Guys,
I've received another email from Phil, and then spoke to him on the phone concerning rebuilds. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it turns out that the VDC plant in PA has decided they aren't going to take care of our roundie tubes.
Phil told me he lobbied for us as much as he could, but it seems that the plant up there is a very large operation... producing as many as 1000 CRT's per day (the Dallas facility doesn't even come close to this number). Apparently, they feel our needs are way too small in the whole scheme of things.
Phil thought for sure the guys in PA would come thru for us. He has seen our sets on AK, and I have sent him photos of mine operating after installing his rebuilds. He's really been fascinated at the time and care we put into our sets, and also the quality pictures they produce. He had hoped for us to have a place to turn to when we needed a tube. When I spoke to him, he was just as disappointed to give me the news as I was to hear it.
The following is the message that Phil sent me...
Charlie,
The final determination has been made that our White Mills, PA location WILL NOT do "custom rebuilds" of antique CRTs such as 21FJP22 and 21FBP22.
Unfortunately, this means that Video Display will no longer offer these types.
Any questions, please call or email.
Thanks,
Phil Frierson
Video Display Dallas
800 323-9278
I am just as disappointed as you guys are. Phil did a great job rebuilding the three tubes I brought him at what I considered to be a very fair price. I had two others lined up to bring to him this week, but, it turns out that won't happen.
From what Phil explained to me, the closing of the Dallas facility is due to the lower demand of CRT's. The toobs produced here in the States go to a wide variety of items... arcade games, airport monitors, bowling alley monitors... just to name a few. Until now, television repair had been in this list as well.
In televisions, these tubes were mainly used for warranty work. If your set blew a tube during the warranty, the replacement tube originated from Video Display Corp. But now, these televisions are so damn cheap, the manufacturer simply gives the consumer a new set instead of paying someone to replace the faulty tube. The fact that we now have LCD televisions lessens the demand for replacement CRT's even more.
If you guys have looked at standard TV prices lately, you'll know what I mean. I had browsed the TV department of Best Buy a couple of months ago. They had 25" black boxes for roughly $150.00! Imagine that... $150 bucks for a 25" color TV! I'm guessing that a repair shop would charge at least that much to change a CRT! No wonder companies simply replace the set with a new one during the warranty period.
All of this stems down to one thing... importing goods from other countries. Kinda gives ya a warm fuzzy feeling in your heart... doesn't it?!
