[QUOTE=dieseljeep;3139673]I always considered Sarkes-Tarzian stick tuners (60s/70s) to be the best, and those crummy Shogyo or Oak wafer-switch or turret (some RCAs) tuners to be the worst. PTS used to charge more for an Oak rebuild of your unit - they always seemed to have a fairly good inventory of rebuilt Sarkes tuners, making me think the S-T tuners were more reliable and were low-demand for rebuilds.

As to the S-T stick retainers breaking, it was early Delrin, coupled with the orientation of the tuner - tubes not completely vertical (GE) or a cover over the tuner area (Maggie consoles and entertainment units) that blocked the heat from escaping, baking/browning the Delrin plastic. GE owned up to it with a Service note in the 1970 TV service guide. They showed how to order the turret with newer (bluish) Delrin retainer and replacement instructions. Pull the tuner, dismount it from the cluster, remove sticks that ain't broken, pull F/tuning shafts and wishbone/gearing, slide off the UHF switch, pull the spring, slide out the turret, compare to the new, and reinstall, reversing the steps. At 16 years old, I thought I'd do one myself, got into trouble with the spring, and had to get bailed out by Dad. Oh, if I had only had the instructions...:D

Nice to hear! I hope you are able to put your time off, and your knowledge from RACS, to good use.

Well...sice TWO of them exploded...you will never see them again..I saw at least one on the pad my self --I THINK it was atlantis--May 1999 IIRC.

I do know of another one in existence. In speaking with the owner of that set he believes all six were in different cabinets as well which would make each one "one of a kind".

You should have your friend post his up, we could make it a Gilfillan only thread.

So here's how I decided to repair the flyback, whose wax tire had decided to fall off in chunks over the years.


First a before shot, all dirty and nasty. This flyback is unique just like the one in the 21-CT-55, because it has one of the filament windings for the rectifiers right there on the tire. There are also 2 other filament strings, wrapped around the ferrite core. I think it had to be done this way, because there simply wasn't room elsewhere.

http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMG_0101a.JPG

Ah, that's better! All cleaned up with q-tips, Goof Off and alcohol, took about 2 hours.

http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMG_0103a.JPG

Amazing it came out that clean, there was actually a nice looking transformer under it all.

http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMG_0104a.JPG

Next I removed the bad sections of remaining wax and squared them off, using a soldering tool to melt it which was pretty smelly. Then I built a sort of cardboard trough around the remaining good section of wax tire, sealing the edges where it met the transformer with bits of wax. I poured 2-part silicone into this to make a mold.

http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMG_0111a.JPG

Looks like it came out good, but how well had I captured the original profile? Pour in some wax to make a test casting! This is monocrystalline wax donated by John Yurkon, it matched the melt point and hardness of the original stuff pretty close but not the color.

http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMG_0112a.JPG

Looks like a match!

http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMG_0113a.JPG

Next step, position the mold carefully around the windings and pour:

http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMG_0114a.JPG

The result looks pretty good.

http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMG_0116a.JPG

Only thing is the original section of wax was slightly angled, and that transferred to the mold. That meant the new wax was slightly misaligned, as you can see where it meets the original wax. It's not bad enough to matter, I think this new tire will work just fine.

http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMG_0115a.JPG

Can you enlighten me on the specifics of the two-part silicone you used to do this? I have a whole list of things it would help me with. :yes:

It was a kit from the hobby store specifically for making molds, it just happened to be a 2-part silicone. The name of it is alumilite quick set RTV silicone rubber, worked really good and the hot wax didn't phase it at all.

Great job Nick! I looked this thing over at the ETF, I was amazed at how solid and heavy it is. I can't wait to see a picture on it :)

Nick may have mentioned this Gilfillan color prototype was from the late Ed Reitan's collection. I was in Ed's Los Angeles apt. helping with the moving of various items to the ETF when the movers wrapped up this behemoth and w/a dolly managed to get it down the many narrow steps from apt. to street, to moving van. The set does weigh every bit of 300 lbs. and is built like a bank vault. Ed managed to acquire the set when he worked for Gilfillan Corp. in their military radar division.

-Steve D.

Thanks Steve, I intend to put up a video of this set playing those nice clips a few of the guys put together of his life. Should be a fitting tribute to our friend, and a nice way to cap off the restoration.

The HV cage is 90% reassembled now. The rewaxed flyback is installed, so are the rectifiers. Thanks to WISCOJIM for providing a new socket, to replace the one that had an ear broken off. All HV wiring has been replaced with 40kv stuff from Belden, hopefully there won't be any sizzling to deal with. I decided to replace the coin base GE brand rectifiers with period correct fat base RCA ones, now all the tubes in the cage (aside from the focus rectifier) are fat base T-12 style glass and it looks killer.

Last issue to deal with is the lack of a focus control. Right now there's just a bleeder network coming off the focus rectifier, a 3A2, with a tap after a few fixed resistors for the line to the CRT. There is around 15 megs of resistance to the string, which is more or less what the schematic calls out besides the fact that 5 megs of it is supposed to be in the control. Anyone have one of those special 5 meg focus pots they could donate? I've tried using a normal pot before (on my CT-100), but they always arc over.

Something like the one in the 621TS should work, but there are other sets using a similar style control.

http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMGP6723a.JPG
http://miniman82.4t.com/images/Gilfillan/IMGP6724a.JPG

Nick,

Your restoration looks to be a first class job. Ed would be very happy with your efforts. Those focus pots are not easy to locate. Steve K. replaced the pot in my CT-100 with the best substitute he could find. It has since failed. Also, as you know that particular pot has the longer shaft. I don't know if that is a requirement in the Gilfillan set. The Ed Reitan memorial tributes would be a fitting video to display on a set Ed Valued so highly.

-Steve D.

Steve,


I know they can be tough to find, I may end up having to buy a donor chassis or something. Do the 8TS30 and 630 use the same pots? I can make a shaft extension if need be, won't be a problem.

I find the 621TS, to be a rare bird, using electrostatic focus, high voltage at that.
All the other RCA's and clones, were magnetic focus.
Maybe a focus control from a 7" Motorola or other would be close. Maybe one of the centering controls. The secret is insulating them from the chassis. :scratch2:

Nick, another possibility is the focus pot from one of the late 11940s RCA projection sets; a 15meg 4 watt pot. I may have one if you think you want to try it.