Now that the mini project is done I'm going to sand, rub out and polish the cabinet. It's been 2 weeks since I shot the clear lacquer.

I also added a resistor and capacitor to blank out the retrace lines per Admiral's instructions. Worked great. I even used an existing terminal strip that had 2 unused terminals very close to the brightness pot.

Here's the refinished cabinet. It turned out great! Not perfect but real good.

On to making a new back.


http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pstuhcip3c.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psnhzdbhij.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pssxggfrpo.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psmf7rvdvs.jpg

I have the 26R12 set. I also had two of those clear picture tube covers or whatever you call them. Both of them were not perfectly clear. Rather they had a little swirl of white or cloudy in the plastic. It was not something that would polish out. Mind you, not objectionable, just noticeable to me.

Just letting you know since both of our sets are of the same vintage and probably same plastic source.

Yeah, mine has the same "defect" in the safety plastic. See the last picture above and the one below. I couldn't polish it out either.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psrhmhosrr.jpg

The cabinet turned out great, it's just very hard to photograph something that's very shiny. Most clear plastic's become cloudy with age, especially if they've been exposed to high levels of sunlight over a long period of years. I doubt it will be a problem once you have the CRT lighting it from behind, at least not in a low ambient light room.

I always used to use "Pledge" furniture polish on the plastic lenses on the 50's type portables. It seemed to fill in the minute scratches and improve the clarity. :scratch2:

Thanks.

Yeah, mine has become a little cloudy. However, there is a casting flaw in it just like kvflyer has in his.

I'll try some of that. Thanks.

But don't EVER use Pledge on (or near) any old wooden cabinets. The silicone can permanently contaminate the finish and then you may have a heck of a problem if you ever want to refinish it. Google "silicone contamination" to learn more.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

Good point Phil!

Today I finished up some small details and mounted the chassis back into the cabinet. I still have to polish up the knobs, make the back, redo the labels, and add some longer speaker wires. Getting real close.

Just an update on the alignment.

I decided to check the tuner and work back through the TV. When checking the tuner on channel 3 it wouldn't align. The frequencies were too far off. I then decided to check channel 4 and sure enough the freq. were much closer, so I decided to use channel 4 instead of channel 3. Channel 4 aligned perfectly with the waveform and frequencies where they should be.

Then on the the IF section. Again the IF section aligned great with a correct waveform and on frequency.

I used a meter to align the first step in the 4.5mc audio section. But the 2nd step didn't work out so well. I never could get the meter to zero out. I hooked up the sweep generator and o'scope and peaked per step 1, but never could get the cross over pattern in step 2. I ended up just tweaking by ear.


Oh, I also used Wallace Teleaides to check the run updates and some cures for other problems. Looks like my TV is from run 5 and I installed the retrace mod, both vertical and horizontal picture was too large so I followed the steps to reduce those. I added some resistance and shorted out another resistor.

All-in-all the TV is playing very well. The picture tube isn't as bright and clear as I would like it, but it never did test into the green very far. I'm happy with the results so far.

Stay tuned for final pictures and report.

I don't think there was as many 14" rectangular sets built at the time, so the 14CP4 isn't that plentiful. It seems, Admiral and a few others came out with sets using the 16TP4 rectangular CRT, just a little later.
4,5 years later, the 14H/QP4 came out for smaller screen portables, like the Emerson and GE. They seem to be more plentiful and they use the identical glass, but are self focusing. :scratch2:

So if I'm following this you injected the correct rf carrier signal into the antenna terminals for the selected channel? If so possibly the rf and oscillator coils for Ch 3 are interchanged with some other channel on the tuner drum.

Were you using a vacuum tube voltmeter? Otherwise a standard 20,000 ohms per volt meter will load that circuit and you'll never get it to zero. You could also use a scope set to DC coupling.

Yes, I was using my VTVM. Next time I'll double check on the DC coupling. I just checked the scope settings and they were on AC coupling. that could have been the problem?

I finished making a new back. The original had several flaws besides the upper mounting holes being enlarged as to be ineffective.

The right side back brace was located too high and interfered with the upper mounting boss. This skewed the whole back and it warped badly from the chassis screws forcing the back back into position. With the brace too high this brought the whole edge down low and the bottom of the back overlapped the bottom of the cabinet. Also somewhere along the way, the interlock on the chassis was changed out probably because of the extreme pressure of the mal-aligned back.

All of these problems were corrected with the new back. I also added 2 1/16 ply shims to the back which runs up against the chassis so when the mounting screws are tightened, they won't warp the back. This is due to the metal interlock bracket. I used some Dewalt brad-point drill bits to drill the holes.

I changed the power cord and made up some new labels too.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psttr334yt.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psmbbetuqb.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psygdfjis9.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4fogr0t3.jpg

I polished up the knobs and finished the project today. In reality, I still need the metal insert that goes into the channel selector knob. I must have lost it when at my daughters house.

I'd like to thank everyone who helped me get this one done. I learned a lot and you guys have spent some time with me helping me through the process. Thank you.

Here are the final pics.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pseucrqsp1.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pswovyftlq.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psxjykvlt7.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psbyz5p3ov.jpg

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pskr9vbzjo.jpg

Yes, at that point you're measuring a DC voltage that varies plus and minus.

Holy cow, that back looks like the real deal, excellent work!!

Thank you Kevin.

I'm not sure they looked that good when they were new! Awesome! :-)

Thanks.

If you restore it any further I do believe it will start picking up broadcasts from the 50's. :D

Nicely done.

Thanks.

I did find a station that was airing an episode of "Lassie". :)

Well, I located a pencil box door! It'll ship this week. Then this restoration will be truly be finished. Thanks Benman94.

Awesome job, bro. :thmbsp: Is the height maybe a bit stretched, or is that the aspect ratio of the picture?

Thanks for the kind words.

According to the test patterns, the picture is correctly set up. My guess is that another picture of the TV playing would look a lot better.

I saw that commercial on one of my sets....That little girl is a real bean pole....She is like some of those cartoons that mocked Frank Sinatra for being skinny.

Fantastic restoration of rarely seen early rectangular set. :thmbsp:

I could be wrong, but it looks like 16:9 video compressed in width to 4:3... look at the shape of the lamp in the background, those were nearly spherical.

What was the source of the video?

jr

Wow. That is some fantastic restoration. I'm impressed.

Did you replace every resistor in this set? I thought I saw a reference to that earlier in this thread.
What did you paint the chassis with? It looks great.

Thanks.

Every resistor, except 1 in the tuner, every paper, every electrolytic, and every mica cap was replaced. A few tubes and the doorknob cap was also replaced.

After cleaning and getting rid of the rust etc, I primered the chassis with Rust-Oleum automotive grey sandable primer #2081. Then a light sanding to remove the surface "goobers", then 2 coats of Rust-Oleum Metallic Matte Nickel #7277830.

You have done an AMAZING job on restoring this set!!!! My most sincere congratulations!!!

Curious still, why did you feel the need to replace all the resistors and mica's? Most restorers only replace the electrolytics, paper caps and then resistors that measure out of tolerance.

Thank you.

Because you have to replace all the electrolytics and paper caps, there were like maybe 6 micas left. They have been known to got bad. So why not replace them too? There cost isn't too much either. Also it eliminates problems down the road. Say a mica still works, but then several hours it decides to quit. Then you have to go back and pull the chassis, trouble shoot the problem, replace the mica, maybe do another alignment, then put it back together. Seems the risks and rewards aren't worth NOT replacing the micas. Also when replacing the paper caps, most of the time there is a resistor on the terminal too. So you pull the cap lead off, why not the resistor too?

As far as the resistors go, what do they cost? Maybe 14 cents each? Some you have to lift 1 leg to measure. Half way to replacing it already. So it measures on the high side tolerance and you don't replace it. Same situation as a mica.

Also this is a hobby to me. I enjoy replacing those components, cleaning, painting, polishing, etc. This way, when I'm done with a restoration, most of the troublesome parts have been replaced with a modern (re: a better) component and I can expect a long life of excellent use.

I know some guys do a "restoration" by replacing just what is needed to get it going again. To me that is like putting 2 gallons in the tank when you can fill er up! But I'm not criticizing them it's just what they do. This is how I do my restorations. Everybody sees this hobby through their own set of eyes and gets out of it what they want to. Neither is right or wrong. But different approaches.

I hear you. Micas rarely go bad, but I have been hearing more and more reports of them failing lately. As long as you are having fun, that is the most important thing. I was just curious. Great job on the restoration.

Thank you.

"Another alignment"?...If you leave the original micas and resistors in the IF system it should never need an alignment after leaving the factory that made it. Micas known to go bad?...Yeah in SWEEP circuits that never need 'alignment', and aside from some early (630 era) RCAs non-sweep circuit micas are a rare exception....Changing IF micas is like swapping an engine in a GM car at 20K miles because you heard about this guy that bought a lemon that had it's block crack at 20K....Your putting a lot of time and effort into something that is a 1 in 1k issue that won't have significant odds of happening to your set for another 2-6 decades (depending on past & future storage conditions).

Resistors are a toss up I usually leave them till I've done a recap power up....Many sets are fine and have sustained years of regular use in my hands with original resistors, and often it is not worth the effort alone of changing them. Though I have had sets that spent years (decades?) outside where all resistors were off tolerance and drifty, and in that case shotgunning resistors was merited.

As for replacing just enough parts to make a set work: The merit of that depends on the age and (slightly on the) storage conditions of the set. Paper caps are like milk, film caps (such as orange drops) are like salt....Makers transitioned cap types around 1960 (there is about a 3 year margin of error by maker). Sets made before the transition need a full recap if they are to see any kind of regular duty...I can see powering up an original and if it works keeping it original and powering it up for a minute every few months to see if it still works, but expecting to last a half hour every week is unrealistic. Sets made after the transition often are somewhat immortal...They will often work as found and require approximately the same amount of maintenance as they would have in the first 5 years of their existence....That I feel is a reasonable expectation for a set of that vintage.
To me the most fun part of the hobby (except maybe for the hunt) is troubleshooting. So if a set becomes too reliable and never needs routine service it quickly fades into the wall paper. (Also every problem you solve with a shotgun is knowledge you missed the chance to learn.) I expect my daily use sets to need help every 6 months to 3 years (and it is usually something I can fix in an evening or less), and so did their original owners...IMHO If you can* achieve better than new reliability then you loose the experience of owning a classic and may as well have a box with a LCD flat panel set in it.

*I Honestly doubt you can since heat is the enemy of parts, and modern components by and large were not designed to bake in a tube set...It may be solid for 5-7 years of use but once you've baked the new parts long enough it will slide right back down hill.

Tom,

Like I said " Everybody sees this hobby through their own set of eyes and gets out of it what they want to. Neither is right or wrong. But different approaches."

True, and if nothing else you've explored an interesting and unconventional approach to circuitry restoration in tube TVs. It definitely is a case study I can see people referencing when a majority of micas start to hit their expiration date.

I'm glad I can be of some help to other people. I have certainly gotten a lot of help from others on this forum.