[Kamakiri]

Just to clarify, I did a soft start on a variac, but not too slowly....I took about 20 seconds to bring it up to voltage. Initially, the reading was 305 volts, and dropped to 235 on the first try, with the one resistor in place. The voltage reading was tested at the B+ point that was on the schematic on the previous page in this thread.

I then shut it down, put in a second resistor in place, then again with a quick variac power up, the reading briefly stabilized at around 253 volts. I noticed that I had a full raster, snow, and static in the audio....exactly the way it should be. Observed it only for a few seconds, then went back to the meter and noticed that it started jumping all over the board, ranging from 240-260 volts. When I caught a light odor of something, I shut the set down immediately.

This is a picture of the resistor, along with brand new ones from comparison. Obviously I caught it in the very beginning stage. The picture doesn't show it, but there is a very light browning on one spot.

I clipped the lead of the resistor to check it afterwards. It's reading at 39.5 ohms.