I agree there were some GE chassis that weren't so good, like the JA and QA. But, the KE's were good sets. So were the KC's. I always thought the early H sets were really good at the time and for the money. I mean, they were pretty reliable and didn't need much adjustments, and were cheap for a color set in 1966. You couldn't say those things about a roundy set a few years earlier. Sure, by the 70's there were much better portables, but GE kept cranking them out. All manufacturers made gems and lemons in their history.

BUT, I don't remember people believing GE sets were bad in general. It wasn't until I started reading posts on here that I ran across anybody generalizing them that way, and from one person in particular.

What I can generalize about GE consoles is that they had two problems: cabinets and pictures. GE cabinets were nothing special, and they were one of the first to adopt laminated particle boards. I remember when a GE console would come into our family's store and it would be put next to a Motorola set with a Drexel cabinet, there was no comparison. When you'd turn the GE on and look at the picture next to a Sylvania, again there was no comparison. The GE's usually had to sell for $50-100 cheaper to make them competitive. HOWEVER, the Motorola and the Sylvania sets were more likely to be back in the shop getting fixed before the GE would. And, the GE CRT's lasted longer too.

I'm colorblind and my eyesight's not the greatest, so personally I never minded the softer picture and colors of GE's. That's what kept me out of the electronics business, I couldn't read resistor codes or wiring colors. My granddad said I'd never make it because I took too much time having to rely on schematics and tracing to fix stuff. By 1980 my dad had moved on to a different business and my granddad sold out, so I wasn't around much newer GE stuff.

I believe...had it not been for the safety cap problems.. and triplers too..there would be a LOT more SS Zenith chromacolor I and II sets still out there...at least the ones with he delta tubes anyway. The 100% in-line tubes Zenith made are NOWHERE near as good at the deltas.

My dad bought a KE chassis GE 21" table model in 1969 and we used it as our main TV until 1986. It was still working when replaced, but the picture was getting overly green. The "instant on" was always in use and the TV had very few tubes replaced in its lifetime. I replaced it with a Magnavox remote table model and moved it to my living room, where it still sits. I thought it was and is a great TV.

We didn't have any more trouble out of it than any other TV and it sure lasted longer than the Toshiba 25" that replaced the Magnavox. I think mom got three years out of it. I have lots of memories of dad watching sports on the old GE and my watching Dark Shadows until it was canceled. It was our first color TV.

We had lots of GE appliances from the same store, Butler-Conrad. The KE GE replaced a 1962 GE 19" table model with a vertical chassis that went to my grandmother's kitchen and worked very reliably up until 1983 when it was replaced by a small Zenith. I have it in my basement. If you ever see My Favorite Martian, it's the same model Bill Bixby had in the apartment.

Mom still cooks on her 1953 GE 40" stove. It's just rock solid reliable. They made very good appliances in their day, but it's likely their day has passed. The last GE appliance I bought was a washer about six years ago and it's been reliable too. No problems at all.

i would have bid on it if i noticed it in time .

JA and QA were far better than the real GE lemon: EC Chassis.

You don't recall the Ethan Allen GE Sets - all wood, and the only plywood in the whole set was the back - a piece of Baltic birch three ply. I first saw one with a MA chassis, but later serviced several - all were easy fixes. In one GE Service guide I have, there are 18 Ethan Allen models for the represented chassis. I'm not sure if they ever had a tube set or a hybrid chassis in an Ethan Allen cabinet - I know I've never seen one.

GE got banged around by the consumer magazines. They won a few battles - Consumer Reports reported they only had 7 new models one year in a misprint, and two months later, they gave GE a whole page to display several nicer models among their 67 new models - and the apology from Consumers Union.

I wonder who that one person is? :D
BTW, I have several GE sets in my collection. Three Porta Colors, An HD and two HE2's.
A great working 9", made by Samsung and three 5" portable, undercabinet color sets, I think, made by Samsung. Plus a few Portsmouth built sets.
So, I'm not a complete stranger to GE products.

I had a '66 HE portacolor which ran like new. I installed a NOS picture tube in it though since the original was dim. Also, the AA/AB/AC sets with the through-hole solder connections that everyone complains about? Well, I've had two of the 17" ones and a 13" one and they were all superb performers as foun on the curb, with extremely bright images and deep natural colors.
And again, my 19" PC chassis set from the mid eighties had a FANTASTIC picture, but I blew the h.o.t. while setting the width by slipping with a metallic adjustment screwdriver. Still have it for repair someplace.
I have in my collection a few SE/SF tube hybrid chassis too which usually work well but have a weak crt.
The only G.E. I could say was a real piece of garbage, that I owned, was a '71 all tube 18" color I picked up at one point. I could NOT get it working at all. The circuitboards were scorched from heat and basically disintegrating. Which chassis did that likely have?

IIRC, Your '66 Porta-color is an HB chassis, the first one of its kind. They originally had the course dot-pitch CRT, the 11SP22.
Those 18", early 70's sets, had the super-size horizontal output tube and the lead coated HV rectifier. I junked one that was branded Packard-Bell. :thumbsdn:

You are spot-on with both sets. My portacolor had the coarse phosphored 11SP22. And the 18incher did in fact look as you described inside. At the time, I went to the public library trying to find Sams for it and they had already gotten rid of most of their inventory. I junked it. Funny though, how I'll probably never see another again.

I used to go to the public library, to get Sams information.
You could easily tell what sets were less than reliable, by the condition of the Sams. Some were rather tattered, from all the handling. They had to be photo-copied on site. They didn't allow removing them from the building. :thumbsdn:

IIRC those 18" sets from the 70's were intended for hotels, and I think they were actually hybrids. They had AFC and a dummy ring around the channel knob. The color controls were behind a screw on panel in the back. They also had large x-ray warning labels on the inside designed to scare the bejeezez out of you.

GE also had a kit for some of their other sets that covered the controls. I think they called it a kid-proof kit because kids always got blamed for the color being off in a set.

I remember they had a smaller tube color set about then too that was 15" or 16" and I think those were the first color sets from Singapore. They seemed to run hot. Otherwise, I don't remember seeing burnt boards or bad solder joints on many American made sets. GE used to gtd their boards for life, that was a selling point for them. But that stopped when stuff started coming from Singapore.

Hahaha. The ones in the shops were the same way and usually had big circles penciled around the trouble spots.

I don't remember them in TV's, but I do remember them in stereos. GE had some very nice stereo consoles.

I think the other thing that hurt GE was the x-ray rectifier tube scare. In fact, I think that hurt color tv sales in general because everybody thought color sets gave off x-rays.

GE appliances were another story though. The damn things practically walked out of the store by themselves they sold so well. People specifically sought out GE appliances and wouldn't bother to look at other brands.

My mover delivered last night at 3am.. I tried to do a soft power up but I realized nothing happens when powered on.. hmmm wonder if it's a thermistor, or a component pointed out below that broke from the chassis..

http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2486.jpg


Tested the tube with both the Beltron and BK.. Beltron does not like very well..
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2450.jpg


Originally started with the BK.. Here are the results.. Another with green being the weaker.. After 15 mins.. And it does take a long time for it to climb..
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2456.jpg


The Flyback looks to be in great shape.. Looks like a silicone replacement.. No wax droppings..
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2468.jpg


Chassis:
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2458.jpg
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2459.jpg

Two wires coming from the board that aren't connected..
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2476.jpg

looks like it has all the original GE tubes.. One is out and broken.. TV was shipped upside down.. May have came out and broke.. Something else is also lose and not in place.. Hmm.. Could this be why the set doesn't power on?
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2527.jpg


Looks like this coil of sorts is suppose to go here, close to where the tube should be.. May have had a square can around it..
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2534.jpg


Tuner:
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2477.jpg
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2479.jpg

Control:
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2493.jpg

Missing the inner knobs.. Does anyone have a spare set of knobs?
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2497.jpg

It's got the original Rare Earth tube
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2518.jpg

wires are cut to test the degauss circuit, they should be left open.
coil looks like maybe the eff coil, def kill the HV. never mind looked again not the eff coil.

if no pwoer at all check switch, often wire will break there. That got the AB chassis the GE design, not the RCA clone in the 1st sets they did.

The wires connected to the power switch are connected and not loose.. the coils behind the plug where power cord plugs in look burnt out and broken winding on coil... I tested the tube again using my Sencore CR70.. When I go into emissions on each gun the needle jumps well into the good range and then slowly goes into the bad.. Does that each time testing each gun.. I go back into the cut off settings and the settings go off after testing... Think I should zap this tube using the BK or Beltron with the cleaning function, or should I wait and see what happens when the set is functioning and HV has been to it?

Zap it now? :eek:Are you kidding?

burnt coil at interlock not good, sometimes opens from bad solder you will just need to check continuity from Power trans back to interlock (which may be bad too, wiggle the plug wire there). I generally will just hook up a meter to the AC plug and check for continuity, switch on, if nothing then just trace until you find where it breaks.

No reason to mess with the CRT until you see what kind of pic it makes.

you need to start looking for a coil at least to replace the broken one.

thermistor is often broken, check across it, cold prob 100 ohms, or turn on set for a few seconds, then off. if its cold you know its bad.

On mine one of the power resistors on that board with the thermistor had been replaced as well (incorrectly of course), so you may want to sweep thru them as well.

Don't rejuv just yet - I'll check my stock of GE parts to see if I have a coil, or a replacement. CB chassis was GE's version of the CTC15, with improvements. I'll pull my sams and see about your coil - most of the coils are interchangeable with the CA chassis, a sister to yours, and better yet, Miller, Workman, and Merit all made replacements.

Cheers,

According to the Sams the coil is L46 item number - Horiz Osc - GE part number ET36X727 - Miller part number 6350... Others are blank including Thordason.. Looks like there is a few other of these coils that are the same throughout the chassis... If anyone has this part.. I'll be the buyer..

I'd check the schematic and see if you have all the leads on that coil sticking out far enough to solder. If so you could tack on about an inch of fine gauge wire to the stubs, glue the base back in, and solder the extenders to the terminal posts....I've had to deal with the kind of damage you picture before and the above procedure was the way I fixed it.

Ya, I thought of that.. I think there is enough leaded wires coming out.. I'm not sure if there is 2 or 4 wires..

Here is a pic of one of the two coils behind the plugin.. looking from the bottom of the chassis, there is a break in one of the coils.. Wire perks out... I measured with my ohm meter, there is no voltage going past those coils when I plug in the cord.. Is this something that could be jumped at least until I Obtain some kind of replacement?

http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2542.jpg

You can see at broken wire on the left coil
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2548.jpg

You can simply bypass the coils with a piece if wire. The coils are simply to filter the high frequency noise leaving the set and entering the 120v mains supply. I suspect there will be more horizontal sweep radiation as a result of the bypassing.

Many sets did not have those coils so bypassing them is fine. One quick N' dirty replacement can be had from a junked switching power supply from a computer, modern TV, etc. Most switching power supplies have a 4 pin transformer looking part in between the power cord and the rectifier bridge (the bridge is usually just before a large X00uF 200V lytic) that transformer looking part is basically the two line coils in your set only conveniently wrapped into a single part.

I bypassed the coils.. and it went KABOOM instantly as i plugged the cord in.. Notice the black mark now.. Sounds like issues with the power supply.. There's a cap that looks to be made out of some kind of foil that doesn't look good (pictured).. That may be the problem..

http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/...V/DSCF2551.jpg

It's something Dave is going to have to look at..

beware of the many flat wind coils used, very fragile, you don't want to break out the air gun and start blasting away to clean it. If you feel you must clean use q tips and alcohol very carefully, and stay away from those flat coils.

this is where you want to use a variac (bypassing things) watching the AC amp draw and monitoring the B+

The cap prob is an across the line cap just just exploded, remove it and try again with the variac.

Another good idea is, before connecting the plug, to check the resistance at the chassis interlock terminals. If it is below 40 ohms (calculated assuming 350W rated consumption, and the same resistance cold as during operation) then assume there is a problem and fix it before connecting power.

That char mark reminds me of the time when I was a teen when I tried to find which pins on a 4 pin power plug were 120V. I used a DMM set to voltage, but with the leads in the 10A current measuring position (which is a dead short) there was a POP and lots of smoke....Surprisingly nothing was destroyed and the breaker never tripped.

You call that thing an improvement over the time-tested CTC15! :D
It's obvious, that the flyback runs hot! An aluminum frame and heat-sink compound to transfer heat to the chassis proper. Probably, not a bad idea.
It looks like a lightning kiss! I would use the series lamp trick instead of the variac for now. The transformer primary might be damaged as well.
I wonder how much heat, I'm going to catch, for this entry. :scratch2:

The chassis stamping is the same as some CTC-15 clones I have, and I can't help but do a double take seeing the 'audio board' devoid of tubes and instead used as a PS board....Something about large power resistors on an early PCB that just screams cold solder joints and B+ failure to me.

In the first phot0 he posted, it was already toast. Remove the cap (with the green stripe) and check again for shorts. The coils are hash coils, and any modern common mode choke (from a junked set) will work.

BTW, I probably have your coil - I have several, just need to figure out the function of the broken coil. Lemme know - my Sams is mysteriously missing. I've had it out before, so no gremlins to blame - just my disorderly mess.

Cheers,

This is what I have with the sams.. It works as a Horizontal Oscillator..

I removed the cap.. it measures at 5.6 ohms cold at interlock.. I"ll probably try the light bulb procedure in series with the variac...

I get about 3 ohms at the plug.

FYI, the Miller 6350 is a focus coil. PM responded to.

...

Andy, I checked mine (same model) it was 3 ohms at the plug.

Removed cap.. I measured again this time at the plug, and got 3ohms with the tv power switch in the on position.. Plugged it with the varic with light in series and cranked it a little and got life.. The tuner light came up and the tubes started to glow, and heard faint crackling from the speaker, then I powered off.. That's all im doing until I get a tube and horz osc coil and replacement cap..

Findm-Keepm I just tried to reply.. You have exceeded your message storage limit.. I want to send you my address.. I've sent the money for your osc coil to your paypal account.. You're right I read the sams wrong.. It's all blank as far is and Thoradson or miller etc..

I got it setting on the variac with the horizontal output tube out.. First time I've ever seen a roundie with a coax in.. I hooked it directly from the digital cable box and it's picking up signal, which is good... Looks like this set is not going to need much work..

Went from a dead set, to a KABOOM, to a set that's now coming to life.. I guess I'm starting to catch on to this stuff.. I just hope it will be less KABOOMS in the future..

I assume 2 of these from digikey will work for the coils

http://www.digikey.com/product-detai...8273-ND/774813

The Cap is rated .047 600v.. I found a few at digikey here

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea...07287966524400
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea...07287966524400
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea...07287966524400