Me too. I love your restoration play-by-play!

Thanks! Here's a little video I took while recapping this set that shows my technique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6P-KZyjOa8

LOL - no I spent about 4hrs/day for a couple weeks. I had just restored another set with the same chassis so this one went pretty fast.

Not that I'm done yet - it's that last 5% that's the killer :drool:

All my Admiral sets have that same blue/black ion trap magnet - remember the blue goes towards the face!

Yes, I'm just careful with the rust remover. Some brands are very fluid and it can drip all over. Naval Jelly is very viscous and tends to stay where you put it. It only took about two hours to clean up the front. Two coats of jelly, wipe it down with a damp sponge, dry it off with a paper towel, then a final rub down with WD40.

Thanks! No, I swear it's just a hobby - I do actually have a full-time job programming websites. It's nice to get paid to surf the web - that's why you might see me online at all hours of the day. I also work from home which is awesome when do time intensive stuff like removing rust or refinishing. I just take a little break to slap on some naval jelly then it's back to work :D


I recorded some video last night while I was working on this set, but I need to do a lot of editing before I can post it. Stay tuned...

I have been messing around with old radios and TV's for around 30 years. I don't think that I have ever run into a more informative and useful thread in my life. Your work is impeccable! I started at around 12 with taking apart my first vintage radio. I have never been able to explain my attraction to this stuff because it seems like most of the antique and 'collectable' world almost completely disregards old TV sets. I have a nice 1950 Zenith 24" remote set that I can't even GIVE away. The problem with this is if you can't give a set away, and you don't have the heart to part it out and break up the cabinet, what are you to do? Unless you have a large building outside of your home for this hobby, the need for space can bring your hobby to a halt. I'm sure many reading this know exactly what I mean. I have a guy that gave me a round tube color set that I can't bring home because of this.

Anyone ever coming through VA can stop by and take home some really decent sets and perhaps some NOS spare parts.

Oh, and I can not believe the way that Naval Jelly makes a chassis look! This makes me want to take apart every old radio and TV that I have and apply that stuff. It looks sand blasted! I have used steel wool a time or two, but it really wasn't worth the time and effort. This looks do'able bigtime! GREAT tip! :thmbsp:

Thanks! Just doin' what I can to share what I've learned. The fact that most ignore old TVs is part of the attraction to me. I mess around with old radios too, but hate having to pay exorbitant prices for tubes like the 245 or 483 output tubes. Much easier to get a 1B3 or 6BG6 :D It's also a much greater challenge to get one of these setts running smoothly.

As for space - yeah I think most of us are stuffed. I have 6 sets out on the back porch because there's no more room. I won't be getting any more sets until I move to a bigger place or sell a few. I really can't bring myself to part with any though.

One important think I need to mention regarding chassis. Some chassis, and transformers are cadmium plated. Usual they go a bit white/green/yellow over time. Naval Jelly and rust removers in general can clean the cadmium oxide up very well, but it's very toxic and produces nasty fumes! Please wear gloves and have good ventilation if you're going to attempt it.

I've been using non-conductive abrasive pads too. I've seen them sold as a finish stripping pads sometimes. They work as well as steel wool, but without all the little metal bits that can work their way into everything.

BTW this is actually the chassis from another set.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/...a1934a64_b.jpg

It's going to get stinky :yuck:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2716/...048644ca_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/...216b6a01_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/...955eddbf_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/...3ee23f30_b.jpg

Neutralizing with a mild detergent
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/...94686377_b.jpg

Next, a little Simichrome metal polish
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2649/...b03578ae_b.jpg

Final results. Elapsed time about 20 minutes. I'll save the rest of the chassis for another day.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/...56dbc2e8_b.jpg

Videos up on YouTube
 

I finished editing the footage I recorded last night an uploaded them to YouTube. Enjoy.

Part 1 - first power up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDtS1YuHQGE

Part 2 - trying out the 12LP4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UooEyKTiYU

More chassis work
 

I'm just about done with the rest of this set. The audio is still weaker than I'd like, but at least I have some.

This nasty splice wasn't helping :no: That explains all the noise!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/...093aa48e_b.jpg

I'm not sure what impedance coax to replace it with, but maybe it doesn't matter much at audio frequencies ?
I wonder if anyone carries cloth covered coax ?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2800/...03cd1a67_b.jpg

I'm just about done with the lower chassis too. I used a mini-hack, heat gun and corkscrew to gut those capacitors.
It's less messy than the Dremel with cutoff wheel I had been using.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2795/...97e559b2_b.jpg

I also discovered that the tuner was pretty dirty and rusty so popped it out and cleaned it up :)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2708/...ffdd7f4c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/...6e54db2d_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/...8493e9d7_b.jpg

Next up - re-coating the CRT dag and restoring the cabinet...

Aerodag
 

Has anyone tried this product to recoat a CRT ?

I did a little test on a dead compactron. It goes on easily and dries quickly. It's not nearly as conductive as a NOS CRT I have so I'll try another coat. I put it on pretty thin I think.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/...70995ea5bd.jpg

More fine work from the "Chassis Cosmetologist" !!!

You could eat off that chassis! Really spectacular work, I must say.

Cheers,

Last year I bought a project set from a guy who used Acheson Aerodag G on the CRT. That project's still in the queue, but the CRT sure looks pretty. I have no reason to think that it won't work fine.

Phil

Were you able to buy a single can? I needed the brush on variety for work and they made me buy a whole case. I use it for mounting targets and only use a few milligrams at a time.

John

Yes, I just ordered one can from Ted Pella, Inc. You'll have to pay a little extra for hazardous shipping. They have lots of other cool lab grade stuff too.

I'd like to give credit to the user that originally posted that link, but I can't remember who :scratch2:

I use Ted Pella, but I don't think it was me. Might of been though, my memory isn't what it used to be.

John

Thanks! LOL - "Chassis Cosmetologist" - perhaps I should update my tagline :scratch2:

Yes, I used the exact Aerodag G on my 1954 Sylvania. Recoated the whole thing, dried nice and my set has been working nicely thanks to all here on this site for helping me along.

Audio problem persists
 

I've got the video rock solid on this set but still no audio :tears:
All I get is static which does increase with the volume control. I can also touch the volume control wiper and I get a hum. I've gone over the audio IF stages pretty thoroughly, so I decided to try aligning it by following these instructions:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/...d6c9d4d8_b.jpg

Here's the gear I used. A 3 AAs soldered together for the -4.5v AGC bias voltage. An EICO 232 VTVM and a Hickock 615 sweep and marker generator. Finally, an HP 45600B scope and demodulator probe.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/...f72b727c_b.jpg

I think I did everything correctly. Here's the ratio detector response curve, but still no audio :( Just a buzz that occurs when bright white portions appear in the video.
I know it's backwards, but I think that's just the nature of my sweep generator / scope - the key points match up more or less.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/...c212d55d_b.jpg

Any ideas ? I bet it's something really stupid!