RCA combo unit

[azbigsam]

I recently bought a 1948 Westinghouse TV off craigslist. The person I got it from had recently sold his home in a short sale and was needing to get rid of some stuff. A couple of days after I picked up the set he called me and asked if I wanted another old set for free. It's an RCA b/w combo unit. He said it was from 1962. It is in really good shape and he has kept the radio playing all the years he has had it. The sound that comes out of it is amazing. Anyways just wanted to share it with you guys. Maybe someone out there has some more info on it. Does 1962 seem right? Now I just need to find a good place for it in my house.

[hi_volt]

Nice looking set, Sam! Your estimate of 1962 is probably pretty close. The cabinet looks similar to the color combo I'm trying to score from a guy on Tucson CL (don't ask me where I'm going to put it, because frankly I don't know ). Got any pix of the radio and record player?

[DaveWM]

the tube models have nice tuner/amps. the tuners include tuning eyes and have sep tuners for AM and FM. My guess is since its a TV model it will have a SE amp instead of the PP, either way all good. I like the SE better. The phono units are pretty cheap, often the idler wheel is rock hard. Never tried it but have heard soaking in those stop leak ATF fluids can soften it up, but nver tried. What I have done is to resurface by removing some of the rubber and replacing with new. Kind of a PITA but works.

[Reece]

You can also entirely remove the rubber "tire" and find a big and thick O ring that will fit on the wheel. Diameter of the idler is not important as all it does is transfer the rpm of the motor capstan to the turntable rim.

[DaveWM]

yep done that before as well. in a pinch I even put a wide rubber band around the idler for a quick fix.

[maxhifi]

If you really like it, a new or rebuilt idler will give better results, being perfectly round. Rubber renue also works pretty well just to clean the glaze off the surface of old idler wheels. I like the style of this console, would go nicely in my 1962 vintage house!

[TV Engineer]

Originally Posted by Reece

You can also entirely remove the rubber "tire" and find a big and thick O ring that will fit on the wheel. Diameter of the idler is not important as all it does is transfer the rpm of the motor capstan to the turntable rim.

This is completely incorrect. The diameter of the idler is critical to correct rotational speed.

Notice that there are four diameters of the motor shaft, representing the 4 available speeds. What difference does it make whether you change the diameter of the motor shaft, or the diameter of the idler wheel, or even the diameter of the driven surface of the platter? Changing any of the three will affect the speed of the turntable.

There were many changers built in the 1950s that actually used different idler wheels for different speeds. Webcor, RCA, and VM are just a few that come to mind.

[old_coot88]

Originally Posted by TV Engineer

This is completely incorrect. The diameter of the idler is critical to correct rotational speed.

This is true only in the case of a compound idler, ie., two different-sized wheels affixed to a common shaft. The diameter of a non-compound (single wheel) idler does not affect rotational speed, since the rim of the wheel is only a motion-transfer agent between the driving and driven surfaces (analogous to a fan belt). The length of the belt does not affect the speed relationship between the driving and driven pulleys.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by TV Engineer

This is completely incorrect. The diameter of the idler is critical to correct rotational speed.

Notice that there are four diameters of the motor shaft, representing the 4 available speeds. What difference does it make whether you change the diameter of the motor shaft, or the diameter of the idler wheel, or even the diameter of the driven surface of the platter? Changing any of the three will affect the speed of the turntable.

There were many changers built in the 1950s that actually used different idler wheels for different speeds. Webcor, RCA, and VM are just a few that come to mind.

No, the ratio of the capstain to the idler is reversed by the ratio of the idler to the platter; therefore the idler size does not matter - it only changes the idler RPM.

[julianburke]

The cabinet is Danish Modern and 1962 is right on. The B&W version home entertainment units such as this are scarce as they didn't sell many being expensive as they were at that time. You will probably find more color units than B&W. Go figure.