well... i turned the color killer on the back of the set a little, turned it on and i had some color when it came on, but it cracked the screen tinted green and i shut it off. looks like its gonna need some work after all ;)

The little later model TS908 used the thermal relay. The set in this thread uses the push-button deguasser, located near the antenna terminals. It was kind of a strange circuit, that used the boost source. There was an AC capacitor in series with the coil. :scratch2:

The CRT cracked?

*******crackled and hissed like something was burning up. sorry typo. i didnt smell smoke though but im sure something fried. it only did it though when i shut it off and adjusted the color killer and turned it back on.

Sounds normal if it's a transient 'crackle' lasting a second or two. As the High (positive) Voltage inside the CRT drops rapidly to zero, a negative-going charge is coupled capacitively to the outside of the CRT glass.
Again, normal if the crackle lasts only a second or two. As the HV comes up, a positive-going charge is coupled capacitively to the outside of the CRT glass.
If the hiss/crackle continues while the set is running, that would indicate a problem.

any idea how to get some color on the screen? LOL i dont want to touch anymore adjustments til' im sure

aside from turning the color level knob CW, fine tuning can have a great effect on color reception. Typically you tune CW until you get sound interference on the screen then back off just until it goes away. You can crank the color killer fully CCW.

If you are not getting any color snow with the color killer fully CW (you should be able to see BW snow and color snow by adjusting the color killer), then you prob need some tubes in the color circuit. maybe a dead color osc tube for starters. I would just sub in some new tube in the chroma circuits, starting with the osc.

yea i tried the color killer both ways and didnt get any color. i dont know where the sets fine tuning is or if it even has one. I need 3 bulbs for the set, it has the projecting controls and they all are dead. Ill look around, i may or may not have some tubes that will work in this. will adjusting the individual colors make a difference? i have no idea if anyone has ever toyed with any of them

Fine tuning should be the outer ring of the VHF tuner knob... And no you should not adjust individual color knobs at this time.... You can, with the set off, pull out any tube with "color" in its description from the tube chart, and put it back in. That will kinda clean some oxide off the pins, might get color flowing again..... Be careful....

there is no fine tuning ring... its just a vhf and a separate (i think because the bulbs are blown projector dials) uhf tuner. neither of them have fine tuning. the front panel has hue, intensity, pull on push off twist volume, vertical, bright, tone and contrast... im cleaning up all the controls and all the tube sockets.. i still dont know what will even happen if its on for a minute or 2... ill find out soon.

Do you push in on the knobs and twist to fine tune?

thank you.... ;)

i cleaned all the tube sockets, played with the fine tuning and still no color :(.. would letting it run for more than a minute or 2 make a difference?

i want to add this as well... if i switch the service switch in the back i get a nice line of red green blue across the screen. im lost

Do you have a way to hook up a signal source like from a VCR?

Here's an ad from Sep. 1964 when Motorola introduced these sets:
http://books.google.com/books?id=-Eg...eranto&f=false

i have a vcr dvd combo set to it now.... still no color.. only color when the service switch is flicked... i know you cant tell in the picture but its a perfect RGB line through it

The service switch is not producing color video. All it does is disable the vertical deflection. When you flip the service switch you should have a single white line if your convergence is not mis-adjusted(Which it likely is since you are seeing RGB lines).
Also do not run the set with the service switch in the position pictured for more than a couple of seconds without the brightness control turned down or you will PERMANENTLY burn those lines in to your screen.
I'd ignore the service switch and convergence until you get your color back as those adjustments should not have affect on your lack of color.

Btw is this your first time working on a tube color set?

this is my first time working on a color set. i didnt leave the set on more than 20 seconds with the switch flipped. im out of idea for the color. i guess it is what it is!

Get a schematic, a test pattern DVD, and an oscilloscope and start comparing waveforms in the color circuits to those shown on the schematic.
Once you get good at signal tracing the problems that can stump you will be far fewer in number.

Actually, if you hook up your DTV box, then set the tv to channel 3 and get a B&W picture, you should verify that your fine tuning knob is actually working..... Can you fully de-tune the channel you are getting a signal from...? 3, or 4, whatever you are using..... And you should get past the leaving the set on for only 30 seconds.... Some of these old sets need a few minutes for the color to work, If it comes on after a few minutes, that's a clue to fixing it....

I can detune from channel 3 til' i get just snow.. how safe is it to let it run for a few minutes? i dont wanna kill it.. but i will give that a try tomorrow, i thought id get color right when the picture came, i never thought ya woulda had to wait a few minutes to get a color picture

The round indicator between the hue and intensity controls is will light red when a burst signal is present (indicating color broadcast with correct fine tuning).
In 1965 there were many BW programs and unless color was being broadcast, you did not want to try adjusting those two controls in vain.

Have you tried swapping the five 6BL8 tubes in chroma stages? That would be a good start. If you take the two chroma IF 6BL8s and swap them with the two demod tubes, then swap the color sync amp, FINALLY go after that 6GH8, used as the color osc, you'll need a new one to be sure, those were troublemakers.

When you move set up switch, I was taught to bring each G2 screen control up (these are behind the escutcheon under the brightness and contrast controls) and back it off until the line just disappears, repeat for all three colors. You should have a fairly gray picture when you are done, only then you adjust the green and blue drive controls to finish up. Then turn up the master G2 control next to the screen controls to get the needed brightness.

The snow is what you see when no signal is present (a channel with no signal).

color snow shows the color osc is working, generally the color killer is adjusted by switching to an unused channel, and adjusting the color killer until the snow color just goes away and all that is left it BW snow.

Fine tuning is just that, turn the knob to a channel with a signal, then adjust the fine tuning as I described. Is should go from smeary B&W to good color and then if you continue to sound bars in the picture and finally to loss of sync. The correct fine tuning is just before the sound interference on the pic.

did not know it had a burst indicator, nice gimmick.

Well... i have a new 6GH8 coming after chirstmas, I dont have any tubes hanging around that will work with this. I suspect the 6GH8 probably is the problem, if not then Ill just replace every tube one by one. I havent tried adjusting it the way you explained, so in the mean time i'll give that a try.

I will make a video in a bit of how to adj color killer and fine tuning later. The color killer is only there to deal with weak OTA B&W programming. You could just set it to max CCW but I like to set things up correctly.

well.. i had one of my friends come over and adjust the tv while it was on. hes clueless about them but he has no fear being back there while its on :D anyways, i put a tape in the vhs and he was turning the color killer slowly and i got a black and white picture still, but there was stray color in the picture. he touched the vertical lin adjustment in the back and the picture came in the best it has yet, black and white with stray color. i guess this is progress?

I see not color at all. the bit at the top is just misconverged macro vision. the pic is general seems snowy I assume you have a matching transformer 75-300ohm. a weak signal will have snow and maybe no color.

You're getting there. You can probably run it as long as you want BUT don't leave the room while its on, not yet....
Contrast seems lacking, try the AGC control until it gets dark and picture bends, then back it off.
Try cleaning the tuner contacts, looks a bit weak for a VCR source.
The gray scale and retrace lines (dashes across top) show all your colors are working.

Can you get the color indicator light to come on?

yes the colors are working but the tuner does seem kind of weak... could i clean the adjustments in the back or is that asking for trouble? i cant tell what the tubes are doing up there in the tuner.. ill have to pull them out and check out the sockets..

Need to clarify some terms.

all the color guns are working (gets a BW pic needs all guns working)

Color is working, color is demodulating, in this case Color is NOT working.

Snow looks like snow generally seen when no signal is present or a weak signal is present. In your case you have snow in the pic. IF no pic and no snow then that would point to a tuner or IF issue.

Snow with pic could be

weak signal from source
bad balun at tuner
bad matching trans if used
dirty contracts (generally you can get a better pic by just messing with tuner by turning it show this up)
weak RF tube
AGC issues

dirty tuner is typical but again just using it (channing channels) will often point to this problem.

there is a correct way to clean a tuner, more on that later if that is the problem.

You dont need to change or clean the controls in the back. First of all you should be able to get a completely clear B&W picture with a properly connected VCR. There should be no snow. You may need to check or just change the RF amp tube in the tuner or maybe a bad balun. I would also check the IF tubes in the set as well. The fine tunning control will also impact the snow on the screen. Get a good clear B&W picture first. Then worry about the color. You likely have no burst or the chroma oscillator is not working. There is a color indicator light on the front between the color and hue controls on the front. Does it come on while playing the tape. If you cant get it to come on then look at the Burst amp and Chroma Bandpass amplifier circuits. If it comes on but you still have no color the refrence oscillator may not be running. Don't worry about things like demodulator tubes and color set up or convergence yet. That 6gh8 tube may very well be bad and will cause no color. I would bet there are some bad caps in the color circuits as well. On the plus side it looks like you have a good 23EGP22 CRT. That is a plus in itself. You have high voltage, and the horizontal and vertical circuits are working. Looks like a pretty good start and a nice cabinet as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAk9lKv03zA

should be ready in about 50min per youtube, covers snow/color killer adj, fine tuning and matching transformers.

One last thing, always think the easy problem 1st. Make sure you VCR is putting out a good clean color pic. See if you have a Known good working tv set and use what ever you cable/transformer setup on that (eliminate as many variable as possible) to confirm you are getting a good signal. Before the loss of analog tv this was easy, now you are forced to use various RF modulators (built into VCR or separates) that may or may not be so good.

Great start so far! :-) That's a very nice Motorola, definitely worth fixing up, especially since it looks like the 23EGP22 CRT is good. Too bad you don't live closer, or I'd try to help you with it some. That Motorola was about the first (earliest US made) rectangular picture tube set, Zenith and RCA, and many others were still selling those great "roundies" at the same time that Motorola was new. Best of luck with your set.

Does the set have more than one 6GH8 in it? try swapping them and see if the symptoms change.

i can get a clear picture i adjusted the AGC and got good contrast and no snow. only thing is theres lines running horizontally at the top of the screen. i havent cleaned the tuner yet, i will in a bit..

if you are getting a clean snow free pic do not clean the tuner. those horz lines are macrovision and not a fault of the TV. Watch my video listed for how to setup the fine tune.

i just tried switching some of the tube- i switched 3 of them around, now the thing doesnt show any picture at all

no picture no sound... looks like ill need a few 6BL8's

before messing with the tubes did you do any of the stuff I recommened?

check the signal

adj the fine tune

If not I am out.

the signal is good, i use my converter box and vhs/dvd daily on my 80's zenith space command. i got the tv going again, a tube was half out... the tuner is screwy. i get no picture but then if i push on the tuner to the right it comes in nice and clear, but black and white