Sears Silvertone “medalist” portable set

[zeno]

Yup its a US built Warwick. IIRC its abt 1970. Most tubes. After
this type they had a hybrid with modules then a SS set with
the new RCA in line tube. That was a real dog.
Old Coot has a good point on the switches. Maggy & Admiral
used them alot too along with most others. You could repair them but
since you gotta take them out we always changed them. No steady
hands in our shpop !

73 Zeno
LFOD !

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by zeno

Yup its a US built Warwick. IIRC its abt 1970. Most tubes. After
this type they had a hybrid with modules then a SS set with
the new RCA in line tube. That was a real dog.
Old Coot has a good point on the switches. Maggy & Admiral
used them alot too along with most others. You could repair them but
since you gotta take them out we always changed them. No steady
hands in our shpop !

73 Zeno
LFOD !

On some of those I used to rewire those switches and just make it an on-off function. I told the owner's they didn't need that instant on feature.
In my previous entry it should have been "taken over by Sanyo".

[old_coot88]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

On some of those I used to rewire those switches and just make it an on-off function. I told the owner's they didn't need that instant on feature.

We did the same thing, with the customer's approval, after explaining that the switch broke due to whacking the knob too hard to turn the set off.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

On some of those I used to rewire those switches and just make it an on-off function. I told the owner's they didn't need that instant on feature.
In my previous entry it should have been "taken over by Sanyo".

Another way to disable the instant-on feature is to remove the diode across the power switch (I think this may be what you meant by "rewiring" the switch). These diodes often shorted after lightning strikes, effectively locking the AC switch in the "on" position. Removing the diode restored the switch function, but of course eliminated the instant-on feature. It was just as well, as instant-on kept the tube filaments on (albeit at low power), which was a waste of electricity. Remember, these TVs were made in the 1970s during the so-called "energy crisis", and many people did not like the idea of their TVs effectively being permanently "on" even when not in use, not to mention the potential fire hazard. Many folks requested that the instant-on feature be disabled when other work on the set was needed.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Another way to disable the instant-on feature is to remove the diode across the power switch (I think this may be what you meant by "rewiring" the switch). These diodes often shorted after lightning strikes, effectively locking the AC switch in the "on" position. Removing the diode restored the switch function, but of course eliminated the instant-on feature. It was just as well, as instant-on kept the tube filaments on (albeit at low power), which was a waste of electricity. Remember, these TVs were made in the 1970s during the so-called "energy crisis", and many people did not like the idea of their TVs effectively being permanently "on" even when not in use, not to mention the potential fire hazard. Many folks requested that the instant-on feature be disabled when other work on the set was needed.

What you're referring to is the simple B/W portables that only used the low voltage B+ circuit and series heaters.
The color sets used a more involved switching scheme using two separate switches, one SPDT and one SPST. The SPST cut the B+ and the SPDT controlled the heaters. It seemed the SPDT side was the one that went bad.