Sylvania Superset Update

[TrllVl90]

Originally Posted by jbattles

yeah, man your tube is worn gotta face it. when brightness is set where you have a good bright picture and the contrast is set at a picture that is acceptable picture. then it starts to smear and you turn it down and you still cant get a good picture tube is worn. one of the pictures posted looked like that contrast was to high adjust it and it would decent picture.

I kinda figured. It got used heavily while I was growing up. I'm really only using it to watch VHS tapes about once a week (maybe less if I'm busy) anymore. The picture is pretty good with contrast at like 2/3 turned up and brightness up a little bit, I think I need to adjust the focus, as the image was a bit crisper before I replaced the cap I did.

As for the film cap that JohnCT mentioned isn't bulged or anything, but I'll keep a lookout for one on ebay, who knows. I did find a nos PTC thermistor for the degaussing circuit.

I'll triple check the filament voltage when I get a chance, and I still have to figure out this audio buzz issue maybe a worn cap or something in the audio circuit.

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by TrllVl90

As for the film cap that JohnCT mentioned isn't bulged or anything, but I'll keep a lookout for one on ebay, who knows. I did find a nos PTC thermistor for the degaussing circuit.

I wouldn't. Those caps pretty much are good or bad. If the retrace cap was causing low HV and filament, your horiz sweep would also be too wide. Now, being a raster scanned analog TV, these tended to be a bit overscanned anyway so customers didn't complain about shrinkage.

John

[TrllVl90]

Originally Posted by JohnCT

I wouldn't. Those caps pretty much are good or bad. If the retrace cap was causing low HV and filament, your horiz sweep would also be too wide. Now, being a raster scanned analog TV, these tended to be a bit overscanned anyway so customers didn't complain about shrinkage.

John

Okay. I gotta be honest, as is I'm pretty happy with it. It is a big improvement over how it was before.

Now that I've said that, I know it's old and tired, and with light usage, if I can get a couple years out of this tube I'll be pretty happy. If I found a 26" CRT, would it be feasible to swap the internals into this cabinet? And I mean tube, chassis, and whatever else makes the donor tv operate.

I'm not sure if the curvature of screens changed a whole lot over the years. I know Sony Trinitrons were cylindrical, and that eventually there were flat screen crts.

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by TrllVl90

If I found a 26" CRT, would it be feasible to swap the internals into this cabinet? And I mean tube, chassis, and whatever else makes the donor tv operate.

If your TV is a 25", a 26" won't match the original mask as the 26" was a bit more square and flatter IIRC. Besides the fit, the mounting flanges wouldn't fit the original mask, so you'd have to swap the mask at the same time which is possible with a bit of cabinet fabrication.

Back in the 80s-90s, we used to do custom cabinet swaps. We'd take a customer's 60s or 70s console and gut them, then we'd buy brand new wood table model Zenith consoles and break up the new cabinets to swap out the guts, and that included the entire front mask which was usually held in place by heavy staples nailed into the wood cabinet. Once the Zenith mask was free from the donor and fitted to the original cabinet, we'd remount the new Zenith tube and chassis. There was a frame shop next door to us and they would cut and fit any trim wood to finish the mask to cabinet clearances if required. These looked absolutely factory when done and we got top bucks to do this.

There are a ton of these Philips consoles ( Sylvania, Philco, and Magnavox) floating around for free on FB Marketplace. There's an excellent chance you can find one with a perfect tube for zip, even if it's a plastic table model with the same tube.

John

[TrllVl90]

Originally Posted by JohnCT

If your TV is a 25", a 26" won't match the original mask as the 26" was a bit more square and flatter IIRC. Besides the fit, the mounting flanges wouldn't fit the original mask, so you'd have to swap the mask at the same time which is possible with a bit of cabinet fabrication.

Back in the 80s-90s, we used to do custom cabinet swaps. We'd take a customer's 60s or 70s console and gut them, then we'd buy brand new wood table model Zenith consoles and break up the new cabinets to swap out the guts, and that included the entire front mask which was usually held in place by heavy staples nailed into the wood cabinet. Once the Zenith mask was free from the donor and fitted to the original cabinet, we'd remount the new Zenith tube and chassis. There was a frame shop next door to us and they would cut and fit any trim wood to finish the mask to cabinet clearances if required. These looked absolutely factory when done and we got top bucks to do this.

There are a ton of these Philips consoles ( Sylvania, Philco, and Magnavox) floating around for free on FB Marketplace. There's an excellent chance you can find one with a perfect tube for zip, even if it's a plastic table model with the same tube.

John

Hey thanks, John. I'll keep my eye out.

At the very least my model number indicates a 26", but maybe the tube is a more common size crammed in, I'm not sure how to determine that. Either way I'll keep my eyes open for a possible donor.

And also thank you for all your insight, it was very helpful, and I learned a lot.

Sean