Would an outfit like Moyer still have a Crosley fly? Wow, they musta bought a lot of NOS?

The wax coating is peeling off of the flyback on my Zenith bugeye. The fly doesn't get very hot, so I'm thinking that this may have occurred when the set was being played in the antique mall, for hours on end, without being recapped. Should I coat the fly in silicone or some other insulator?

I use silicone rubber that you can find at radio shack. Discharge the crt just to be safe and clean the dust and dirt off the flyback before you apply it. Silicone rubber has a nasty smell when you first put it on but after it cures it will go away.
Ed

Good tip! :thmbsp: I've used rubber cement on one or two in the dim dark past, and have also used "corona dope" but the hazard with either is that it needs several days of curing time before the set can be operated. Otherwise the flyback will burst into flames.

If the smell of the silicon rubber is offensive one might try the sealant made for repairing leaky fish tanks. Such can be had at a pet supply store in the aquarium department. It is far less malodorous.

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Sorry to hear about this... It isn't rare at all. In fact, house fires from malfunctioning TV sets were quite common in the 50s & 60s. I'm glad it stopped with the TV, and from what you say, I bet it's fixable. As long as it didn't get the cabinet involved I guess.

I've had a total-loss house fire, so I'm extra-careful with anything like this. I never leave the room for more than a minute or so, when I'm watching an old set. Or a newer set for that matter. On another note, it isn't just old TVs that shouldn't be left on & unattended... I know two people who had late-model cars in their garages, which burst into flames and burned the garages down due to being started for warm-up in the morning and left for a few minutes while the owners went back in the house to get last-minute things. (one a newer '80s Cadillac at the time), and the other an '02 or '03 Jaguar (glorified Ford Crown Victoria). Neither of those car-caused fires seemed to surprise the fire dept or insurance companies.

Charles

One of the biggest fires our county has ever seen took place back in the 80s. The main shop of a major trucking company burned, eventually traced to a short in a truck that was parked inside overnight.

Your best bet for recoating flyback tranny's would be sensor safe RTV silicone you can get at many auto parts stores,It does not use any acid that can possibly attack the insulation on the copper windings.Before you recoat the fly you should make sure you run the set for a few hours to get any moisture out of the fly so you arent simply sealing in moisture which could cause corrosion problems down the road.Also as for the fire issue maybe you could post a pic of the damage???You may want to inspect the yoke,for damage also as if the horizontal coils shorted then they can cause the fly to smoke.Also older flys were constructed with paper in between each layer of windings for the puropse of insulation and sealed with wax to keep moisture out.Unfortunately when the laquer insultion on the copper wire breaks down due to age or overheating becuase of poor ventilation or other external malfuntions arcing occurs causing heat and smoke and yes sometimes fire if the windings dont open.As a technician that works on modern sets flyback fires are rare but still have happened and in one instance in an older rca proj. set a fly actually detonated very violently and I also have seen where the epoxy breaks down and the fly arcs the the output transistor which is usually located close to the fly in modern sets which usually melts the case.