Old Television cabinets with new TV chassis

[Stlouisian]

I am just curious why I have ocassionally see old American television cabinets that have new TV chassis from overseas in them. This ebay auction shows an old RCA round tube B&W cabinet that has a new Ferguson color TV inside from the UK.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...763243645&rd=1

Ross

[roundscreen]

People think it is cool to do that. I think it is weird.{sorry} The wood on the back. GOOD LORD.

[Eric H]

A while back there was a British Museum selling some Pre War sets on eBay that had this done to them. The original guts had apparently been discarded.

[nasadowsk]

There's a guy in the US that does this too....

I pointed out to a friend that was looking at doing this....

"Well, a good color console that's all origional and working right could fetch 500 or more. With the guts stripped, that same set fetches...5 dollars"

I think I've convinced him to stay origional. Or at least keep the origional guts and not hack the cabinet...

[maxm]

I believe the people selling these sets are a company in the UK that rents movie props, so they were probably made working so they could appear in movies and now they don't need them anymore??
Just a guess...

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by roundscreen

People think it is cool to do that. I think it is weird.{sorry} The wood on the back. GOOD LORD.

I agree with you as to the wooden back cover. There are no ventilation holes, slots, etc. in it, except for a space at the base where the rear of the chassis (and the line cord) are visible. This is a fire hazard if I ever saw one.

BTW, I see nothing wrong with putting a new TV in an older cabinet, if the original chassis is beyond repair (or would cost more to repair than it is or was worth). I've seen at least one such use of an early cabinet right here on AK--one of our members recently built a late-model Zenith digital set into a cabinet which originally had housed a 1949-'50 Zenith Great Circle set (aka porthole). The results were excellent; the new set looked as if it were actually meant for the cabinet, as opposed to simply building a shelf inside the old cabinet and setting the new TV on it, using an outlet strip to power the entire setup (this would also allow for future expansion, say a VCR or DVD player, HDTV tuner or cable box, etc). Of course, this is one way to do it; many people will do just that if they are pressed for time or don't want to bother with woodworking. However, if one has the time and the inclination, the best way is to actually build the new set into the cabinet; as rushed and busy as many people are today, though, this is out of the question in many cases. For these folks, the only other viable option is to get an entertainment-center cabinet and put their entertainment gear in it. Case in point: I live in a small apartment (no room for anything big) and did something like that with my TV, VCR and cable box. I had a small, nicely built oak utility cart which wasn't being used for anything else, so I redid the back with contrasting woodgrain paper, added a six-outlet power strip, set the TV on top, the cable box and VCR going on the two shelves underneath; the result was and is a video entertainment center I am very proud of. Fits very nicely in a corner of the apartment as well. The setup appears in my avatar.

I do understand, however, how it can and does often unnerve antique TV collectors (especially AK members) when we read of someone gutting an antique TV cabinet and putting a modern set in it when the chassis still works, or at worst requires only minor repairs such as new tubes, minor component replacement, etc. I collected old TVs myself back in the early '70s; wouldn't have so much as thought of such a thing unless, as I said earlier, the chassis was beyond repair (as several of my sets were). I had a 1963 Zenith 23" b&w console I had retubed after rescuing it from a trash pile in 1969. When I got through with it, it worked as well as any modern set. No way would I have even thought of gutting this one for the cabinet (though it wound up in the trash anyhow about three years later, through no fault of my own, when I moved). Several other old sets in what could have been, with a bit of work and polish, very nice wood cabinets, met their demise this way as well, but I had no choice in the matter at the time.

[roundscreen]

Jeff That rca does have vents on the top so the heat can escape. I guess it is better than the set ending up in the trash but it still is unnerving to me. Working on old sets for most of my life makes me want to save all of them no matter what. Every corner of my house has a old tv in it and I am lucky to have some where to put them. Till the house caves in. What a mess that would be. I did put new support beams in the cellar and have good insurance so I will keep looking for more sets to save.
ED

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by roundscreen

...That rca does have vents on the top so the heat can escape.
ED

Ooops! Shot my mouth off again--sorry about that. I took another look at the set's ebay listing just a minute or so ago and saw the ventilation slots. They are at the top of the cabinet, as you mentioned. This strikes me as odd, as most older TVs had their ventilation slots, holes, etc. on the back cover itself. This set is the first I've seen, however, with vent slots on top of the cabinet. I guess I've been away from these old sets too long. Got to start checking my facts before I post.