Scored a Philco 48-2500

[hi_volt]

Thanks to a "heads-up" from one of the VK'ers in my area (thanks Sam!), a Philco 48-2500 followed me home today. Looks to be fairly complete except for the missing back. Pretty clean, with the usual dust and cabinet scratches. The CRT has a brightener on it, so I guess I'm going to be looking for a replacement TP400A sometime in the near future. Not sure if I can salvage the grill cloth, but I'll take a look and give it a try.

Chassis number 01130972

Cabinet number 688

[Sandy G]

Ya done GREAT !!

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by hi_volt

The CRT has a brightener on it, so I guess I'm going to be looking for a replacement TP400A sometime in the near future.

Hmm, I might know someone who has one, I was going to buy it but I don't really have an immediate need for it so... stay tuned.

[bandersen]

That would be me All I can say for sure about it is that the filament glows and the face has no burns or discoloration.
PM sent

[cwmoser]

Originally Posted by hi_volt

Thanks to a "heads-up" from one of the VK'ers in my area (thanks Sam!), a Philco 48-2500 followed me home today. Looks to be fairly complete except for the missing back. Pretty clean, with the usual dust and cabinet scratches. The CRT has a brightener on it, so I guess I'm going to be looking for a replacement TP400A sometime in the near future. Not sure if I can salvage the grill cloth, but I'll take a look and give it a try.

Chassis number 01130972

Cabinet number 688

Great score. I have cabinet number 379 that I restored.
It was one of the most enjoyable restorations I have done.
Interesting technology.

BTW, it will take a lot of capacitors to recap the chassis but the
capacitors are easy to get access to.

Like to see the condition of the round concave Spherical mirror at
the bottom of the barrel. Does it use 1B3s or 1X2s in the HV?

The Mahagony wood pieces in those cabinets match nicely and yours
should turn out to be beautiful.

I replaced the fake speaker cloth with a selection from the local
fabric shop. I found a close looking match.

Are you missing a zero in the chassis number? Just curious.

Carl

[cwmoser]

Have you removed the Spherical Mirror yet?
The back of that TV looks in great shape - no rust or obvious
water damage. I would bet yours will be in great shape.
You can easily remove that mirror by holding your hand
on the back of it an pulling the flat bar that holds it in place.

Mine was not perfect but in pretty good condition. Even if yours is in bad shape,
there are other folks who can tell you where you can get it resilvered.

Here is mine:

[azbigsam]

The set looks good. I hope you can bring it back to life. Is this your first projection set? Does anyone know how many of these were produced? I read somewhere that it was priced around $800! With a price like that I can't imagine too many were sold.

[hi_volt]

Haven't had a chance to remove the spherical mirror yet. Probably won't get to it until this weekend.

This is actually my third projection set. I have an RCA 9-PC-41 and an RCA 648 PTK. I've got some pictures on the following threads.

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=252908

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=256597

I've done cabinet clean-ups on those two, and have started a restoration on the 9-PC-41, but it's taking a while since I still work full time (and then some). Right now, I'm in the clean up, preserve and display and enjoy mode for most of my sets. Once I retire in a few years, I'll be able to devote more time to the electrical restorations.

[cwmoser]

You probably already know this but just to make sure ... do not clean the
viewing screen on the lift up lid. A lot of folks gave me that heads up
when I got my 48-2500.

Carl

[Tom Albrecht]

I see yours has a 12 channel tuner conversion.

[cwmoser]

Originally Posted by Tom Albrecht

I see yours has a 12 channel tuner conversion.

Hey Tom, you're the expert on these sets - thanks for all the advice
you gave me getting mine working. BTW, I'm curious that you mentioned
that Hi_Volt's 48-2500 has a "12 channel tunner conversion". I've only seen
two 48-2500's in person but have look at around 10 in pictures. First time
I've seen a 12 channel. My first thought was that it was not a proper knob.
Does this set have fine tuning knob - versus mine which I have to preset with set screws?
Got any thoughts about any other features his set might have?
I would guess his mirrors have a great possibility to be in great shape - does
not look like the set has seen moisture.

As you can see, I'm fascinated by these TVs and like to learn as much as I can about them.

Carl

[Tom Albrecht]

Hi Carl,

I saw one other set with a 12 channel tuner conversion. It was installed so nicely that it had to have been done with a factory conversion kit.

The 12 channel tuner has a normal concentric fine tuning knob like a more modern set. The row of channel lights is disabled when that is installed.

The original sets did not have fine tuning, and that must be how yours is.

Some sets got modified with a factory provided conversion kit to provide an AFC circuit with a potentiometer for fine tuning, which was a concentric knob with the contrast control. Mine has that.

[cwmoser]

Good historical information -- shows how television was evolving around 1948.
I bet that was an amazing time. Walter who posts here witnessed that era.

Yeah, mine does not have a knob for find tuning -- I have to use a screwdriver
and adjust a screw for each channel.

Love tinkering with that TV.

Carl

[hi_volt]

I'm going to need to take a closer look at it today. Been working all week and haven't had a chance to get into the set much, but with the long weekend....