Which equipment should a beginner have?
 

Hi All,

Not sure if this is the correct section to post this. Some of you may have seen my posts. I'm basically just a beginner trying to learn and get my sets working again. With that being said, I am about to go on a buying spree. What is the basic essential equipment I should have in my toolbox?

Right now, I have nothing but a basic $5 soldering gun from Harbor Freight. I know I need a higher watt gun because my chassis soldering won't hold. I have leaded solder in my supply stock, can I get away with lead-free? What kind of meters or testers should I buy? Any other essential equipment to get started?

Thanks.

Personally I prefer leaded solder for working on tube era equipment. It seems to flow and work better with what's there.

Essential equipment: a good DMM (I'd recommend a fluke) and or VTVM, a B&K 1075/76/77 Analyst, a CRT tester ( so before you buy you can make sure you don't have a 80lb paper weight), a signal tube tester ( because testing by substitution/voltage checks in set/guess work is imprecise and can be maddening), test pattern generator or DVD, 30KV or higher HV meter or probe, a variac, an adjustable position mirror (especially if you're working on color TVs), plastic alignment hex key and screwdriver... possibly a scope if you can afford or find a decent cheapie.

Nice to have but non-essential : scope, vintage capacitor tester that can check for leakage current at 450V or higher, one of those cheap $15 Chinese ESR/LCR/diode/transistor testers on eBay, Seco HC8-A in circuit horizontal output current tester, alignment gear (AM radio alignment generator which can double as a variable spare marker generator, a sweep/marker generator like a B&K 415, scope, frequency counter). A Blonder Tongue agile modulator is nice for finding a good channel on a tuner that has misadjusted channels and for adjusting channel slugs in tuners (a UHF capable model is good for testing UHF tuners if those matter to you, careful as some only do CATV IRC/HRC channels 14+ which are different frequencies from UHF).

There are a few more arrows in my quiver and some of these devices can cover for the absence of some of the others, but there are circumstances where one device is a pain and time vampire for a job and something else makes life easier to the point of being worth the money... A DMM can do the job of the seco for instance, but if you have a roundy color in the cabinet and you don't want to pull the chassis and solder to check/adjust the H output cathode current and don't want to do the dangerous practice of measuring the plate current then the Seco makes your life easier. The 107X analyst family has test pattern (and every other signal you could possibly want to inject for diagnosis) functionality but is not as precice or stable as a Solid State test pattern source...A modern digital scope with cursors that facilitate voltage and frequency measurement can do the job of a DMM and frequency counter (though if you fry the scope it is more expensive to replace).

You can go a bit more Spartan than my essential list but you have to use the equipment more knowledgeably and or work harder/longer for the results you want especially on some trickier to ID faults...time is money and you presumably have finite quantity of each so where to make trade-offs is a personal judgement call.

Everything Tom said , plus the one thing I didn't see mentioned , a "Solder Sucker" . It's a device that will remove solder (once you get the solder hot enough with your iron) from a connection way faster than using "Solder Wick" . Your on the right track with wanting different sized soldering irons for different sized jobs , and getting the solder sucker completes the set , sometimes ya can't solder new parts in till you've desoldered old parts out :thmbsp:

I would hold off on the Fluke multimeter for a bit... the learning curve is likely to leave a trail of smoked meters... I would buy a couple of 10-15$ cheapies to use and likely sacrifice at first and reward yourself later with a nice Fluke.

jr

There's some good wisdom in that statement....I still have ~3 harbor freight free at the door DMMs. I used to kill meters regularly in troubleshooting because I would clip lead the meter to the set and switch back and fourth between measuring resistance with the set off and voltage with the set on.... I'd forget and leave it in resistance mode and plug the set in and fry the DMM. My GB model GDT-11 and Fluke have both survived this multiple times so unless I fry those with some kind of worse treatment (I'm a lot more careful than I was 15 years ago so that's doubtful, but I am still human).

The solder sucker is a valid point I have a big old one that can clean a lug fast...I also have been keeping solder wick for circuit boards some tube PCB stuff and many SS sets you can be more precise with using the wick.

To add to this question, what type of variac do you guys recommend? I'm not quite a beginner anymore but I still don't have a variac, I've just been plugging things into a power strip with a switch on it so I can shut it down real quick if needed. Not good practice I know. Would something like this work or should I look for an older one like this?

I would think that either would be ok, as long as it will handle enough current for the devices that you are working on.

I’m kinda spoiled as I am using this combo 7.5 A variac/wattmeter/dim bulb set that found on the surplus market many years ago:

http://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/TU-75B

Unfortunately, it does not include a built-in isolation transformer.

jr

It appears no one has mentioned an isolation transformer. I would put this in the must-have category.

Thank you EVERYONE for that valuable input. I will study on all that this long weekend where I have off. I looked up some of that equipment and it looks like I would need a course or two just to operate it, lol.

Lastly, besides equipment, are there any good books anyone would recommend? I bought some DIY TV repair books on eBay from the 60's and 70's but they don't cover many of today's problems or repairs. This forum and YT have a lot of good info but I kind of like print. Does anyone know of a comprehensive book that covers fixing vintage electronics in modern times?

Now's the time to shop for used test equipment. You can source really high end instruments and good tools for a fraction of new price. There's a lot of it around.
Regarding soldering guns, buy only the older Weller gun using the tip nuts. Avoid the newer models with the set screws and odd-ball types, that are hard to get tips for. :sigh:

There really are no comprehensive books on vintage radio or TV repair.
You would have to have several books at the very least. Some would cover how a radio or TV works. Others would cover repair, a few might cover restoration. Repair is fixing a problem, probably when the radio or TV wasn't very old. Restoration including problems caused by the radio or TV being so old, things like replacing most capacitors, rubber parts, wiring which were not much of a problem when the unit was younger. Restoration also includes improving the look of the cabinet, knobs and dials.
There are many sources of info.
A note on the variac, you really need an ampmeter to monitor the current drawn. It does little good if you can slowly increase the voltage if you are going to burn something up anyway. You need to spot a problem before you turn it up all the way, a meter will allow you to do that.
Electronic M's equipment list is pretty comprehensive, I don't think someone just starting out would need all of it at first.
TV are very complex compared to radios. Radios are easier to understand, easier to fix and require less equipment. Radios are a good place to start and learn some of the concepts.
Some of the people on this forum are old TV repairmen, their approach is a bit different than others.

Yes that is definitely one for the list (unless the person buying equipment is determined to never own a hotchassis set).
If you are doing TV work you want at least a 250VA (ie watt) isolation transformer but a 500VA is better if you are dealing with a more power thirsty color set.
You can actually make an isolation transformer if you have 2 identical step-up or step-down power transformers...just connect the outlet to the primary of one transformer, the power cord to the other primary, and hook the highest power secondary windings together...I've seen them made from everything from heater transformers to microwave oven transformers.
Also verify your transformer does not have a primary to secondary short or voltage leakage...an old isolation transformer from the 40s I had been using for months shorted on me mid-repair and a few explitives were slung when I measured that leakage with my body...:thumbsdn:

If you have fluctuations in your power line voltage you can also get a voltage regulating line isolation transformer (they usually have a motor run cap can in them and most are made by Sola)...those will take any line voltage between ~80-140V and spit out a constant 117 even if the input power is cut off for a cycle of 2 of the AC power...we have an industrial park a couple miles away here and it would cause repeated image blooming 1-60 times a minute so I got some used VRTs to fix it...best transformer buys I've ever made. My daily driver sets live connected to VRTs now... Especially my 21CT55 (any especially high value/desirability set deserves it as cheap insurance).

But there are period courses in TV and radio repair. I believe NRI was one of the correspondence schools that had courses. They would mail you a instructional book and the student would return the test. I found one my dad had from the late 40s. Of course I threw it away...

There must be some of these floating around somewhere.

John

Thanks, everyone, I love this forum, you guys rock!

Just a thought, I've been searching but couldn't find any info. Anyone know of people doing paid repair/restoration work? Anyone turn this into a little side business?

While it is fun for me to tinker and learn, I also just kind of want to start watching, haha.

I do believe there are several people on this forum that do repairs for others in a sideline type of business. No one can make a living at it, the volume is too low and the normal labor rates today are too high. Usually the problem is that the person that would do the restoration are not near enough (or too busy) to the people that have the TV.