How reliable?
 

Don't know if this has been touched upon previously so forgive me if it has...am wondering if after recapping and aligning an early color set, how reliable might it be?

I suppose running it from a conditioned power source and perhaps adding ventilation or cooling of some sort would help.

I'm speaking of tube style sets, 60's and later. My understanding is that the earlier ones are less reliable overall and the picture tube life has to be considered. What say you big brains?

I cant see adding a fan or something. They've survived without one for a long time.

Line voltage is higher now than when the sets were new. Running it on a variac would be a good idea.

My thought about adding cooling is based on the fact that these sets are well over 40 years old and have been through many heat cycles so many components have been "weakened" compared to when new.

Plus the fact that besides excessive voltage, heat is the bane of electronics (and with tubes, vibration as well).

There are all manner of inexpensive and very lower power consumption fans and cooling systems available for computers. Hell, if you have central air conditioning you could even route a hose of sorts to blow into the set.

Reason I'm stuck on the cooling (and stuck on stupid as well) is to extend the hours a day you could run the set and reduce any impact on ultimate longevity.

I see operating older electronics like cars, no use is as detrimental as abuse...and there's an "in between" that actually lengthens the life and improves operation.

I agree the use of a fan is best for the life of these old sets. I have fans on all of mine since the parts can be hard to find for these old sets and I have read on line the guys that use the tube amps use fans and it makes the tubes last longer.

Perhaps I'm living in an insane dream world, but I just play my roundies and don't worry about it.

If you have done a thorough job of restoration, I feel like you should be able to use the set as originally designed. Running them on a variac or other device to reduce the line voltage is a good idea.

Phil Nelson

I agree with reducing the line voltage. Fan cooling might make the eletrolytics last longer if any are near a large tube. I doubt that fan cooling would make any of the tubes last significantly longer.

Some of the coils in my set had the wax bubbled up. I'm assuming from heat. The Sylvania doesn't have the neck of the CRT sticking out in back so it's possible that previous owners had the set sitting right up against the wall. That would be bad. When I make a proper back for mine I might include a fan just so I can keep it close, but not touching the wall.

John

I don't think your in a insane world for not using a fan I just think it adds a extra level of protection. What is your line voltage? mine is at 122V and the sets call for 120V I know my CTC 38 has a normal High switch on it and I use the high position on it. Seems the line voltage could be lowerd a bit by adding a resister or something to the set. Moving a variac from set to set all the time would be a be a bit much for me. I will have to look and see what RCA used to lower the voltage with the high normal switch.

I am told it's always a good idea to use a small computer style fan on Philco Predictas because of the small enclosed area the electronics are housed in causes components to fail early.

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I have a fan on my predicta, and another console Philco that I watch a lot.

A Predicta is a different breed entirely. The chassis basically cooks in its own juices.

I have always been One about heat. Nothing wrong with a fan when it comes to unobtanium parts like a flyback

Many expensive new homes that feature home theaters use power conditioners. A childhood friend of mine who's dad founded Elektra records had a 19" rack filled with McIntosh tube gear and even an early Dolby unit used a power conditioner and left it all lit up 24/7. He never had any issues that I recall and this was back in the 60's

Cooler is better, especially for 'lytics - their life is directly affected by temperature. I think you have to look at each chassis to see how to get the airflow to the hotspots (maybe not the Predictas or tightly packed portables that are so closed-in that anything could help).

I think *depending* on a fan to protect a flyback is iffy - the current should be within limits first, and in that case it won't burn up anyway. Adjusting line voltage to keep B+ and high voltage normal is also more important than airflow if the flyback isn't getting warm from excess current.

Edit: Bottom line about fans: "it couldn't hurt."

the fly def will prefer the lower line voltage, I can drop it to 105-110 and have no bad effects, and drop the HOT current by 10% easy..

I generally only run the sets for about 1-2 hrs tops anyway.