfg.com/pdf/5c007.pdf

• AN 1040 "Mounting Considerations for Power Semiconductors, " ON

Semiconductor.  
http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/AN1040-D.PDF

• Data Sheet 1N4001-07 rectifier. ON Semiconductor.

http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/1N4001-D.PDF