I'm beginning to think color sets are more trouble than they're worth.

[DavGoodlin]

I like to think the sets we all still have are the survivors among all the lemons.

Reality is that every manufacturer used a few lousy parts somewhere and sets got junked for something as simple as a single generic part or as justified as a bad kinescope. The sets we have are here because of our preservation interest more than performance or economy.

I junked alot of sets 30+ years ago due to bad flybacks or CRTs rather than hold them and wait for a found part that didn't cost as much as the Jobber quoted.
A nice big warehouse would have been the ticket for saving the all the collective good parts.

[Zenith26kc20]

I don't begrudge the sets for their appetites. We've gotten used to the BPC's running 10+ years without problem and then their flybacks crash and they go to the trash. I use my tube colors about 5 hours a week, mostly to watch something good (not the usual nite time TV). The hungriest piece I have is a McIntosh MI-3 scope. If there is a 6EA8 tube within ten feet of it, it's like a cat on a mouse! It goes thru them quite regularly! Most docile is my RCA KCS 166 black and white portable. It just works.
Now to see how hungry my RCA "Latham" is going to be

[hi_volt]

.....In 1980 a CTC-16 would have been 15-16 years old, and the worst RCA chassis (CTC-38) would have been about 12.....

I had a CTC38 that I used as a daily driver for quite a number of years in the late 70's and 80's. One of the best and most reliable TVs I ever owned, for what it's worth...