Should I grab this TV?
 

This 1957 Philco is more or less for free; it is because the owner broke the neck of the CRT while loading it into his car:tears: . I got two questions: the phosphor didn't "fell" yet, but it will eventualy fall, right? Second question, I will have to make a very long journey to bring this TV to my house, in a very bad road, the phosphor might fall during the trip? I know, so much effort to save a TV with a busted CRT may sound silly, but, like I said in another thread I posted here many months ago, 1950's TV sets are very rare here.

Trying to resurrect that poor thing would be a miracle on the order of the loaves 'n' fishes, unless you could somehow find a new, or at least good used CRT. Otherwise, it's pretty much history. Sorry for the bad news, I know how bad you're wanting an old set...

I think that's a really nice looking set, one of the best looking late 50's b&w consoles I've seen. As far as if the tube is rebuildable or not I don't know, someone here probably will. With the neck broken like that I would think it will probably need a new tube. But I think that 'hole' in the phosphor in the center of the screen seen on broken crts is usually caused by air rushing in right when the neck of the tube is broken.

I would go for it. A CRT for this is not necessarily unobtanium. Post an ad at the ETF classifieds. I do not believe a rebuilder will touch a broken tube. There should be plenty of subs out there. I have a 12" Philco that I got with a broken CRT. After finding a replacement, it is now restored and working. There are a lot of 21" tubes out there, and I know something will work in this set.

I will not take it
 

Turns out that the guy thinks that TV is really worth a lot of money, even with a broken CRT. He is a real fool. 50's TV sets are rare here, but I was able to grab the ones I have in very good deals. The one I paid the most is for the 1956 Philco console seen in the photos. It is complete, even produced a raster one time I plugged it, it's only faults are just a few missing tubes. That is a very difficult to find set here, if someone asked US$ 500,00 for it would be asking a fair price; I paid US$ 225,00 . Now, the guy wanted some money for that 57 with the broke CRT; I talked to someone with a lot more experience than me on this hobby, and he said to offer US$ 50,00 - not one cent more. I made the offer, and the guy refused, he said it's too little money. I believe I was being VERY generous offering US$ 50,00 for that, even more so because in my present financial condition, US$ 50,00 is one amount that can make some difference. Let he stay with that TV. If he thinks that someone will appear, offering good money for a set in that condition, he is in for a very unpleasant surprise.

I think you are correct in not offering more. $50 would be plenty. Getting a good crt in your locale might be costly.

Regarding the phosphor question: last month I brought home a 21" Zenith with a busted neck. The phosphor was intact when I left for home but most had come off by the time I unloaded it. I think there was enough wind blowing around in the back of the truck to "swoosh" it loose. Of course, the only reason to want to preserve the phosphor at that point would be for looks.

crt
 

I would think you shouldnt have a problem finding a CRT for this set . I seem to run into a lot of black and white consoles here in NJ and they are relativly inexpensive becuase no one here really seems to want them .

If you figure out how much it cost to ship from Michigan, I'll GIVE you a ton of 50s sets!

working?