Is there a such thing as a reliable tube color TV?

[zeno]

As said a Zenith is the best tube color set to deal with.
With the steel chassis & hand wiring they just hold up best.
Even in the 70's we used to get RCA's & others that the PCB
& wiring was dried to a crisp. Never seen a Zenith dried up.

We used to buy 6GH8's by the gross about 3 times a year
from Zenith for 90% off. Nothin but problems no matter
what brand. With RCA's you also got to watch the tube
sockets, changed tons especially the pair up front. 5GH8's
were used in that first all tube 19" plastic RCA. I despised
that chassis, gave a nice pix but always needed an arm full of
tubes for the little problems. Too much heat I suppose.
So try a Zenith, at least when it craps out it wont turn to
dust working on it. & add a fan to anything..........

73 Zeno

[andy]

...

[davet753]

I have had the best luck with Zenith sets, particularly their early 70's hybrids. I used to like to work on the RCA's of that era, but they never seemed to be quite as dependable.

[DaveWM]

I too like the color circuits of RCA's better, and like to work on them more (the pcb if not toasted is just easier to replace parts than the zenith).

My favorite sets to work on are the vertical chassis RCAs like the 7 and the 9.

[Kamakiri]

Originally Posted by andy

The only tube color TVs I still find in working condition are GE Portacolors. I guess there wasn't much to go wrong.

Just about any 40-50 year old TV is going to need quite a lot of work. Often it takes several rounds of repairs before all the bugs have been worked out. Once everything is fixed, they settle down, but it's still going to need occasional service. I used a CTC38 for about an hour a day for a couple of years and never had to replace a 6GH8.

If you want trouble free, then a tube set isn't for you. Despite what people say, modern TVs are a lot more reliable than anything with tubes.

Well, yeah. In my basement office where my sets are located, at the moment I'm using either one of two identical 1974-75 RCA XL-100s, or a 1973 CTC-56, that all perform very well. I had been using a 9T246 regularly, but I need to do some work on a low HV issue. I like to rotate all of the working sets into the mix.

My CTC-36, well, it's just a problem child. Stinks too, because I love the damn thing.

Of course, for the main watcher in the living room is a 32" HD flat panel. Women, yanno?

[Sandy G]

I read, or heard, likely here, that Cdr. Eugene F. McDonald, Jr, the Wheel Horse at Zenith, didn't like television, only reluctantly got into it when he saw how BIG of a market it was gonna be. RCA held most of the patents, he told his engineers not to bring one out til it was RIGHT, & that's why Zenith TVs, even into the color era, often don't require the level of rebuilding the other brands do..Maybe that's BS, but as the owner of a still-performing Porthole, I like to think that's right...

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

Well, yeah. In my basement office where my sets are located, at the moment I'm using either one of two identical 1974-75 RCA XL-100s, or a 1973 CTC-56, that all perform very well.

Of course, for the main watcher in the living room is a 32" HD flat panel. Women, yanno?

Picture of one of the XL-100s please.

Women and their lack of appreciation for anything other than the newest crap. If I were to marry, mine would have to at least have to accept the presence of all my old stuff and buy all this worthless gadgetry out of her own money, which means I'll probably never marry, haha.

[consoleguy67]

Amazingly enough, my Magnavox has been less problematic then my Zenith. I find that very surprising, considering the Magnavox 19" set my parents had in the 70's was always needing repair.

[Kamakiri]

Originally Posted by KV-1926R

Picture of one of the XL-100s please.

Women and their lack of appreciation for anything other than the newest crap. If I were to marry, mine would have to at least have to accept the presence of all my old stuff and buy all this worthless gadgetry out of her own money, which means I'll probably never marry, haha.

My wife is amazing. She even picked out the 1941 Chambers stove in our kitchen . But for watching hockey games and other stuff, she'd rather go with a new set. Tradeoffs, yanno?

I will say that she never complains about anything I do or buy. We realize in each other that life is all about doing the things that make you come alive.....and this stuff makes me come alive. For her, it's road trips, good restaurants, and family....so we do that stuff too

Here's a REALLY old shot of one of them, when it was doing duty in my kids' room in a place I lived briefly during a divorce. I ended up getting the house back

[etype2]

Get a Sony Trinitron. I've had excellent luck with them. We had a KV 7010UA and a KV 1210U both purchased in 1969. Both running well with not one service call until my wife accidentally gave them away in 2006. 37 years without a problem.

I still have my Sony KV 1722 purchased in 1973. Only a very minor purity problem in the upper left corner which is not always visible. No service calls on that one either, 40 years of reliable operation.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

My wife is amazing. She even picked out the 1941 Chambers stove in our kitchen . But for watching hockey games and other stuff, she'd rather go with a new set. Tradeoffs, yanno?

I will say that she never complains about anything I do or buy. We realize in each other that life is all about doing the things that make you come alive.....and this stuff makes me come alive. For her, it's road trips, good restaurants, and family....so we do that stuff too

Here's a REALLY old shot of one of them, when it was doing duty in my kids' room in a place I lived briefly during a divorce. I ended up getting the house back

Sounds pretty good. A woman liking hockey seems rather unusual though, as does a man *not* liking sports (me). Seems like you scored a pretty good one that time. Old appliances are good too. Things I want are rarely found in stores.

Guys whose wives force them out of or severely limit their space-taking hobbies, that I have a problem with.

Good on you in regards to the house.

Originally Posted by etype2

I still have my Sony KV 1722 purchased in 1973. Only a very minor purity problem in the upper left corner which is not always visible. No service calls on that one either, 40 years of reliable operation.

My '87 Trinitron has the same sort of problem. Trouble with those though, if any semiconductors go, good luck finding a replacement, they have to be OEM.

[old_coot88]

Originally Posted by andy

The only tube color TVs I still find in working condition are GE Portacolors. I guess there wasn't much to go wrong.

Haha. Before even opening this thread, my first thought was the all-tube Portacolors. This may sound bonkers but in terms of reliability, the Portacolors had it hands-down despite the cheezy-looking construction and low picture resolution.

With the narrow-deflection CRT and low B+, the deflection tubes were not stressed near as much as in regular sets. The resultant cooler running seemed to be the biggest factor influencing the Portacolors' longevity.

[CoogarXR]

I am much newer to the TV repairing game than most of you, and I always think its funny when somebody asks me what is the best TV to buy. I tell them I never see the good ones, so I wouldn't know! LOL. I can tell you which ones are crap, and which ones are easy to fix, but if I've never heard of it, that's a good start

[DaveWM]

I have had good luck with portacolors. only one that really got me was one with an open pot in the color demod circuit, just jumped a resistor from the center lead. had one with a flacky cap in the vert both other than that pretty much prob free.

[Kamakiri]

Is that one you got from me still intermittently going off like a firecracker?