New project - Canadian RCA CTC 38

[maxhifi]

yes yes I will leave well enough alone. It's such a shame the 4x3 programming is all gone, this is really a superb TV. I understand that people usually change filter cans, but this tv works flawlessly. Now to figure out why the Sanyo console stereo I wrote about a couple years ago has a low level hum which I could never find the source of. My guess is a heater cathode short, but as the chassis is both hot and very obnoxious to remove I haven't spent a lot of effort on it. Troubleshooting vintage electronics is an awesome hobby, I can't see myself ever getting bored with it.

[jstout66]

Ya, I wouldn't worry about the caps too much in this set, and I wouldn't mess with the filter cans at all.
This is just my opinion, but you're pretty safe concerning caps on anything AFTER 1965 Your set is a 1968 or 1969.
CTC-38's were our "bread and butter" out in the repair field. Not much goes wrong, but obviously keep as many 6GH8A's on hand that you can get.
Other known problems with them were lousy horizontal sync, and they like to eat flybacks for lunch. So as long as you have high-voltage, and good horizontal sync, you should be good to go with those new 6GH8's!

[maxhifi]

I replaced all the 6GH8 tubes in May, and kept all the old ones as spares. Should be good for a while I think, I probably use it ten hours per week. So hours will accumulate fairly slowly.

There are some 1969 dates on under chassis components. Here is a view under the chassis from when I changed the 50uf capacitor.

[DaveWM]

ditto leaving the cans alone. Most of my late 60's era sets are fine there. sometimes you will find a bumble bee across the line that should be replaced but if it aint broke don't fix it.

[maxhifi]

I am glad to hear this, I have seen a lot of failed electrolytic capacitors in different electronic devices, but the big cans seem to hold up well. however there is a 5uf non polarized electrolytic on the deflection related secondary of the vertical output transformer which has me wondering. Next time I am in the tv I will remove and test it, but for now the back stays screwed on. At least I am an expert at pulling the chassis from the set now.