Westinghouse K840CK15 Restoration

[etype2]

UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 6, 2019, DAY 398

From Mike: “Greetings. In the process of making adjustments in the horizontal oscillator, the trimmer capacitor shorted out. Glad I went through this procedure. I replaced the original mica capacitors with a silver mica fixed value type and a small “air variable”. This worked very well.

Pix #1 Drilling out the rivet that holds the original assembly.
Pix #2 The old failed cap on the left and the new components on the right.
Pix #3 The new parts mounted on a terminal strip.

West 35 on its way.

Mike”

[etype2]

UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 7, 2019, DAY 399

From Mike: “We have contrast! I changed the cathode resistor in the first stage of video (12BY7). Factory specs calls for 56 ohm. I tried different values downward in ohms and I arrived at 39 ohms which is roughly half the original value. The contrast improved by about 20 % and it did not affect the high frequency response of the amplifier. I am real happy with this improvement. This essentially increases the current going through the tube. Not to worry, we are still way within the specs of the tube, and the contrast control is no longer all the way to its maximum position. We now have “room to spare”.

Pix #1 Oz 1
Pix #2 Oz 2

Enjoy!

I think we are now in the “cooking stage”.

Mike”

Author: Mike nailed it! Much improved from the previous screenshot. The colors are well balanced. Color, gray scale, geometry, focus and convergence are very good in this viewers opinion. I think this will be the last update for now, unless something comes up. We have to be concerned in transporting the monster chassis’s and CRT. Mike has to travel 12 miles on a dirt road from his ranch. SLOW is the key word. Can’t wait for this set to arrive home to me. Our restored cabinet is waiting.

Link to high resolution images: https://visions4netjournal.com/westi...r-tv-part-two/

[trinescope]

Almost there!

[kvflyer]

What good news. One thing that stands out to me is that how many people REALLY understand what was done, how much has been accomplished here? Most importantly, who appreciates it? Well, I can tell you that I do.

I have been around this "stuff" for a lot of years. I will confess to never having heard of the 15GP22 until maybe 15 years ago. I was impressed with the "new" rectangular color CRTs. I never liked the "roundie". But I have become very aware of what they are and certainly appreciate them.

I have a CTC-9 that I got for $50 a few years ago and also have an excellent used CRT in it. It produces a raster so off we go. I am inspired by the attention to detail and tenacity that you guys have shown in this and other projects.

Bravo! Thanks.

[etype2]

Thank you. There are a few guys here that appreciate what we are doing. I have to thank Dave A., Steve McVoy, John Folsom, Bob G. for their help with this set and of course Mike.

[Popester]

I find it interesting too that in the years I worked at the shop '75 to '85 in Boulder, CO I had also never heard of a RCA CT100 or a 15GP22 either. We were factory sales and service for RCA, Zenith, and Sony. I saw the beginning of Betamax and VHS and even the failure of the Selectavision. Was an exciting time. We had a Sony LV1901 on the showroom floor. One of the owners bought one of them. What a cool thing that was for a sixteen year old back then. I remember changing many a Zenith safety capacitor and the triplets in the vertical CCII chassis. I don't ever remember a Westinghouse brand set Color or B/W ever coming in the shop in the 10 years I worked there. I wish I could go back in time and get the Sony KV-7010UA we had that literally sat for years unrepaired or fixed. I didn't know any better then. Marshall, thanks for sharing this very interesting bit of tv history with us all.

[Popester]

Marshall, I think you need a bigger house lol. Your running out of space for those consoles. You could heat up that room on a cold day in the winter with the wall of all those running at one time.

[etype2]

Originally Posted by Popester

Marshall, I think you need a bigger house lol. Your running out of space for those consoles. You could heat up that room on a cold day in the winter with the wall of all those running at one time.

You saw that photo, huh. Yep, I got the consoles jammed in. This has to be the last one or I need to build an addition to the house. LOL.

[etype2]

Originally Posted by Popester

I find it interesting too that in the years I worked at the shop '75 to '85 in Boulder, CO I had also never heard of a RCA CT100 or a 15GP22 either. We were factory sales and service for RCA, Zenith, and Sony. I saw the beginning of Betamax and VHS and even the failure of the Selectavision. Was an exciting time. We had a Sony LV1901 on the showroom floor. One of the owners bought one of them. What a cool thing that was for a sixteen year old back then. I remember changing many a Zenith safety capacitor and the triplets in the vertical CCII chassis. I don't ever remember a Westinghouse brand set Color or B/W ever coming in the shop in the 10 years I worked there. I wish I could go back in time and get the Sony KV-7010UA we had that literally sat for years unrepaired or fixed. I didn't know any better then. Marshall, thanks for sharing this very interesting bit of tv history with us all.

Like you, I’m attracted to Sony sets. I was prejudiced against roundie color sets. I think that came from the constant breakdowns of my parents b/w tube set from 1954. Unlike you and most of the members here, I chose a legal career. Just starting out my independence and career in 1965, wouldn’t even consider a roundie. Then I saw one of the early rectangular color sets by RCA, a 1966 CTC-19 which was my first color set. Then saw the KV 7010UA and KV 1210U. Bought both new. The 1210 was for my girlfriend, now wife.

Now that I’m retired, I found out that those old roundie color sets can produce a nice picture together with the nostalgia of going to department stores in Milwaukee and watching every brand I could find as a kid. So we took up the challenge and this Westy is said to be the first color TV to be offered for sale, although I dispute that. The 15GP22 in this set is 66 years old and to see it produce the color that I never imagined it could produce is very satisfying.

I said this before, someone like me should not own this set, because I can’t fix it on my own. It’s been said back then in the 50’s, “you need to hire a full time engineer along with the set.” �� I hope you find that KV 7010UA.

[etype2]

Decided to try some shenanigans, while waiting for the Westy to arrive to me. I used the same method as in my older thread but without the tripod. http://www.videokarma.org/showthread...268390&page=21 I cut and pasted Mike’s screenshot onto a photo of the restored cabinet in my home. The CRT surround just covers the opening in the mask accurately. I pasted the gold and white nobs from another photo because Mike has them. I also pasted the polished pencil box in as I couldn’t get it to stay in place at this point. There is a brass trim piece that runs the length of the front panel which is missing in the photo. So the first photo shows a close approximation of how the set will hopefully look after the chassis is installed. 101 things can go wrong during the transport, fingers crossed.

For fun, put Mike’s screenshot in a modern cabinet. See This link for higher quality. This tread compress’s the images. https://visions4netjournal.com/westi...r-tv-part-two/

[jr_tech]

Looking good !

For grins, here is a picture of the cover of the Jan 1954 Radio Electronics magazine (CT-100).



Your convergence looks better!

jr

[etype2]

UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 17, 2019, DAY 409

Hi Marshall. I have been “cooking” the chassis almost every night for about an hour and a half intervals. So far, no more arcing and the stability is good. Warmup for a good picture is about 15 minutes which is mostly for the crt to stabilize. But it starts up well, with color, sound and stable picture. I have done everything that “can” be done for this set and I am certain that it is working as well as it possibly can. During high brightness levels there is some “shadowed” streaking that appears and this is due to the “old” crt which has lost “cutoff” characteristics from age. It is a bit on the weak side, as I stated in the beginning. I am surprised that it works as well as it does considering the emission measurements of the guns. Most of the time, the shadowed streaking is not there. You have seen some images and I think you will be happy with the performance considering the age and technology of the set. Cheers!

My plan at this time is to deliver the chassis on September 30th which is a Monday. Let me know if this works for you. I will be mounting the chassis to a piece of plywood and installing lifting handles of some sort to make it easy and safe for 2 people to carry. I have here, the other knobs, the back cover, NEW chassis bolts! and a big box of old parts to bring with me. Of course I will be bringing the usual tools and equipment that I always bring to a “service call”.

I have enjoyed this “long march” and I’m sure that you know, I have given this my “best shot”

Special thanks to Dave for the crt gun magnets, Bob Gallanter, and John Folsom for their input, advice, parts availability and ideas during this restoration process. Please include Steve McVoy for the crt socket that the ETF donated to the cause.

LONG MAY SHE RUN!

Mike

Author: Although I haven’t seen the performance of the set personally, seeing the two screenshots of Oz, especially the facial shot, Mike you have exceeded my expectations. I never thought a 66 year old 15GP22, not to mention one with lower emissions could be capable of an image like that. It’s all due to your expertise, alignment skills and careful controlled step by step diagnostic procedures. I’m anxiously awaiting your delivery and final setup. I should mention that your restoration of my 21CT55 is still holding up well after nearly three years.

Marshall

[etype2]

UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 29, 2019, DAY 421

Tomorrow is the big day, the Westy comes home! In preparation, Mike mounted the main chassis on a thick piece of plywood and installed handles. We will walk the chassis into my media room. Today I completed refinishing the channel selector and volume/on-off/tone control housings. I will have more on Monday.

[etype2]

UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 30, 2019, DAY 422

The Westinghouse H840CK15 came home today and the final installation went smoothly. You can see several photos of the chassis and power supply prior to their insertion into the cabinet. Note the modifications Mike made to the power supply, chassis and high voltage cage. A fan was added to manage the heat inside the cabinet.

The shot of the cabinet is just after final testing and a quick shot of “Maude” which happened to be on at the time. More to come from broadcast and DVD movies. High quality images here: https://visions4netjournal.com/westi...r-tv-part-two/

[Steve D.]

Marshall, Mike's work on this restoration continues to dazzle me every time you post a screen image. How impressive to see what these sets were originally capable of when introduced in 1954. So many malign early color and hopefully they will finally realize what the technology of the day could provide in reproducing color television broadcasts. Congratulations to you both.

-Steve Dichter