Mangy mutt followed me home
 

Did you ever buy a TV just to spite someone? This was on craigslist as, "First TV on the block, $10." The owner had already promised it to a lady who planned to paint it and glue a picture of Lucy on the screen. I said I'd double her money and also pay the other lady $20 to find a less desirable TV to ruin. The owner said "Deal!" and kept the whole $40 for herself.

This is just about the dirtiest TV I've ever found. The seller said they watched it for years, and I believe her. I also believe it was retired to a shed or garage where a little birdie got inside and pooped down the front of the CRT.

That crusty critter in the last photo must be an old-timey CRT brightener. Not the best sign, but my expectations were already low.

The TV had an overpowering smell. Not old tobacco tar, but cheap perfume or maybe a deodorizer like Febrize. (Their house was full of dogs, and the carpets looked like . . . well, use your imagination.) I drove home with the windows open, even on the ferry ride. Couldn't bear to bring it into the garage until I had sucked up the worst dirt with a shop vac and swabbed everything inside and out with mineral spirits.

I guess it is a 30A1 (?).

Yeah, it's mangy, but at least I foiled the crafters! I've never had an Admiral, so it's a chance to do something a little different. One of the days I'll scrape off the rest of the crud and get to work. I really like the petite console size.

Phil Nelson

An Admirable conversation for the set
 

A good acquisition story can be better than the find it's self!.

Nice. I'm glad you saved it from that dismal fate :) Looks just like my 24C16 which uses the split 20B1 chassis.

How's the lower chassis ? I hope you got it.

Just about every Admiral I've encountered has been filthy for some reason.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3567/...ba29b4dd_m.jpg

That was very noble of you, Phil! I would feel really good about having gone to the extra effort to save a set like that from such an embarrassing fate. If there were such a thing as "Video Karma" I would imagine your's would be lookin' pretty good right now!

The lower chassis and knobs are there. The upper chassis is stamped 20B1, so maybe it's the same model. Yours looks pretty swell. Something to aspire to!

Phil

I heard she found a ct100 to do her crafting with.

I see that set's the rarer 12" model. I saw one at an estate sale last month. They wanted $75.00 firm. It had four wrong knobs, back missing, very loose crt base cap and a brightner on it. Someone also altered the safety glass frame so it could removed from the front. Cabinet was beat up also. Parts set only.

I had a set that was nasty like that on the inside. I used mild detergent and a brush on it, then dried it with a towel right away. Came out looking & smelling like new.

You'll just have to play a DVD of a "I Love Lucy" show on that TV once you restore it. Speaking of which, all it really should need is a complete recap. You wrote the book on recapping, so you'll know what to do. I have an Admiral a few years younger than yours, and it worked even with the old caps, but I did a full recap anyway. VK has various threads on Admiral TV sets of this era, and IIRC nobody had any trouble with the unobtanium parts (flybacks, yokes and such). Though the brightner on the CRT is as you say, not a good sign.

Be aware that Admiral TV sets back then did not do vertical interval blanking of the CRT, so if you have the brightness up on a night scene of a TV show, you'll see retrace lines.

Yah, I've been reading about other Admirals for ages, but never found a local one until now.

The mineral spirits seem to have taken care of the smell, knock on wood.

A paper label in the lower cabinet says it's a model 24C15. Above the chassis label 20B1 is the following, stamped in orange ink:

Wired for 12LP4 - OC

This made me wonder who that helpful guy "O.C." was, until I read the manual and discovered that O.C. stands for "outer conductive coating" (aka aquadag). Evidently some brands of 12LP4 lacked that coating and thus needed a separate filter cap.

It's tempting to mess with this one a little, but I have other unfinished work. Time to quit accumulatin' and start solderin'.

Phil Nelson