tv trouble

[radio nut]

I am a fan of old radios, currently I am trying to fix an old Sylvania tv. It does not have a back, so I have no idea what model it is. The numbers off of the chassis so far have not helped anyone. It does run but it shows a picture and a half from left to right. I can't get it to adjust.It is fully recapped, but two of the caps are not perfect matches to the originals. I just can not find them anywhere.Also all of the tubes are nos. Any ideas?The caps I need are 750mmf 1,500 volt(paper) and 1,200 mmf 1,600 volt mica. Thanks, Doug.

[Tubejunke]

You are absolutely going to HAVE to ID what you have in order to sort out the problems. There are several reasons why I say this. Most importantly would be that this would allow you to get a Sam's folder (schematic) for your set. Also knowing what you are dealing with will help everyone hear to give you advice.

How did the set get "fully recapped" without a schematic? There are some multi section electrolytic caps I have seen with no values marked on them. Some others like wax paper type deteriorate so you can't see the value.

Your "left to right" picture description to me sounds like the horizontal frequency is way off. If that is the case then some component is causing it to be so far off there would be no way to simply adjust it.

With no other info I would check everything in the Horiz. section.

Also the caps you mention are in MMF or Pico Farad. You may find them rated in MFD or Micro Farad. They would be .0012mfd and .00075mfd.

Can you post any pictures of the set. I bet someone here would recognize it in a flash....

[bgadow]

Those small value caps rarely cause problems, at least not so much as the large ones. This may be a stupid question, but many of us have made the same mistake (I know I have) but have you replaced the black beauty capacitors? They often get mistaken for resistors.

Can you make up a tube chart and post it? There were numerous DIY books in the fifties which printed all the common TV tube layouts, and those could be used to help identify it. In order to roughly date the set, what picture tube does it use? Is it a halolight?

Oh, and welcome to AK!

[radio nut]

I have (some) Sams at my disposal. The best match I can come up with is model150A(set 187 folder 11). it is off by only 1 tube , the fourth video If. The capacitors were all marked including the cans, which is how I replaced them. I do have pictures of this set on my computer, but I am too computer illiterate to know how to get them here on this site. I can e-mail them to anyone who is interested. Thanks, Doug.

[radio nut]

My Sylvania set has the same tube layout as model 150a. The fourth video If is a 6ag5 or 6bc5, not 6cb6. I have two 1,500 mmf ceramic tubular caps in series in the horizontal size circuit. I read somewhere that you can't use ceramic caps in the horizontal.Is this true? I can't find the 750mmf 1,500v cap I need.I do not have any "tv" equipment at all, but I do not know anyone local to me to help. I love old tube radios and have repaired about 70 of them.I really would love a tube tv to play all my abbott and costello movies and others on. Maybe I am in over my head. I have tried tweaking the horizontal adjustments, is it possible that they are just all out of whack?The picture tube is a 17bp4a.

[bgadow]

You may be able to adjust it enough-would be worth a try. Turning the osc. one way would increase frequency and get you 3 or 4 or more pictures side by side, while turning it the other way would put things more in line. Different sets have different types of adjustment, some with more travel than others. You might need to turn the screw very slowly...the picture will tear when it goes out of lock, then go back into lock with a different number of pics. If you are going too fast you can whiz right past the "sweet spot". Some sets us a coil where you adjust the slug; you just have to be careful with those that you don't cross-thread the slug, or screw it too far out of its travel.

You've done quite well so far-this is a fairly minor problem. You asked about ceramic disc caps-there are some circuits where they won't work right. I can't tell you whether or not this is one of them. The biggest troubles are with the little electrostatic sets, not like yours. I did check real quick with one of the capacitor suppliers I use and confirmed that they don't carry replacements.

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by bgadow

Can you make up a tube chart and post it? There were numerous DIY books in the fifties which printed all the common TV tube layouts, and those could be used to help identify it. !

If you can do what Bryan asked here I have one of the layout identifier books in my reference collection. Thats one way we MAY be able to ID this set. Also I am going to PM you my email address. You can send me the pictures and I'll post them here for you.

[radio nut]

Lets see, I will make a tube layout for my set and get it e-mailed as soon as I can. I will not be able to do that until this sunday. The tube layout is the same as Sylvania model 150A,L from Sams set 187 folder 11 date 12-52.The fourth video If in my case is a 6ag5 or a 6bc5, not 6cb6 like that set uses. Thank you.

[Tubejunke]

I have saved Doug's Adobe .PDF file to my computer. It contains several pictures which the application will not allow me to save as individual files as necessary to upload to this forum. If anyone wants to see what Doug has I will email you his pictures.

[radio nut]

Thanks for your help.As soon as I can get new pictures and the tube layout posted I will do so.

[Tubejunke]

Here are some pictures Doug sent me of his mystery set. I hoping he will send me some that are more of a direct view. He leans toward odd angles it seems. Now I have a good shot he took of the chassis but it wont upload.

Hopefull someone can tell from this what he has.