Fix your own picture tubes REDUX

Yep, heeeee'sssss back:

Oy Vey

He also sells old time parts:
Partz Iz Partz

Anthony

[Chad Hauris]

I have seen ads for this kind of crt rebuilding equipment in the "Electronic Servicing" magazine from the '70's. Also have seen in the same magazine's classified section, people trying to unload it.

The ads tout the fact that you can rebuild picture tubes much cheaper than buying a rebuilt, but it seems to me that crt rebuilding is a very complex skill only learned through lots of experience...if you just did it as an amateur you could be risking lot of call backs and bad word of mouth when the $100 crt you sold the customer goes bad because of a poor seal or something.

I doubt that too many people made profits with their own crt rebuilding equipment.

Can't recall if it was here or on the Antique Radio forum, but there was a great post by someone who went into great detail about the complexity of rebuilding picture tubes.

It ain't like rebuilding a starter or alternator, this requires a high level of hands on training and even a certain amount of luck. Apparently even the guys who've been at it for years end up with some stinker rebuilds---just is the nature of the beast.

Anyone who buys that rig will NEED to spend quite a bit of time learning the trade....makes you wonder why the owner of that system couldn't find a buyer among his workers. Even if it meant financing them somehow. I bet this guy selling this got it for cheap and is just trying to turn a buck, who knows?

Bottom line is that I hope someone buys at least parts of it so that they get back into circulation and not junked.

Anthony

[Eric H]

Hey, I recognize that name.

Daryl rebuilt a tube for my 58 RCA portable a few years ago. He said he was retiring though so that explains the equipment sale.

Eric

Hey, maybe we could get a company to buy the rebuilding equipment and rebuild CRTs for AUDIOKARMA members as a public service? You know, preserve an American heritage. Think how much good PR they could get!

[veg-o-matic]

Let's see. He wants 7000 bucks and we have 2140 members. That works out to about $3.30 per member (I added a little extra to allow for shipping )

Sounds like a good investment to me !

Originally posted by veg-o-matic
Let's see. He wants 7000 bucks and we have 2140 members. That works out to about $3.30 per member (I added a little extra to allow for shipping )

Sounds like a good investment to me !

Ehhh, what do YOU know? You're just a vegatible!

Anthony

[Steve D.]

Ehhh, what do YOU know?
It's spelled VEGETABLE.

Krikies! The one time I don't bother to use my spell checker and I'm busted. I'm so ashamed.............

[Steve D.]

Sorry Anthony,
I just couldn't resist.

Steve D.

Any forum members local to that seller? Am wondering about a couple of things now........out of the 2140 members here, how many are TV nuts or at least interested in supporting such a thing as this?

Let's say 1/4 would be willing to help, that makes about 500 people and brings the cost per person up to $14 each....still quite a bargain to be sure. Trouble is manifold though, who would actually own this and be responsible for maintenance, insurance etc.

Who would run it? How much would the cost to us be for a rebuilt tube, one that would cover expenses etc. I know the suggestion was tongue in cheek, but am curious if there's any real possibility that something could be worked out.

Is the AK forum a corporation? If so, is it a not for profit 501(c)(3)?

If it is, then perhaps the seller could donate this for a write off, or at least some of it, and we could purchase the remainder??? Just thinking out loud here. All of this is contingent on whatever interest could be generated here and of course what his parts inventory is (no sense in buying a rebuilding line without any guns etc!!!!)

Anthony

Anthony,
I'm concerned that 10,15 or more years from now round CRTs, rectangle delta CRTs and B&W CRTs will be impossible to come by. While some tubes you can keep going for awhile with rejuvenation they all reach the end of the line sooner or later. It would suck to not be able to enjoy these classic TVs anymore. I for one would invest $14 to keep history alive. Now, I know very little about non profit corporations but someone must sponsor AUDIOKARMA's web site here- that certainly doesn't come for free. So, I would imagine something along those lines would be the case for a CRT rebuilding operation. Anyone know what the legal angle for a venture like that is? With all the members here I would guess the technical side would not be a problem. I would furthur speculate that someone on AK has a repair business that could house the equipment- if an agreement could be reached with them to rebuild CRTs for us. As long as they kept up their end of the deal and rebuilt pix tubes for us they could also use the equipment in their own for profit repair business. Just throwing out some thoughts here. Hopefully, a member here has some business savvy and would know how to make something like this work.

Jeff

[bgadow]

I think it was on the other forum that someone asked a good question, why one of the other rebuilding companies had not bought this for the inventory & spare equipment. I have heard of at least a couple rebuilders left & maybe there are others. There can't be a lot of demand these days, can it? I would think mostly projection crts or other high end stuff. Rebuilding a tube through one of these outfits ain't cheap but considering the labor involved (and the risks, overhead, etc) it is more than fair.

I think it would be great if some sort of co-op could be setup for rebuilding crts as well as making new production receiving tubes, especially some of the more scarce older types. I don't know that it could ever be profitable but in a co-op situation that wouldn't matter as long as it broke even. The trouble you might run into is that right now it would probably be too expensive to go this route-when all the expenses were hashed out you could probably buy old stock or have crts rebuilt at a for-profit company for less than could be done this way. It will not always be that way-some day the rebuilders will close their doors (when crts become extinct in new production sets-it will take a few years after the last are made and then the business will dry up) and current stocks of NOS tubes will only get smaller. This could be 10 years from now or more, and in the mean time the folks with the expertise to do this work-along with all the equipment-will go to meet their maker.