Stealing TV tubes for Arcades?

[OIB1981]

I'm just wonder if one were to admit they've stole tube's from TV sets from the 80's to use for a Arcade machine tube would that get one burned at the stake here? This is a site talking about it. I think my buddy done it.

http://junknet.net/donor-tvs

[David Roper]

For the most part nobody's going to shed a tear for any 80s era sets. Salvaging useful parts from them is a more noble fate than being thrown whole into the landfill.

[Eric H]

Far better to save the Arcade Game than the TV in this case.

[AiboPet]

I'd MUCH rather see someone rescue an 80's era Frogger machine with a CRT from some boring old 80's or 90s TV set....than see the old arcade machine get dumped. FAR more "art" is being saved, and how many Frogger machines do you see for how many old "boring" TV sets.

[Chip Chester]

Maybe this should be a new thread... or maybe not.
Do you think that in 15 years or so, collectors won't be grousing about the wholesale disposal of nearly every TV from the 80's thru the early 2000's? The groundbreaking era of multiple baseband inputs, PIP, the introduction of stereo and (marginally) better sound components, integrated tape decks and DVD players, full-function remotes and deep menu architectures? Or the breakaway from cabinetry to monitor-style design, support for (wacky) cable-channel assignments, XDS display, caption and teletext functions, the migration from spherical to cylindrical to truly flat tube faces?

When XBR series Sony cabinets start turning up as retro frames around Smithsonian-subscription-serviced ultra-res home art display panels, or their empty cabinets (again) serving as aquarium surrounds, will we not grieve and gnash our teeth and wail?

Meh. Probably not. Recycle 'em.

I've already started hoarding early plasma's and LCD's.

Chip

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by Chip Chester

When XBR series Sony cabinets start turning up as retro frames around Smithsonian-subscription-serviced ultra-res home art display panels, or their empty cabinets (again) serving as aquarium surrounds, will we not grieve and gnash our teeth and wail?

Chip

Probably so but that's for future collectors to worry about.
They made millions of these sets and I imagine the number that are used for CRT donors is miniscule compared to the number that get sent to the E-Waste centers every year.

I went to a Goodwill Distribution Center to pick up a small item I won on their auction, there were dozens of pallets with hundreds of sets going to the Recycler, most were BPC but there were a few older Sony's and some 70's sets in the bunch.
Better their tubes were harvested to repair games than to just be smashed up.

[lnx64]

Heh the CRT in my tv is the same exact one used in the ms pacman arcade machine.

[Geoff Bourquin]

I doubt anyone would get upset at someone parting out 80s or 90s sets. If you stole a tube from a roundie for such purposes, you would probably be smeared in honey and tied down to a nest of fire ants! Luckily, (as far as I know) nobody ever built a video game that uses a round tube, so your buddy need not worry.

[OIB1981]

Yeah people do this cause the Tube provided with the chassis has a ton of screen burn in it. Alright I'll admit now that it's safe I stole a tube from three TV so far. One I got working with the TV yoke for a GO7 chassis. All I had to do was switch the connectors.

I've got one TV where the yoke wasn't close enough to match the Arcade chassis and I can't seem to get the original Yoke for the arcade chassis mounted right. A TV repairman around here told me to pull the yoke back fast and push it up fast to get the magnets aligned right.