New to the board...and found an old TV!
 

My grandmother died a couple of months ago, and while cleaning out her basement I came across an old TV:

1950 Admiral TV Model 29x25A. It is a console with half doors on it. It looks awesome, but I don't know the first thing about this stuff. I'd really like to restore it. Where can I get info on this? Learn how to restore this?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Hi and welcome to VK.
I moved your post to the Early B&W Forum where you'll have a better response.

well it would help to know your level of knowlege on electronics, ever work on any radios or other consumer electronics? ever use any test equipment? soldering skills?

Admiral, at that time, built a very easy to work on, practical TV set. Oftentimes, when folks ask which model TV to make their first restoration, folks say "Admiral". And they are decent performers, too.

It will need capacitors replaced. These are soldered in place. If you feel up to it, perhaps we can walk you through it. You would want a Sams Photofact for it, which is a comprehensive schematic/service literature package which includes photos of the chassis from different angles. One of us could get you a copy, no problem. (I've probably got a spare) You might need some tubes, but I wouldn't worry about that right now. The chassis tubes are, as a rule, neither rare nor expensive. Again, folks on here can provide what you need. The picture tube could be an issue-it would be great to test it before you proceed but that will require special equipment. What part of the country are you in? Might be somebody local who could help you out.

Nice find and I'm glad you're willing to restore it. The first thing you'll want to do is NOT plug it in! Those capacitors that were mentioned above were not that great to begin with; and, they go bad from sitting unused for decades. If power is applied to this set and one of these capacitors is shorted or shorts after power-up, you could burn up an expensive or NLA part.

The next thing you'll want to do is check the CRT. To do this, you'll need a CRT tester or find someone who has one. It won't be the end of the world if the CRT is bad; but, these older CRT's are getting harder to find, and more expensive, by the day. When I begin work on a TV, the CRT is the first thing I check. Nothing is more frustrating than to overhaul a TV chassis, only to find out that the CRT is dead or too dim to give a decent picture.

just plug it in and turn it on................

Without a wink emoticon people might think you're serious....

Thanks for all the help!
 

I live in Utah.....It sounds like the first thing I need is a Sams photofact and that I need to have the CRT tested.?.?

I haven't worked a great deal with electronics before, but I have soldered a bit in my day....

Here are some articles that may help you get started:

http://antiqueradio.org/recap.htm

http://antiqueradio.org/powerup.htm

http://antiqueradio.org/dimbulb.htm

The following section has various TV restoration articles. Skimming a couple should give you a general idea what's involved in getting them to work:

http://antiqueradio.org/restoration.htm

If you don't have a CRT tester, you can check the filament pins of the picture tube to determine whether it's a dud. You can look up the tube here:

http://tubedata.tigahost.com/tubedata/

Using an ohmmeter, put the probes on the filament pins. For example, on a type 10BP4 tube these pins are 1 and 12. Infinite resistance means the filament has burned out. Bad. Measuring a few ohms means the tube isn't a total goner, although it still might have weak emission and give a dim picture.

One source for Photofacts is the Sams website, https://www.samswebsite.com/ . If you're lucky, your local library (like mine) has a Sams subscription and will give you a photocopy for free.

Phil Nelson
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html