I've always passed on sets that have cabinet issues that are beyond simple touch-ups and buffing. Watching that great job you do on serious cabinet issues is giving me confidence to step-up my skills.
That top looks excellent already!
Joe

Thanks. I think once you get the hang of strippers, grain filler and lacquer, it's really not that hard.

I replaced the dual selenium with a modern dual schottky diode and it made no difference. Neither did moving the CRT leads around so I installed the chassis into the cabinet and hooked up the new CRT.

The issue remains but it's not nearly as bad as it was.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8266/8...28c590ac_c.jpg

It's hardly noticeable when viewing actual programming.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8272/8...8dd2eca8_c.jpg

I need to do a little work on centering the picture and it's still not quite as bright as I think it should be.
There's also a bit of buzzing in the audio that varies with the contrast control. Perhaps an alignment will get rid of it. Otherwise, the sound is great :music:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8264/8...e7ee8e64_c.jpg

Damn good lookin TV as compared to its beginning.. :thmbsp:

Steve

Bob, those are some awesome screen shots! I used to try hunting for that cause of the lighter bar on the left side... and eventually would give up since it wouldn't be noticeable while viewing the video.

That set in Providence looks like the one for sale here near me in Kountze. I wanted to go pick the set up this weekend, but having to stay off my feet for a few days following a little surgery. I'm sure it will be there next weekend... I know it's been there several months already. One more weekend wont hurt.

I, too, will be looking for those small knobs.... dammit. Even worse, I will have to look for that name badge in the center of the speaker.

I think I can help you out a little with some small knobs. I have a few dinged up ones left over.

Another little issue I have is some nasty arcing sounds when the screen first lights up and when the set is turned off. So far I haven't been able to pinpoint the source. It doesn't happen with the little test CRT so I'm thinking it has something to do with the coating on the big CRT. Maybe I got it too close to the yoke or HV anode ?

Possibly the static charge on the CRT face(?) With some sets you can hear it when the HV first comes up, and again when the HV goes off (it's a negative-going static charge as the HV drops). But it's more of a benign crackling and would hardy qualify as "nasty". :naughty:

No, this is definitely a loud cracking sound as the picture first comes on or fades away. The image on the screen also goes nuts during the sound leading me to think it might be the yoke arcing to the new dag coating.

Or possibly an "island" of dag that lacks electrical continuity with the grounded "mainland" (?)
since the effect is most pronounced during the charge-up and bleed-down intervals..

I wonder if that lighter vertical bar or lighter left side could be related to a Barkhausen oscillation? It's not the same as the classic view of it, but could it be an oscillation cropping up in the horizontal output? Some cages have a magnet near that tube, or sometimes an ion trap is strapped to the tube, moved around to see if it makes a difference? Or trying different tubes.

I recall Phil posted a photo of Barkhausen oscillation recently and it appears as a narrow squiggly vertical line. I did try different tubes and it had no effect.

I've also noticed fine tuning does have quite an effect on it as Eric mentioned earlier. I'm going to hold off on fooling with that issue and the buzzy audio until I do an alignment. Between replacing so many caps, resistors and tubes I figure it's got to be off.

Here's about when the arcing sound is worse as power up
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7433/8...e841e445_z.jpg

and at power down
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7432/8...457ddd3a_z.jpg

I get a sense there's built up energy looking for somewhere to go. I'm also starting to wonder if the sound is actually coming from the speakers and not arcing at all. :scratch2:

The built-in UHF antenna and tuner are working better than I expected and I can pickup LP channel 48.

Very cool to watch TV the old fashioned way without firing up a transmitter.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7337/8...5dca0c2b_c.jpg

Great job man! That cabinet turned out beautiful. I can't even tell the top was redone, the color matches perfect. Nice picture too, I wish there were some LP stations closer to me. I can pick them up, but not clearly.

Looks like a borderline weak H oscillator tube. The pic should come on fully locked in.
Not sure how out-of-sync horz sweep would cause the arcing sound, though.

Does this tv have a piece of metal from the chassis that lays on the dag of the CRT to bleed off a charge? Is it workin okay???

SR

There is a metal tab at the top and bottom of the CRT tension band than press against the dag. I'll double check. I'm also going to check the tubes on the sweep board again. It does take a while for the set to lock when turned on.

I'm a little distracted by a free set that was just dropped off :) Details to follow.

Even if the osc. tube tests 'good', try dropping the heater voltage a notch or two. Or use the 'life' test if the tester has it. If emission drops abruptly the tube is borderline in oscillator service.

In instances like this, the set itself can be the best tube tester. :D

I'm wondering if the Horizontal osc coil needs touching up? The one on the board I mean, not the Consumer used control.
You may just be hearing the screech of a tortured oscillator trying to start up.

Perhaps. I'll pull the chassis out once the cabinet refinishing is done and go trough all the factory adjustments.

I spent a lot of time and used a lot of tape to get the set masked off so I could spray the top. Lacquer dries after a couple feet in the air so I'm not concerned about any getting on the feet on my floor. They will just be some brown dust I'll clean up with a swiffer.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7436/8...d603b8c7_c.jpg

Here it is after three passes with the toner and a couple coats of semi-gloss lacquer.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7329/8...a378dd77_c.jpg

LOL - The top isn't done - it just looks good in the dim lighting.

The weather is finally warm again and I should have the top done soon. Meanwhile, I snapped the neck off the original, dead CRT so I could dispose of it.

I wish I could just reach in there and fix the filament :sigh:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7281/8...69b80414_z.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7284/8...76625e30_z.jpg

I finally decided I was happy with the top and removed the masking tape. It's not exact but a pretty decent color match I think. I'd have to do a custom blend to get any closer. After it cures a while longer, I'll knock it down with some steel wool and pumice.

Now I can get back at the electronics inside :)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7291/8...e65d2c47_c.jpg

You could fix it now:D...Though it probably would not do you any good without CRT rebuilding equipment.

I tend to keep electron guns whenever I have to snap one off. I like the way they look...Especially the delta-guns off of rectangular color tubes; those sort of look like Lightsabers:lazer:

Man, I think it came out really cool! It certainly looks like it was well worth your time and effort! :yes:

Hi All;
Bob, I am Glad to see that it was you who snapped off the neck, instead of something Your picture tube checker did to it..
THANK YOU Marty

Why would you think a CRT tester could snap off the neck of a CRT. :headscrat

CRT testers are electrical devices that attach to the CRT base via a wire and socket and apply fairly low voltages. The only way someone could snap a neck off a CRT during testing is by having an unsafe procedure or an accident. The only way a tester could neck a tube when used properly is if the tester got hit by lightning during the test(CRTs have been known to have neck failures and implosions if subjected to voltages more than 50% over their specked HV anode voltage).

A more likely scenario would be brushing against the set when the back is off. That stubby little necks sticks out just enough to easily get broken.

I'm happy to say that I have yet to break a CRT except on purpose. Uh-oh! I probably just jinxed myself :para:

Thanks! I hope just a little more tinkering and it'll be done :thmbsp:

Hi All;
ElectronicM, it was a joke that it hadn't blown up while testing it.. I know that unless the Tube is struck, a tester won't cause it to explode and Break.. But, Thanks for the warning..
THANK YOU Marty

I wish I could say the same thing. I've broken several back when I was in the repair biz, and all were for customer's sets:tears:

I was a Crosley dealer in the 90's. Of course, Crosley is just a brand name now (appliances sourced from Whirlpool and electronics were sourced from Magnavox). I paid $300 for a 1954 model Crosley console that had been restored. It was a beautiful set that sure got a lot of compliments. I had a customer one day who was standing in front of it, and pushed the cabinet back against the wall....my heart sank as I heard the rush of air when the neck snapped off the pic tube.

I ended up selling it to a local optometrist who gutted it and converted it to a display case in his waiting room.

I finally had some time late last night to pull the back off this set and do some investigating.

First, I took a look at the metal tabs pressing against the aquadag coating and they are both making good contact. They are attached to the metal band running around the CRT which is bolted into a metal frame running around the front of the set. All that looked fine.

Then I noticed that the metal CRT frame is separate from the metal TV chassis. They have to be connected somewhere. Eventually, I noticed a missing bolt that connects the two together. Replacing that solved the problem :)
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3828/9...ff4e01ba_c.jpg

Another issue is bad horizontal hold. It takes a few second after power up for it to lock and the control on the back of the set is very touchy.

I did the obvious thing first and retested the tubes. Right away I found one half of a 6CG7 completely dead. Weird. The filament is glowing but it has 0 emissions. I replaced it and the sync is solid now :thmbsp:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3788/9...3809e170_c.jpg

TV Similarities
 

Hi Bob,

I commented on your You Tube post about this set, finally had the chance to show you what I mean. I was quite surprised when I first saw a GE set like this.

Yours is much nicer than mine, but most Australian TVs are not that fantastic. Pity I can only seem to upload one pic from the iPad, there's 2 more.

Cheers,

Adam

Wow, that sure does look the same - even the knobs!

I have a $2 pocket knife with a serrated edge that works perfectly for scraping oxidation from tube pins. They need to be shiny. The typical dull gray look is a problem in the works. Many times with a tester you can hold down the "test" button and wiggle the tube around and that dead section will come to life proving that the tube needs cleaning. Otherwise there would have to be an internally open connection which is possible, but unlikely.

The dental pictures looks like the same type of equipment that my dentist used when I was a kid getting work done. Gosh that was 50+ years ago. I probably still have some of the fillings that he put in. Bet that x-ray machine put out a lot more power than the x-rays from any TV set.

TV Similarities (final pics)
 

Here's the remaining 2 pics I took, sorry about the poor quality.

You can see how uninspiring the cabinet is compared to yours Bob, and the chassis is completely different. There should be a cage over the high voltage section at the top right corner, but that's in the UK now! I can't wait to get stuck into this, as I had one of these when I was a kid. Back then, if it involved more than tweaking a few internal controls or replacing a tube, it was too hard to fix!

Ah, if only the internet had been around then!

You can see why I think that someone was sleeping with someone else in terms of the design: they're too identical to be a coincidence. I wonder if there is a story to be uncovered here!

Cheers,

Adam :)

But it is probably driven by a single 6CU5 with maybe 2 watts of power....WAAAYYY too much speaker for the amp!!

I have a 19" portable like this. ALMOST got stolen last winter....but I saved it before the thieves came back for it...Has an "M4" chassis too I think.

Glad to hear you still have it! Stealing stuff from people is all kinds of wrong.

This chassis in the pic is an M1. Not sure if there's any relationship there or not. What still amazes me is that my HMV was from around the mid 60's, yet US TVs were well and truly using PCBs by then. Point to point wired chassises (new word to be learnt!) are more fiddly to work on, but still fun. Although the PCBs in Predictas aren't exactly the easiest to work on...

And here are the same small controls as on the GE and the HMV...this time on one of my New Zealand made Philips 1960's tube console black and white sets.....Who was pinching who's design ideas??:D