Crosley 348CP "Swing-A-View" Restoration

[MadMan]

I dunno if you're trying to save all the original parts as possible, you want to hone your troubleshooting skills, or you're just a masochist, but all those old capacitors are ultimately just a multitude of tiny unknown variables.

Just sayin' :/

[vts1134]

Originally Posted by MadMan

I dunno if you're trying to save all the original parts as possible, you want to hone your troubleshooting skills, or you're just a masochist, but all those old capacitors are ultimately just a multitude of tiny unknown variables.

Just sayin' :/

I'll take that as a very nice compliment. All of those capacitors are retuffed original shells. Since this is the second time that's been mentioned, I trust my method for restuffing is such that most can't tell that I've done anything (which is half of the goal in a restoration). The only modern capacitors that are visible in the set are the ones associated with the video amplifier/inverter that I added. I figured since that is a modern addition then it should have visible modern capacitors.

[Kevin Kuehn]

Originally Posted by vts1134

Since this is the second time that's been mentioned, I trust my method for restuffing is such that most can't tell that I've done anything (which is half of the goal in a restoration).

What! You mean you didn't wipe all that crusty old wax off so they look like shinny NOS? How dare you.

[MadMan]

Originally Posted by vts1134

I'll take that as a very nice compliment. All of those capacitors are retuffed original shells. Since this is the second time that's been mentioned, I trust my method for restuffing is such that most can't tell that I've done anything (which is half of the goal in a restoration). The only modern capacitors that are visible in the set are the ones associated with the video amplifier/inverter that I added. I figured since that is a modern addition then it should have visible modern capacitors.

Nice!

[vts1134]

Progress! I found that the problem with the horizontal centering was not due to a bad control pot. The issue was with a two section capacitor that I mistook for a single section. I had been shorting out C207 to C208 which shorted the upper half of the wiper. I rebuilt the capacitor again with both 100uf caps in place and the horizontal centering now works as expected. This repair also allowed me to adjust the focus coil for its intended purpose of uniform focus instead of adjusting it to center the raster. Now I have a centered, fairly well focused image .

[vts1134]

I'm going to swap the original 10FP4 back into the set (if you'll remember it was brighter and had more contrast, but didn't focus as well) to see how that one looks now that I can move the focus coil more freely. I also need to find vintage replacement 56pf and 82pf capacitors. I have modern replacements in the set in these values and they will need to be swapped out. Anyone have good, but old, replacements for those caps? I also would like to see if adding a vertical retrace blanking circuit is feesable for this set. I have read about this modification, but only on sets where the video is fed to the cathode, not to the grid like this set is. Does anyone know if you can do a retrace blanking mod on sets with video fed to the grid?

[vts1134]

Making slow progress. I'm pretty much down to one remaining problem. There are diagonal lines in the video that I suspect are caused by my video circuit. Phil is also working on a video inverter circuit for his set, but didn't mention the same issue, perhaps it's unique to my set. The lines are more noticeable on brighter scenes and are extremely difficult to film. Luckily while watching Daniel Tiger with my daughter this morning I found the perfect scene to show the problem. See video here https://youtu.be/QpJ0pEOIjN8. Anyone have any thoughts?

[Gleb]

Originally Posted by vts1134

I also need to find vintage replacement 56pf and 82pf capacitors. I have modern replacements in the set in these values and they will need to be swapped out. Anyone have good, but old, replacements for those caps?

I delved in the stash and found some tubular ceramics from 40s-50s:



My RLC meter reads them as 57pF and 84pF, respectively. I wasn't sure about the voltage rating, so I gave them 500v from a bench power supply as a test. They bear it easily. If I dig deeper, I may find some 1500v micas from that era.

[vts1134]

Not much time for work on the TV, it's been crazy busy around these parts.... I did get a chance to pickup the cabinet from the restorer though. Here's a quick photo for you guys to check out. When things calm down I'll post more.