Majestic 70 Leatherette restoration

[cluelessgame]

Found the source of the arcing sound...turns out the HV "doorknob" capacitor went bad. By chance I noticed it was really hot when poking around and so I pointed my IR thermometer at it and powered it up and the temp jumped up into the 150's almost immediately after the sizzling began. I unscrewed the 1B3 base from it and powered the set on (holding the tube up with a wooden stick) and sure enough, the sound was gone and I had 10000+ volts at the suction cup! Unfortunately, it seems that the only replacement I can find is one going for $40 on amazon X.X

still no progress with tracking down a new audio output trans. (though, I haven't really looked) but I have found a few kinda close (but not really) on oldradioparts.

with the picture tube removed, I decided to do a little cleaning on the chassis. I tried doing what Bob Andersen has done in a couple of his videos - paint on some Rustoleum rust stripper, wait a few minutes, then wipe it off with a wet cloth, and then spray on some DeoxIt. I first tried it on the area that would normally be hidden inside the HV cage and it turned out pretty well. Then I did it over the big empty area under where the picture tube sits and now that whole area has developed a uniform layer of rust did I forget something? I'd like to get the whole chassis all nice and pristine (again, I may be selling this one down the road) but I'm afraid to go any further. I also tried it on a small area on the side and, while no rust has formed (just slightly) the area seems to have gotten darker and sort of splotchy.

[Kevin Kuehn]

Lots of folks seem to desire an even shinny chassis, but that uneven dull finish that develops over time on a chassis is actually a protective oxide that's formed on the surface of the cadmium or whatever plating was applied over the bare steel, in fact it was meant to do that very early in it's service life. It's actually the plating's less invasive oxidation that protects the underlying steel from rusting. Of course using anything corrosive to clean a plated surface will also remove part or all of that remaining finish. Once the plating is gone, then the remaining bare steel absolutely will flash rust unless it's thoroughly flushed of contaminants, force dried, and immediately treated with a new protective coating. So if it's a perfect looking finish you desire, you're better off cleaning with a degreaser, and then painting the plated metal surface.

[Electronic M]

Cadmium is also rather toxic so removing it is not the best for your health. Unless I have a rare chrome plated chassis or a factory painted chassis in front of me getting it shiny is of no interest to me....Hell I'll often leave mild brown-orange rust alone (if it ain't obvious from the outside) or hit it with a clear rust converting primer and leave it. Unless you've had rust-THROUGH happen it should have no bearing on the electrical function (though it can indicate a need to clean contacts).