Picture Tube Swap

[jpdylon]

try rejuvenation. Most CRT testers have this function and instructions on how to use it. After rejuvenation keep the brightener on it. Just use it till it dies. Not much more you can do after that

[andy]

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[Tubejunke]

My 1956 Philco has had a brightner for over 20 years. I have posted on this set before so I will try to be brief. I bought the set in 1982 or 3 at the Goodwill, which by the way at that time was a modern day collectors dream. Back then there was stacks of 50's Black and white sets and many color roundies all the time. Many of these sets were commonly used up to that time and were just getting discardable. My Dad worked at a Sears Roebuck catalog store then and it was right next to the ONLY Goodwill I had ever seen. Now they are everywhere. Anyhow my Dad's job allowed me to keep an eye on the cool junk store.

Anyway my Philco cost $10 and gives good service TO THIS DAY with no recap. Only an occasional tube and once back in the 80's we sent it to the shop for a resistor that had caused the sound to become problematic. I guess my being young at the time gave me a premature eye for the nostalgia and pure beauty of the old sets.

As far as my Philco's use goes I used it daily from when I purchased it until 1986. Then I went in the Army until almost 1990 so the set was dormant. When I got out I used it only part time and had upgraded to a Zenith color roundie with remote control. Still good stuff, even then. Even then I was amazed with the reliability of the Philco and had grown attached to it. The 50's sets were getting rarrer by the early 90's. Then there was no internet in everyones home (or room) like now and I feel like its popularity opened new doors to finding old sets. For the most part we don't think of 50's sets as being "rare" now because there are a lot of them out there and we now have an instant way to locate nearly anything we want.

Back to the point after leaving the folks house the Philco remained dormant again until around 1994 or 5 after I had bough my own home. All the rest of the time I have played the set for an hour or so 3 or 4 times a year. At this point its like I am playing some kind of game trying to see how long a television can last without restoration. If Philco were still a company they would probably want to purchase it back to put in their archives, or a museum.

So, a brightner is NOT a death sentence. I think people get the wrong idea when it comes to brightner's. What it really means when you find a set with a brightner is that the set has a lot of hours of use and the crt has weakened with age and has lower emission. It would be somthing to consider in purchasing a set because you will eventually need a replacement tube but again not a death sentence.

My old set finally has gotten so it takes a good 5 minutes to become viewable in a lit room. Also the picture gets silvery looking when you play with the brightness control. Still in all the set still does its job. Funny the more I use the old thing the better the picture seems to get. It may outlive me and is almost 15 years older than I am......

[refill233]

I sure appreciate all the great info i'm getting here for sure! Now back to the tv . I have a Beltron picture tube restorer model 8080A and have tried to clean and restore it.The Beltron works okay so thats not a problem.What it does when i try to restore it is NOTHING.It doesn't clean or restore.I upped the filament voltage some, tapped on the neck (lightly) and still no response from the tube. Makes me think somebody may have already did that before i bought the set.I didn't leave the set on long after the cool down because of the tuner deal.It may come up good ater a 10 minute warm up or so.Plus i can always use the brightner on it.Looks like someone has a good run with one.Still waiting on that darn tuner so i can get this tv playing.I might add with all the great help i'm getting here.Will post a picture of it, when its done, and let you know what a great job you did helping me repair it.

[Progman64]

RCA 6-T-72 chassis KCS40B serial number A1957811 16" CRT 16GP4. Looking to get it to work. I am in Southern California. Any suggestions? Thank you


Is there a CRT that will work on my set. I believe its a 16GP4.Any suggestions?

[kramden66]

Not easy to put another crt in , the tv is made to fit 16gp4

[Electronic M]

If your 16G is down to air and you're within driving distance of Milwaukee I have a spare 16GP4 that works on a brightener that I'd let go cheap to anyone willing to pick it up in person.

[Yamamaya42]

Just how well/long do the brighteners work/last?
As mentioned, my 24AHP4 is a bit weak, slow to come up to brightness, but after a few min, gives a pretty good picture, obviously on it's last legs, who knows how long.

https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/049/2/24AHP4.pdf

The data page clearly states that the heater can run off of AC or DC current, so I was thinking of getting a 7 volt 2 amp dc regulated power supply, and giving the CRT tiny boost, 0.7 volts is not very much, but it will help a tiny bit, and that's all I really need. Right?

[Electronic M]

How long a CRT will last on a brightener and how much of a voltage bump your tube will need are variables.

I've ran CRTs for months on brighteners and seen no drop off in performance before finding better CRTs. I've also seen CRTs without brighteners wake up on a tester then die in a few months of regular service (the Sylvania 21FBP22 in my Zenith 29JC20 for instance).
If a CRT can produce an acceptably bright picture in the lowest room lighting your comfortable with without a brightener, then there's no need for one. A period brightener will spit out around 8.4V if your CRT doesn't need that much to hit acceptable brightness you can try less and see if it lasts longer...In your set since there's no cabinet I'd run probably run to fail then chuck the chassis on the parts donor shelf.
There's tons of parts chassis out there*, and there's tons of complete sets out there.
*I just liquidated 2 rectangular color parts chassis (the stripped parts take up less space off the rusty chassis) and I have 2 more I'm probably going to do the same to soon.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

How long a CRT will last on a brightener and how much of a voltage bump your tube will need are variables.

I've ran CRTs for months on brighteners and seen no drop off in performance before finding better CRTs. I've also seen CRTs without brighteners wake up on a tester then die in a few months of regular service (the Sylvania 21FBP22 in my Zenith 29JC20 for instance).
If a CRT can produce an acceptably bright picture in the lowest room lighting your comfortable with without a brightener, then there's no need for one. A period brightener will spit out around 8.4V if your CRT doesn't need that much to hit acceptable brightness you can try less and see if it lasts longer...In your set since there's no cabinet I'd run probably run to fail then chuck the chassis on the parts donor shelf.
There's tons of parts chassis out there*, and there's tons of complete sets out there.
*I just liquidated 2 rectangular color parts chassis (the stripped parts take up less space off the rusty chassis) and I have 2 more I'm probably going to do the same to soon.

Many years ago, I've seen people running two briteners on a really tired CRT.
They didn't worry about hurting it. The tube is junk anyway.

[kramden66]

You can use a transformer or a brightener with a resistor run it at 7 volts or so and you will be happy and ßo will the crt, I've done it

Originally Posted by Yamamaya42

Just how well/long do the brighteners work/last?
As mentioned, my 24AHP4 is a bit weak, slow to come up to brightness, but after a few min, gives a pretty good picture, obviously on it's last legs, who knows how long.

https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/049/2/24AHP4.pdf

The data page clearly states that the heater can run off of AC or DC current, so I was thinking of getting a 7 volt 2 amp dc regulated power supply, and giving the CRT tiny boost, 0.7 volts is not very much, but it will help a tiny bit, and that's all I really need. Right?

D

[Videotechie]

What set uses this tube is tube round I guess?

A true hack would be to use a smaller crt with magnifier lens to make screen look larger AS OEM.


Smaller crt would be lighter for mounting less ideal tho.

[tvdude1]

I have a spare Zenith chassis with a 16G in it I will check it this week for you.