Vintage TV Voltage

[sylvania]

I always put a in rush limiter and polarized plug on my radios, Does anyone think its a good idea to do so on a vintage tv chassis?

[bandersen]

Yes, I have on some series strung sets with hot chassis like the little Admiral 10" portables. I just use current limiters on series strung sets with floating chassis like the Motorola VT-71s.

[Electronic M]

On transformer based sets and later hot chassis designs where the knobs were plastic and any metal on the outside of the case is insulated from the chassis to prevent shocks if the original power cord is not mutilated or rotted I think it's better to leave well enough alone.

Most color sets and some monochrome sets have built in inrush limiters so adding another would be 'guilding the lily'. Sets that don't have one from the factory don't necessarily need one so it comes down to 'do you want to spend the time and money?', and 'how worried are you of damage from inrush?'. On transformer sets I'd be less worried of inrush than series string sets.

One bit of safety to add on series string sets would be an AC TVS diode (IIRC) limiter. Basically they are like zener diodes for AC. On series string sets the tubes don't all always warm up at the same rate and some get more than their rated voltage during warmup this is bad for the tubes....You want to put the limiter on the CRT heater since CRTs can cost as much as another TV set if the correct type can even be found....It will differ the surge to the other tubes which given the lower demand, and higher supply usually run from 1-5$ a pop (a bargain compared to a new CRT).

[sylvania]

Thanks, This is a 54 set with transformer makes sense for CRT heater.