Beginners guide to Vintage TV Restoration?

[cdmarion]

Ok, i haven't posted in a while. I've been re-capping radios and reading books. Last Sunday I decided to take the plunge and start on a TV. I ended up buying a CRT tester on Ebay and as soon as it got here I started testing crt's in the TV's I've got. I had originally planed on doing an Admiral TV that I bought for $35 but the picture tube tested bad. So I went for my other Admiral, the Tele-Bar. It took me five days working a few hours after work and Saturday. I recapped the TV and radio, tested all tubes, replaced the HV Rectifier tube and fuse and alot of cleaning. I should add that the Tele-Bar was completely dead with exception of the radio when I got it. So I brought it up slowly on the Dim-Bulb Tester.....No smoke or strange smells. Then I took her all the way and guess what.......................It worked (haven't checked the radio yet). I adjusted the picture in with the front controls. It still needs a little tweeking, and the picture seems a little dark but very watchable as is. I haven't put it in the cabinet yet, I plan on doing some cabinet touch-up before I put everything back together.

I could go on and on but I won't. I have to thank everyone in this Forum that helped me. You guys got me started when I didn't know where to start. Really, I couldn't have done it without you guys. Thanks!!

All I can say is THIS IS REALLY COOL!!!

Chris

[M3-SRT8]

Although not recommended, it is possible to begin a restoration hobby by starting with a television. I had never fixed or restored ANY electronic device, ever, before I embarked on a complete electronic & cosmetic resto on a 1947 RCA 630TS.

I didn't know a non-polar cap from an electrolytic before I began, but, with the help of friends on and off line, I learned fast.

The result was a restoration that would stand up to anybody's scrutiny. It can pass for new out of the box, right down to the Labels.

To All Beginners, Best of Luck, and don't be bashful about asking questions. There resides a veritable Brain Trust of Electronic Knowledge on this Website.

Sincerely;

LJB

[RetroHacker]

Nice work! Looks great! Congratulations on the success of your first TV project. There will be many more to come, I'm sure

With that set - does it have an aluminized picture tube? If not, it uses an ion trap. A misadjusted ion trap will result in a dim picture, even on a good tube. Basically.... the early picture tube coatings weren't too sturdy. The electron gun will, as a result of operation, emit ions. These ions are "heavier" than electrons, and if allowed to hit the phosphor coating, will wear a hole in it - resulting in a dark spot. So, to avoid this, they simply aimed the electron gun downward a bit. This way, the ions would go harmlessly into the bell of the tube, not the screen. But, then again, so do the electrons. But wait! Electrons can be redirected by a magnet. Heavier ions can't (at least not as easily). So, by using an ion trap magnet, they could bend the electrons back where they needed to be, and leave the ions to fall to the bottom. Later tubes came out with a aluminized screen, that was impervious to the ions, eliminating the need for this system entirely.

On your other Admiral - how weak did the tube test? You can get a watchable picture on even a very weak tube. Another "trick" to bring back a weak tube is to run it for a while, on just slightly higher filament voltage. Stay away from the "rejuvinate" function on the tester except for a last resort. Sometimes, a tube that's been sitting forever will come back after even just running in the set at normal voltage for a while. Something to do with the cathode coating. So, if the tube is in the red, run it at say, 7 or 8 volts (assuming a standard 6.3v filament) for a couple hours. Come back and switch it back to the normal voltage, let it run for a minute, and check the emissions, and do a life test. You might be suprised.

I have an Admiral (one of those bakelite console-ettes) with a 14" rectangular tube. When I got it, it had a brightner on it, and had a G1 to cathode short. With the tube tester, I was able to blow out the short (using remove shorts), and bring the tube back into the green by running it hot and using "clean and balance" on the tester. It's definitely watchable now. A bit dim, but watchable.

-Ian

[cdmarion]

Adjusting the ion trap cured the brightness issue. Now it seems that the top of the picture is shrinking and things at the top of the sceen are squashed. Also the sides of the picture seem to be shrinking with little change from the rear chassis adjustments. I'm thinking Horizontal Output tube? Any ideas?

Chris