Temporary LCD conversion to a Porthole
 

I know LCD conversions to classic TVs are usually frowned upon. But my wife was sick of waiting on me to fix the Zenith porthole TV for her 50s themed dining room. So I had an idea; I could throw an LCD TV inside with no mods to the original cabinet. It would look authentic while its playing, and it would be easy to put back when/if I ever get the original chassis working.

Here's a condensed version of what I did. I removed the tube chassis, and the screen guide brackets. I measured the screen, it was 12". I measured every spare TV I had, and found an old 4:3 format 20" Emerson LCD TV that had a screen that measured a little over 12" high. I hoped to fit the whole TV inside the cabinet, but the opening is only 16" and the LCD case is way bigger due to the speakers. So I took the LCD TV out of its case and test fit it. It was almost perfect, except I had to trim the top metal brackets off the LCD so it would be centered in the porthole window. I screwed the LCD to the cabinet with 4 small wood screws (for you purists, this is the only modification that is not reversible). Here's where I got lucky- the LCD TV buttons were on the bottom of the original TV, so the cable for the button pad was long enough to feed out into the pencil box. And the button pad was small enough to fit into the pencil box too! So I just used some 3M double-sided body tape to hold the button strip in place. Now you flip down the door, and the buttons are inside, close it and it's back to 1951. The only problem left was the two big knobs; how to hold them on, and be able to withstand curious people turning them. I used a hole saw on some scrap wood and made two wooden disks to fit inside the escutcheon from behind. Then I took a forstner bit and made a hole in the center of the disks the same as the outer diameter of the knob shafts. This way, I push the knob onto the wooden disk, with the escutcheon sandwiched in the middle. This makes the knobs hold securely, and be able to spin harmlessly. The last step was connecting the original speaker to the audio circuit on the LCD TV. I just made up a cable with a 2-pin connector on one end, and spade terminals on the other, patched it in, and wah-lah, the old speaker plays. That's about it. Here's the TV before:

http://midohiovideo.redirectme.net/zenith/zenith7.JPG

Here's what it looks like now. Sorry, my camera sucks. I couldn't get a clear picture of both the cabinet and the screen, so you get one of each. Don't mind the DVD player hiding underneath, lol.

http://midohiovideo.redirectme.net/z...onversion2.JPG

http://midohiovideo.redirectme.net/z...onversion1.JPG

With this solution, the wife is happy. She has her TV, and she thinks it neat-o. And it can be switched back to a tuber in about 20 minutes if need be.

Best of both worlds, and domestic peace! What more could a guy want?? Nice job.

Depending on the resolution of that LCD, you may have the world's only HDTV Porthole. :banana:

And with the case off the LCD, the inverter circuits for the backlighting may get enough cooling to last a while.

Nice Job. Hmmm. No, not yet.

In the car world we call this restomod. Works for me!

Shame on you. We need to put you in "detention" or stand in the corner until you rectify this misdeed. Just kidding. Now you got the chassis out of the cabinet, you are one step closer to restoring this TV.

Carl

I did this to an Admiral Bakelite console but with a color CRT.
In my case it's permanent (though reversible) since I had no parts to restore.

Hmmmmm!... (stares at CT-100 with gassy CRT) :scratch2:
jr

I actually wanted to use a nice 19" NEC flat tube PC monitor that I bought back in the day for a ton of money. I just couldn't bring myself to tear it apart in the event that it didn't fit. Plus I would have had to make a more elaborate mounting system to hold that heavy CRT in just the right position. Not to mention having to use a VGA-tuner box, and a separate amplifier to run the speaker. The LCD just seemed easier to mod, easier to use, and more electrically efficient.

Thanks everybody for your kind words. My wife sat on the floor in front of it for hours last night watching old shows. Her family even came over to see it. It's turning out to be a big hit :thmbsp:

That would be an ideal candidate, since the phosphor screen is flat it would be easy to make a fake surround, or use one from a busted 15G and mount a flat CRT behind it. The only obvious difference would be the modern tube would be slotted mask and the original is dotted.

looks good waf is a plus too!

If the shell of the 15G is shattered there's nothing to loose, but if the tube is still intact and just has a dead cathode or a tiny leak then it should be preserved and squirreled away untill the 15GP22 rebuilding efforts get the last few hitches in sealing all leaks sorted out.

If I understand properly tubes that don't leak have been rebuilt, and can be rebuilt presently, but tubes that do leak (which is the majority) don't have a tested procedure for rebuilding yet.