My 5 "westcott" has a GREAT CRT!!

[rca2000]

I sneaked my CTC-5 into the house garage a little bit ago. Out went a Zenith console record player I got last summer on a garage sale run. everything "looks" the same...to the casual "observer"...JUST the way I want it to!!

Anyway...I pulled the back off and took a quick look. Nothing seemed to be out of the "ordinary" so I pulled out the 2 5U4' S, and lit her off....hoping for (2) things>> the CRT fils. would light AND the power tranny would NOT sizzle, smoke or make unusual noise after about a minute or so. Well...The CRT filaments DO light, FULLY, and so do all other tubes..and after at least THREE minutes...NO smoke, smell or noise from the tranny!! So..I got out My CR-70, and decided to check the CRT....hoping for at least a"useable" tube. I figured the red gun would be weak...at the least.

But NO!!! ALL 3 guns read like NEW!! Life test 30+ seconds, emission about 80% on all three--no shorts, good cutoff. The guns hold emission down to FOUR volts, for a LONG time!! SO..unless the tube is "gassy" in some way that will not show until the HV hits it...I HAVE A LIKE--NEW 21AXP22A!! That ALONE was worth MORE than I paid for the set!!

Right now...the set is on, running, and power applied, the socket is again on the tube...BUT the 5u4's are still out. After about 20 minutes...I checked it, and the tranny was NOT even warm. I would like to run it this way for awhile, to "drive out" any hidden moisture and warm things good, before I go any farther. I did this with my 29JC20, which does NOT have a tube that is ANYWHERE NEAR as good. I did that for about 2 weeks and then cautiously lit it off. IS it ok to run this one for awhile, without "fear' of something "bad" happening?? There is NO fuse on the primary of the tranny...and the zenith DOES have one. I would like to know It is safe to do this...I will not be home in he morning or afternoons after this week. My bedroom is right above the garage, as is my sisters. Can I leave it, as is with no B+ applied, without fear of it catching fire or such?? Or should perhaps I "rig" some sort of fuse, say a 3A, in line with the AC input, to "be safe and sure". 3A should be MORE than enough, with no B+ load.

[Sandy G]

Keepin' fingers 'n' toes crossed...(grin)

[Phil Nelson]

Unless you just brought it in from a beach cave, I don't know why you'd need heroic measures to drive out moisture. My last project was a 1948 TV that sat in a damp garage for years. The wooden cabinet was sprung half to pieces from moisture, but the electronics didn't require anything special.

Just my $0.02.

Phil Nelson

[rca2000]

Actually, it was in a somewhat--decent looking barn when I picked it up. It looked like the people there did some wood work and such. They evidently also clean out houses and such. Evidently, this set came from some unused upstairs room, in some old house...and no one knew much about it. The cabinet was a LOT better, according to the guys who had the set, till they carried it downstairs, and it got nicked up. They do NOT appear to have any electronic knowledge, and did NOT feel safe to just 'plug the set in, and "see what happened". That, of course is a GOOD thing, in reality. Had they done that...and not been "ready" for things...it could have ruined the flyback, power tranny(though it IS fused...so probably not..), or a lot of things. Instead..they sold it "as is". Since the CRT appears to be very good--it has probably not been used in a long time--and probably not a lot, either. The two 5U4's are NOT original, and say Sylvania on them, and do NOT appear to have been used too much. I do not know about the H-Out tube or damper yet--if they are original or not...but they DO light up.

I have a sencore variable isoformer, and it has a 4A limit. I think I will plug the set into it, and let it run a while like I have it now. If something DID happen then...the breaker in the PR57 will trip, and nothing will get killed, including the house.

[andy]

---

[rca2000]

I am not so concerned about moisture in the power tranny, I think those are potted. The REST of the set, however, with just the heat from the tube fils. should serve to keep things"warm" in the set--till it warms up outside, right?. The garage is NOT heated..(though it IS dry and enclosed,probably insulated too-- a part of the house), and the 100 watts of so of heat from the fil. load should keep things warm, till the warming is not needed---or I sneak the set to the basement(heated and cooled year-around.)

Or...should I not "worry about it", and just leave it as -is, in the garage?? Would it be ok there, in particluar--the tube? I have been told that metal tubes are prone to crack around the screen---if they get too cold. It is going to get COLD tonight. Since this 21AXP22A seems good...I want to keep it that way. The heat from the gun fils. and chassis tubes should "warm it" enough--to prevent that, right??

[Reece]

What I would do is hang a couple of light bulbs inside, keep tabs on them for a couple of hours, that they are not too close to anything flammable, after that time feel the chassis and surrounding parts. This would be gentle heat you could leave on all the time. Be sure the bulbs are fastened so they won't fall. I use one or two of those aluminum dish reflector lamps with a 75 to 100 watt bulb. I've left setups like this on overnight and longer to dry out chassis.

[old_tv_nut]

"LIKE--NEW 21AXP22A" - pardon me while I try to supress evil thoughts of ENVY long enough to congratulate you! Can't wait to see the results!

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

"LIKE--NEW 21AXP22A" - pardon me while I try to supress evil thoughts of ENVY long enough to congratulate you! Can't wait to see the results!

I have a perfect original one in my 4 :P Now you can have evil thoughts toward me too Just messin' with ya' Wayne, I'm glad your 5 turned out well, it has a GREAT picture on the 21FBP22 with very good convergence

I'm also very happy for rca2000 as well, it's hard to find a good 21AX, I'm still searching for one to put in my 5.