20 inch GE CTC166CS chassis red smearing but strong CRT

[MRX37]

I found what is basically an RCA Colortrak TV, only it has a GE badge on it. It was made in February 1992, and is a CTC 166 CS chassis. So basically an early Thomson built rebadged RCA set.

I am pretty sure this set is a low hour set. I do not have a CRT tester, but the CRT produces a good picture even with the drive and bias controls set to absolute minimum. The inside of the set was relatively clean, not very much dust on the HV anode lead, and with the brightness and contrast set at their midpoints I have a nice bright image with the bias controls turned all the way down, and the drive controls turned up maybe 1/8th of a turn if that. Other than that I have just made slight adjustments to the G2 and focus controls.


So here is the problem: Red or red/orange colors are a little bit smeared. It's not much smearing, but it is noticeable. Color level makes it worse and I know its not my video source because if I turn up the CRT drive controls, the onscreen menus start to smear.

I have seen this before on CTC 158 chassis sets (RCA Colortrak 2000) and I don't think the issue is CRT related. I'm wondering if something on the chassis has gone out of spec.