GE 10" "portacolor III" AB chassis TV

[radiotvnut]

Here's the little '83 10" GE color TV that's unofficially known as the "porta-color III" and uses the "AB" chassis. This is the set that I got with the RCA CTC17 console and was dead when I first tried it. Today, it came to life when I plugged it in; but, the yoke wedges are gone and it will need some minor purity and convergence adjustments. One strange fault that I'm seeing is a big white band on the left-hand side of the screen. It's mainly noticeable on a blank screen; but, can sometimes be noticed on some active scenes. I jumped the electrolytic cap that's in the B+ line to the video output stages; but, it made no difference. I think this is the chassis that has the griplets that need to be fixed and those could very well be why the set was dead when I first tried it. Hopefully, they'll be the cause of the white band on the screen. I think this set first appeared as the AA chassis and is what replaced the tube type "HE" chassis porta-color. I used to see a lot of these later SS GE's and I think they were made until GE got out of the TV business. I think the earliest versions of this set used the same channel knobs as the later tube porta-color.

[Findm-Keepm]

Check c927, a 100uF cap, and C977, also a 100uF - those and the PC-chassis C621 kept my Dad in business for years.

Also, check R756 out of circuit - it's a 270K, and will open but look normal. It causes excessive luminance, giving a washed out effect.

Going off notes, so if something is different, please excuse my note-taking.

Cheers,

[Findm-Keepm]

BTW, we ESR checked all the black sleeved electrolytics, from united chemicon and Marcon - most failures were gross failures, with ESR>10 ohms. It kept the callbacks on these really low.

Cheers,

[radiotvnut]

Thank you, I'll check that.

I loved those PC chassis TV's. In '97, I bought 20 of those sets from a motel for $5/each. I junked one because it had serious problems, the other 19 all had the bad 100 uf cap in the vertical circuit. When I replaced that cap, I went with a 100V high temperature cap.

[zeno]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

Thank you, I'll check that.

I loved those PC chassis TV's. In '97, I bought 20 of those sets from a motel for $5/each. I junked one because it had serious problems, the other 19 all had the bad 100 uf cap in the vertical circuit. When I replaced that cap, I went with a 100V high temperature cap.

Yes PC was a great chassis, best GE ever made. Always had one
of four problems & ran nice when done. . AA, AB, & AC put steaks
on the table along with the EC. If your prob isnt griplets I
would go blanking, I got some GE tip books & will see if its listed.

73 Zeno

[dieseljeep]

It seems that set is a total redesign from the tube type Porta-color. The cabinet is a total restyling effort.
I found one behind a thrift shop, meant for the trash man. The set appears to work somewhat.
I kept it for the CRT. I know it's a HV focus CRT. The tube is worth a lot more than complete set, if it fits the last tube Porta-color.
When I worked on those AB sets, the tuners seemed to be a lot of problems.

[radiotvnut]

I don't think that tube will work in any of the tube-type porta-color's.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I don't think that tube will work in any of the tube-type porta-color's.

I never compared the type numbers or looked up the specs. I know the tube Porta-colors had 70 degree sweep. The 10V types had hi-voltage focus.
The CRT's in the tube Porta-colors have a 13.8 volt heater.

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by zeno

Yes PC was a great chassis, best GE ever made. Always had one
of four problems & ran nice when done. . AA, AB, & AC put steaks
on the table along with the EC. If your prob isnt griplets I
would go blanking, I got some GE tip books & will see if its listed.

73 Zeno

EC chassis - what a pig! Great for failing in one of two ways - dead, or with zero vertical deflection.

I too liked the PC chassis and it's cousin, the PM chassis. When GE bought RCA and discontinued production at the Portsmouth plant, my dad and I got some of the engineering cast-offs, including some old EC chassis mockups, a blank PC chassis board for materials evluation (Phenolic type I, II, etc), and even some CRTs that were for mock-up use. The CRTs had big fluorescent labels from Sylvania (312 production code) and were marked "Not UL listed, not for production or demonstration."

I hated to see that first GE badged CTC130 set - it started the downfall of both GE and RCA.

Cheers,

[radiotvnut]

Speaking of the PC chassis, I need my memory refreshed. I know you all remember the older GE 19" color TV's where the whole cabinet basically lifted off to make it easier to access the chassis and there was a big metal frame that held everything together. They started this with tube TV's and were still doing it on the EC solid state TV's. When I was about 12-13, someone gave me a 19" GE solid state set with this type of cabinet arrangement; but, I seem to recall it having a single board chassis. Could this have been an early PC chassis TV? If not a PC; then, what was it? Or, am I totally wrong about the set I had being a single board chassis? All the other PC's that I've had used the more modern style cabinet where only the actual back cover lifted off.

Oh, and I hated to see those Panasonic built GE's. Those sets seemed to always have bad flyback's, bad CRT's, and very poor soldering. I recall the "BC" chassis that was used in 13" and 17" sets. The tuner control modules looked GE'ish; but, the chassis looked like a Panasonic OEM chassis and every one of them that I've worked on had a torched flyback. Then, there were the 25" sets that were Panasonic all the way and used the TLF14423 flyback. I didn't care for those, either. There was also an "MK-II" chassis 19" set that was a Matsushita and there was an orange disc cap in the HOT collector circuit that would burn and take the HOT with it. I've also seen a few GoldStar-built 13" GE TV's and GE's later 12" B&W post-XB chassis TV's were either Samsung or GoldStar.

IMHO, the best color GE was the PC and the best B&W GE's were the 12" and 15" "XB" and the 19" and 22" "XA" chassis.

I've got an '87 GE 19" knob-tuned color TV that uses the CTC136; but, that was after GE got out of the TV business and was kicking out rebadged RCA's. Wasn't '86 the last year for the PC chassis?

[zeno]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

Speaking of the PC chassis, I need my memory refreshed. I know you all remember the older GE 19" color TV's where the whole cabinet basically lifted off to make it easier to access the chassis and there was a big metal frame that held everything together. They started this with tube TV's and were still doing it on the EC solid state TV's. When I was about 12-13, someone gave me a 19" GE solid state set with this type of cabinet arrangement; but, I seem to recall it having a single board chassis. Could this have been an early PC chassis TV? If not a PC; then, what was it? Or, am I totally wrong about the set I had being a single board chassis? All the other PC's that I've had used the more modern style cabinet where only the actual back cover lifted off.

Oh, and I hated to see those Panasonic built GE's. Those sets seemed to always have bad flyback's, bad CRT's, and very poor soldering. I recall the "BC" chassis that was used in 13" and 17" sets. The tuner control modules looked GE'ish; but, the chassis looked like a Panasonic OEM chassis and every one of them that I've worked on had a torched flyback. Then, there were the 25" sets that were Panasonic all the way and used the TLF14423 flyback. I didn't care for those, either. There was also an "MK-II" chassis 19" set that was a Matsushita and there was an orange disc cap in the HOT collector circuit that would burn and take the HOT with it. I've also seen a few GoldStar-built 13" GE TV's and GE's later 12" B&W post-XB chassis TV's were either Samsung or GoldStar.

IMHO, the best color GE was the PC and the best B&W GE's were the 12" and 15" "XB" and the 19" and 22" "XA" chassis.

I've got an '87 GE 19" knob-tuned color TV that uses the CTC136; but, that was after GE got out of the TV business and was kicking out rebadged RCA's. Wasn't '86 the last year for the PC chassis?

Wow I dont remember that chassis. Some tube jobs had a bottom
plate attached to the back like portacolors. Others came out separate
like the C-2 18/19" dog. There was the portacolor 2 solid state
also used in 19" ( JA chassis ?). Had a vert module & every one the safety cap opened taking the HOT ( EP15X48 ?) & sometimes FBT, & vert board. Yokes also went. Thing I remember abt the import GE's was them
locking up & it had a reset button inside like later Emerson crap.
Also the cap & FBT as well.
PC chassis was one board, the old style HOT on a metal
part on the R. FBT was white with tastefully done paint
splotches. All mounted on a frame that you could pull it back
& remount in a service poss. Tuners usually conventional but
the electronic ones had griplets.
IIRC PM chassis was a PC with a switching supply & maybe
pin, comb & VIR cks. Prob. only in consoles. Not many seen.
And yes the PC was a POS. For the PC, AA,AB,AC I hung
a sheet on the wall showing which points to hard wire.
Still remember W34A,B &C on the AA..........

Been fun enuf fer now
73 Zeno

[zeno]

A quote from FIN-KEEPM Brian

"When fuses go to work, they quit."

Went to a RCA seminar once & someone asked why the
fusable resistor was there, it always opened when a rect diode
shorted but not the fuse.

Answer was " the fusable protects the fuse"

nuf sed

73 Zeno

[Beachboy]

I had almost the identical set, which I purchased in 1982. I recall I paid about $229 on sale at K-Mart. Two differences I noticed between mine and the one radiotvnut shows, was that mine had the logo "Performance Television" on the front control panel, and it did not have that button or knob directly to the left of the volume/on-off control. I finally sent mine to the recycling center a couple of years ago. It still worked fine, but it seemed to be an awfully bulky set for the size of the screen. I never could get quite as good a picture on it as I could on similar vintage 13" RCA's that I had. My one and only venture into GE televisions.

[radiotvnut]

That's an earphone jack to the left of the volume control; which, some models didn't have. The term, "performance television" was applied to GE TV's of the late '70's-early '80's; but, was dropped in the early '80's. I agree that the RCA's had a better picture; but, the GE's were not that bad when working right.

[Rod Beauvex]

Gave upon the face of evil, ye sinners, and repair--err, despair!

GE badged set looks visually similar, but appears to have a different chassis than the one earlier posted. Set is a Korea built GE model, from 86, with a Samsung 2701B22-ST.

So is this related to any of the above mentioned sets, or is this yet another variant?

Still produces a nice picture, though the set is getting old, and could probably benefit from a recap.