Emerson TV, Can't Figure out What Year This Is?

[Magnavox300]

Bought this neat EMERSON console over the weekend for $80...
It's pretty cool looking, a little big, but still in nice shape!

No picture at first, then I cleaned all the tubes, moved around the anode wire,
and at least a decent picture on the screen.
Radio works and speakers sound great, phono works, but of course,
everything needs restoring; lot's of capacitors in there.

Looking around, I can't find any model#, other than "ELDORADO" on the tuner glass...
Anyone know what year this is from? My guess was about '63, but the more I look at it, the style appears more mid to late 50's.

Was it a good set back in the day?

[Eric H]

Looks like a 23" screen? I would say early 60's also, it's Stereo which makes it no earlier than 1959 and FM Stereo didn't start till 1961.

If there are any original Emerson tubes in it they will probably have date codes on them that could be deciphered, sometimes CRT's have the date printed right on the tag.

[Magnavox300]

Originally Posted by Eric H

Looks like a 23" screen? I would say early 60's also, it's Stereo which makes it no earlier than 1959 and FM Stereo didn't start till 1961.

If there are any original Emerson tubes in it they will probably have date codes on them that could be deciphered, sometimes CRT's have the date printed right on the tag.

You were right, a 23" screen.
That information helped me to find an old add from a '63 newspaper with the same model, minus some extra trim it had.
Thanks for the help!

[truetone36]

That's a nice Glaser-Steers changer in there.

[Username1]

Hey that's a nice tv/stereo !
I like Emerson stuff, be interested in seeing more pictures as you get into
the restoration......

Good luck !

[Electronic M]

I wonder if it has a stereo simulcast tuner (which allowed one to tune AM and FM simultaneously and direct one to one speaker and the other to the remaining speaker) if so that would likely place it before 1961. As that was the stereo transmission 'standard' before FM stereo came into being.

[kramden66]

i see the selector says am , fm , am fm , so you are probably right it probably tunes am and fm at the same time

[Reece]

Yes, and the AM and FM tuning knobs are separate, so it would work on the old simulcast system which was an experiment for a couple of years. AM out of one speaker, FM out of the other.

[Magnavox300]

Thanks guys, very cool learning about the simulcast tuner!
I will have to check out tuning in both AM and FM at the same time...
I would have never known about it.

Well, I took out the chassis today, cleaned 50 years of dust, and started recapping.
This has two high voltage axial paper caps I can't seem to find:
a .0039 1000V and a .022 1600V

Where can I find these?
I know I need the 1000 volts or more,
but does anyone know if there is a more common UF value I can substitute?

[Magnavox300]

Just bought some NOS Spragues and Black Cat caps for the .022 1600V, and the .0039 1000V. I found a .004 to replace the .0039.
I could have bought Orange drop caps close to those values, not sure if they would be
better, just as good, or not as good. They were about the same in price as the vintage axials.

[Eric H]

Mouser has them in 1600 volts, if you bought old stock Black Beauties I wouldn't use them.

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...4NPat0RHZi0%3d

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...bMtnYDelfS4%3d

[Magnavox300]

Originally Posted by Eric H

Mouser has them in 1600 volts, if you bought old stock Black Beauties I wouldn't use them.

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...4NPat0RHZi0%3d

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...bMtnYDelfS4%3d

I thought as much...
I suppose it's crazy to do all this work, and take a chance with vintage caps;
Just bought the ones you suggested from Mouser...

I'm assuming It's totally fine to use the higher 1600V to substitute the .0039 1000V?

Thanks for the links!!

[kvflyer]

I agree, it may be a waste of time using NOS capacitors. Even if they test "OK" now, after some time with applied voltage, they could start to break down.

I did a test on a boatload of old NOS capacitors that were my dad's. They were from the 50s and 60s. Some actually did test OK. But after about a minute on the capacitor tester with 450 VDC on they, they started to break down and leak.

You have a nice television there. I would just try to get the correct capacitors. I know that there are some Orange Drops that may fit the bill. Not axial leads but the value is what is important here.

[old_coot88]

As a RCA/Dumont/Emerson dealership back in the day, we used to sell Emersons with that same chassis in 'em.
They developed a problem of unstable sync/AGC, caused by a single small electrolytic cap (I forget the exact value and voltage). It was silvery colored, located on the pc board in the area indicated.
See if yours has that cap.

[Magnavox300]

Originally Posted by kvflyer

I agree, it may be a waste of time using NOS capacitors. Even if they test "OK" now, after some time with applied voltage, they could start to break down.

I did a test on a boatload of old NOS capacitors that were my dad's. They were from the 50s and 60s. Some actually did test OK. But after about a minute on the capacitor tester with 450 VDC on they, they started to break down and leak.

You have a nice television there. I would just try to get the correct capacitors. I know that there are some Orange Drops that may fit the bill. Not axial leads but the value is what is important here.

Good to know about those vintage caps, that was exactly what I thought might happen after some voltage was applied to them.
I don't know why I even bothered getting any...Oh well, had to learn sometime!