RCA CTC146 color TV

[radiotvnut]

I got two of these CTC146 RCA sets out of an old house, and this chassis really wasn't one of my favorites. The top one with the broken buttons is from '89 and looks like it has a bad boost filter cap, and a soft tube.

The other one has OSD, but is otherwise dark.

If I can fix them easily, without having to spend any money, then I will. Otherwise, they'll get parted out.

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I got two of these CTC146 RCA sets out of an old house, and this chassis really wasn't one of my favorites. The top one with the broken buttons is from '89 and looks like it has a bad boost filter cap, and a soft tube.

The other one has OSD, but is otherwise dark.

If I can fix them easily, without having to spend any money, then I will. Otherwise, they'll get parted out.

Those were very reliable chassis. Most problems were with the tuner. They were a bit tight and the tuner covers were soldered around the perimeter as well as several spots in the middle, but under an eye loop could be reliably soldered (grounds everywhere).

Any suspected tuner could be ferreted out with a solid thwack from the handle of an Xcelite wrench (they worked best).


John

[radiotvnut]

I looked at the one from '89 (the one with the broken buttons) and it initially had a weird symptom where the left-hand side had weak color and was darker than the right-hand side, with a bright vertical streak going down the center. I first thought that the boost cap was bad, but it was actually the 33uf/200V filter cap for the regulated 140V B+ that was open. There was also a 10uf/200V cap in the regulator circuit that was weak and I replaced it, as well. The boost filter tested OK, but since it's such a high-failure part, I replaced it anyway. However, I still have faint black vertical bars on the left side of the screen and they get lighter as you move towards the right (last picture). On some scenes, it's not noticeable, but it's noticeable on other scenes. I figure it's another bad cap that I missed.

As far as the nastiness, this thing was disgustingly filthy, with some dead roaches inside. I completely disassembled the TV, hosed down the cabinet, hosed down the chassis, dried everything thoroughly. With lots of Windex, paper towels, and water, I got it to look presentable.

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

As far as the nastiness, this thing was disgustingly filthy, with some dead roaches inside.

Back in the 80s, I pulled a Philips chassis (something like an H1 console) from a house that had by a long shot the worse roach infestation I had ever seen. Fortunately, I wasn't skeevy so I just went ahead. There were so many roaches in this apartment they were literally dozens on the wall, kitchen counter and furniture just walking around in broad daylight, and the TV was a disgusting mess inside as you can imagine.

I called the customer to give them the estimate for the repair, which included a horizontal output damaged by roach crap/piss on the sweep section causing cross conduction of parts. They OK'd it but I told them the roaches caused the problem and they would have to address the roach issue or the roaches would damage that TV or even a new one if I sold them one.

Repairing the chassis included removing everything from the chassis that would trap water, like the flyback or small inductors and tuning coils, then scrubbing the board clean with an ammonia and soap mixture. The TV came out fine and I ran it a couple of days in the shop and returned it.

They asked about the warranty and I told them all my work was guaranteed for one year, but that it didn't include any damage from roaches, and I put a disclaimer on the bill stating that.

He called me again the following year and told me the TV went out again. I told him to remove the back cover and look inside - if there were roaches on the board I wasn't warrantying my work. He never called back.

John