The glass front on my Philco was in a similar state. It took a fair number of baths and finally some soaking in the kitchen sink before it was clear again. Unfortunately the plastic tube surround is a bit of a different story. I've cleaned it as best I can, but its still got a bit of a yellow/brown tint in the plastic that just won't come out.

yup, and have you seen your lungs if that looked bad?

Yikes. It certainly is a chore to get the residue out of an old set (or amp/receiver/etc)

:scratch2:

Just a guess but perhaps to keep the wiring short and prevent electrical interference?

Or else it was just physically easier to extend the shafts than it was to move the pots. :scratch2:

Back in the '60's and '70's when I would go into homes and service Zeniths, you could always tell who does what. Smokers would always have a disgusting looking set as tubes move a lot of air through the chassis and everything would have a brown gooey coating on everything. People with several poodle dogs would have a set full of hair and it would be thick too. Others with parrots would have a set full of white talc and also would be thick on everything.

Speaking of animals, I once serviced a house with a packrat cat! It was getting into my partner's tool case and taking tools and hiding them! My partner would reach for a quarter inch nutdriver and it would not be there where he last laid it. Finally he saw the cat and kind of hid himself behind the console TV and watched his tool case, sure enough here comes the cat and removes another nutdriver he laid out for it. He followed the cat and found all he was missing and what a pile he found!

All I can say on that set is WOW!!!
Wish it was mine.....
Bill Cahill

Smokers...

I just cleaned and restored a little project yesterday, a late 40's "Delta Beam" TV Antenna. Kool item, made of painted gold metal, bakelite, glass, and black rubber.

From an Estate. Definitely a Smoker, this thing was covered in nicotine. After I disassembled it, cleaned all the various parts, and shooting the steel parts with a fresh coat of god metallic paint, I reassembled it.

It looks fantastic atop my DuMont RA-105B.

LJB:smoke: