RCA CTC-16XL Suggestions/Tips

[Rocket]

Hello! I thought would ask the pro's of any suggestions and tips for my RCA 16XL. Is there is any must/recommended do's or things to look out for? It is in fairly good shape, looks to have very little work done to it and mostly original condition. The CRT tests really strong on a CR70 and has a great color picture. The flyback looks to be ok and does not have any leakage under it and that's nice to see.
However the vertical is a bit outta wack and no way to fill screen without stretching the top. Horizontal is close with the control at its max so I suspect I need to be checking out them sections for drifted components.

Also, is there a way to protect the flyback from melting down or failing? What kind of failure usually causes this so I can keep a look out for that. I thought a while back I read that there was a way to fuse it to help protect them, but for the life of me I cant seem to find where I read that at.

I'm excited to get this thing going Looking forward to watching Star Trek the original series weekdays on broadcast

I just want to say thank you to everyone for your input and help!

[Rocket]

Oh, I did get a copy of the Sams manual as well

[Yamamaya42]

Hello fellow 16XL owner!!
Glad to hear yours is working so well... ( mine is not, No color via tuner, was the orig prob when I got it, then it sat for many years... )

First and foremost, in order to keep the FB safe cool and happy ( as I have seen it stated many times )
run through the horizontal sweep circuit adjustments ( page 7 under Misc, adjustments )
MOST important is the cathode current on v12 horizontal output.

[Yamamaya42]

Now many have stated that the electrolytics in these sets degrade quite a bit over time and are not quite up to the task any more, I have replaced most of mine, and it has made quite an improvement, but I'm still having a big headache with resistors that are too far out of spec.

[Rocket]

Hey fellow 16XL owner! I have been reading about yours, quite a journey so far! I am sure you will get it squared away I am thinking maybe I will go ahead and replace all them electrolytic caps. I will have to keep ya updated on my findings. I think this weekend I am going to take on that cataract problem our sets have. wish me luck! lol

[Rocket]

Who doesn't love seeing pictures of these old sets up and working

[Popester]

Needs a cataract surgery. Picture looks nice otherwise.

[Rocket]

Indeed, I just finished the surgery too. First time doing it and was worried id ruin the tube, but it turned out good! now on to the electronics since I didn't blow it up lol

[Tim Tress]

For the vertical problem, check the electrolytic capacitor in the cathode circuit of the output stage. Also, check the decoupling capacitor on the B+ end of the output transformer.

[Rocket]

Thanks Tim! I will check them out

[bluenorm]

hi rocket, please check R102 150 K . that is between vertical height and vertical linearity. this resistor causes many different symptoms height adjustments. and it is common to fail in old sets. that is a part that I personally change every time with the original specification or a small increase in wattage.

[Yamamaya42]

Originally Posted by bluenorm

hi rocket, please check R102 150 K . that is between vertical height and vertical linearity. this resistor causes many different symptoms height adjustments. and it is common to fail in old sets. that is a part that I personally change every time with the original specification or a small increase in wattage.

CTC-16 vs CTC-16XL confusion bites again.
The resistor you refer to ( r102) is only present in the CTC-16 and not the CTC-16X (L) version,
The vertical circuits are quite different between the two.

[Yamamaya42]

Originally Posted by Tim Tress

For the vertical problem, check the electrolytic capacitor in the cathode circuit of the output stage. Also, check the decoupling capacitor on the B+ end of the output transformer.

going by the Sams for the CTC-16x (0818-2)

electrolytic capacitor in the cathode circuit of the output stage. - C4 50uf

decoupling capacitor on the B+ end of the output transformer.
C3b 80uf (through r108 1000ohm gets a bit warm ) only draw from 400v tap
I kind of blame RCA for all the confusion :/ the 16 and 16x are SO different, they should have had a seprate #, they even have different tubes in places

[Yamamaya42]

The vertical on the CTC-16X seems a bit strange
Height Pot is normal enough, B+ 390 (1) via r104 through pot r14 to gnd.
It's linearity (r13) that's weird, high side from 970v boost, but then the other side goes all the way to s6 (picture tube bias ) and then to screen grid pots ( via r193 194 )
not really sure what they are doing with this

[Rocket]

All very good info bluenorm & yamamaya42!

I was looking over the schematic from sams and there is something very close in the 16xl. its R104 at 150k and it looks to be connected right up to the vertical height. R102 is also very close to the vertical height but its value is 3.3 meg and so is R103 at 2.7 meg. I am going to check on these later today and report back my readings : D