1981 rca xl100 color
 

i have a 1981 rca xl100 13 inch or so color with a ctc107c chassis. would this set be worth repairing and holding onto. the problem is it has sound but no picture just snow so maybe if it has a nuvista tube in the tuner maybe thats the problem but it is solid state.:scratch2:

Just got one of these myself. The power switch is bad, which means I have to open it up, and then I'll likely clean the controls.
I will hold onto it, these were pretty good lookers.

If yours is also a one-knob tuner, it has a pot for each channel, even the UHF's.
These sets were infamous for dirty pots and switches, so I would start by cleaning the channel 3 & 4 pots with DeOxit.

The Nuvistor tube was long gone in tuners by 1981.

Hm, I ought to try that with my '83 CTC115 before checking for bad solder joints.

If it has varactor tuners they were known for bad conections in
control assy & a coil near the flyback IIRC.
If an old style tuner probably the RF amp is bad. Could also be so dirty it wont work. Also be sure its getting B+ either 12 or 24V to the tuner.
BUT WAIT !! do you have actual audio or just the off channel
waterfall sound ???
Let us know & also the type of tuners it uses.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Well, in mine, just the off-channel sound along with snow on the screen. Around here it was known as a Newfoundland snowstorm. Mine has single-knob varactor tuning.

Newfie jokes, my friend from NB tells them all day. More of
them than Polish jokes. On to TV's.

CTC115 no coil on this one. Also no seperate control board
just selector & tuner. Clean the hell out of the switch. After
that get out the meter I can have you check some voltages.
Worth the effort, very nice sets.

CTC107C Coil is L103 near flyback. Looks good but often cold
anyways. Wires between tuners & MSC*** board go cold
where they enter. After that same deal, get out the meter.
All common problems, put may T-bones on the table for me.
Written on manual "snowy after warm up, U5202 "
I think he meant U2502 band switch & tuning voltage IC in
the MSC*** board.

73 Zeno:smoke:

well i acutually didnt put a cable wire to it yet but i now the person i got it from and he says it has sound but the picture is just snow like it has no cable wire on it at all. and the tuner is the old type like the ones you would see in the old 60s rca sets and there is no nuvista so ill check for power at the tuner for starters.

You mean its an old mechanical click tuner with a separate UHF tuner?

Probably just needs a good cleaning.

I'll have to crack open my own set tomorrow. I had a lot to do today, a huge load of laundry for one, and it's like Mardi Gras in the laundry room. I hope it's the pots that need cleaning, I don't have a multimeter yet. ESR meter and basic tools first. That set took on a lot of soot from exhaust from the looks of it. I seem to have a knack for finding garage-dweller sets. Took the crowbar to one that wasn't worth fixing because getting rid of it whole would have cost me, kept two. Well, two out of three ain't bad. ;)

The CTC-115 is a solid chassis from what I can tell. I had a 19" color set with rotary tuner with the -115 and it worked as found. Yes, all the usual cleaning of the controls and tuner are essential on mostly any set this old.
I had to pass up a CTC-89 from the late seventies this week. It was as clean as can be, but smoked and blew the fuse at power-up. Not exactly worth 20 bucks. A few years back I had a CTC-89 from 1977 from the curb and the green color channel was as dead as could be. It worked fine otherwise. I thought the video output board had intermittents or a bad driver transistor, after scoping the chroma demod stage, but it turned out the green had basically no emission as tested.

No kidding? I thought the 115 was exclusive to portables. This is a 9" screen set with the channel knob on the side.

A set that did what the 89 did, I'd think it should have been let go for free.

Yup, there is one very similar on Craig'slist here now. I am more interested in the 1980 Zenith system 3 19" that a neighbor is digging out of storage for me.
You may be surprised just how many old sets are still in hiding out there if you look..

Hard to know where to look here aside from Kijiji. My 1973 Zenith was a small miracle really.

Word of mouth, my friend. Craig's and eBay are a crapshoot. Thrifts are great if you like 1997 Daewoos LMAO! Have not tried Kijiji yet.
Around my neighborhood, I'm known as "The guy with the TVs" at the estate sale and garage sale circuits.