GE 810 restoration

[Boobtubeman]

Might I add that this is why so many find it sad that our nation is moving more and more away from a service economy. There just aren't too many creative employment opportunities left for those who enjoy troubleshooting electronic and mechanical devices.
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Tell me about it.... All tv shops are gone here, and im pushing a broom these days...

SR

[Polaraligned]

[QUOTE=Kevin Kuehn;3150337], I've often lost interest soon after the set becomes reliable in operational, and there goes any hope of completing the cosmetic aspect of a restoration. /QUOTE]

LOL...I always do my cosmetic restoration first these days so I don't fall into the same trap.

[GaryK]

Originally Posted by Radiotronman

I think I'll begin restoring my GE 810 10" tv. I like the looks of this set and I like how Bandersens turned out. Here we go....

It will be great to see your progress on it.

[GaryK]

Originally Posted by Radiotronman

Well the picture tube didn't test well and cooking it for 45 minutes didn't help much. Hopefully it will be viewable. Good news is that it looks like the flyback has been replaced. I've heard the originals are highly failure prone.

There is an eBay seller posting in Vintage Television to sell his GE console for $50. It has a fried power transformer. Maybe it has useable parts.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Tele...8AAOSwu-BWO3u7

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by GaryK

There is an eBay seller posting in Vintage Television to sell his GE console for $50. It has a fried power transformer. Maybe it has useable parts.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Tele...8AAOSwu-BWO3u7

That's an early 1947 GE 801 and I think uses a different flyback. Also a very collectable TV in it's own right and I hope someone can restore it.

[Radiotronman]

That's a nice early GE, hope someone grabs it!

[Kamakiri]

Originally Posted by Kevin Kuehn

Well since you asked. I think it's probably an instinctive desire, that some of us prefer to trouble shoot the circuitry, vs taking a shotgun approach to the finish line. I know for myself, I've often lost interest soon after the set becomes reliable in operational, and there goes any hope of completing the cosmetic aspect of a restoration. Dare I suggest that I've parted out sets that I repaired only a few years earlier. (nothing historically valuable of course) And I'm not implying any of the above in a derogatory way, I'm simply suggesting that we're not all wired to our hobby by the same intentions. Might I add that this is why so many find it sad that our nation is moving more and more away from a service economy. There just aren't too many creative employment opportunities left for those who enjoy troubleshooting electronic and mechanical devices.

To each their own, I guess. I usually end up working on 3 or 4 sets at a time, simultaneously recapping chassis and ordering odd bits for all of them at the same time.

If there's any cabinet work that needs to be done, I send the cabinets over to a friend of mine who does them up in exchange for radio repair.

Then, I end up with at least one out of the lot that has some funky issue, and those are the ones I post about here . Most of those get sorted out, but there are a couple (such as my 730TV2) that I've been wrestling with forever and intend to get back on once the restoration backlog is a little more clear. Yep, this place is most of the time like a production shop.

Once the sets are done, I end up watching the snot out of them. There are some that I end up selling to a few local guys that are really into vintage TVs but don't have the experience to restore them, and that pays for my parts and puts a little change in my pocket. Which is good, because once I bring something back to life, I want it to *live*. I think we all do

[Radiotronman]

I've replaced all wax caps and electrolytics. My picture is clear and sharp, but has to be viewed in dim light. I expected that from a pretty weak CRT. Now I only have s buzz for sound. Trying to troubleshoot this now...

[Radiotronman]

None of the resistors under the audio output tube are out of tolerance. I can hear the audio faintly, but I have to listen close.

[Kevin Kuehn]

Does the audio get any clearer if you offset the picture with tuning, in other words tune for best sound?

[Radiotronman]

I can get decent sound if I get the fine tuning just right. It doesn't vary too much; you're either fine tuned in or you're not.

[Kevin Kuehn]

Does the buzz go away then?

[Radiotronman]

A little, but it's still there.. I may have to break down and invest in a blonder tongue modulator.

[Penthode]

Originally Posted by Radiotronman

A little, but it's still there.. I may have to break down and invest in a blonder tongue modulator.

All RCA sets prior to 1952 are split sound, not intercarrier. The fine tuning is critical hence the sound and video IF alignment always must be done on these sets. I have restored six pre-'52 RCAs and they all needed alignment.

[Red Raster]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

Gotta admit, I'm a little lost on why you guys power up sets of the '40s at all without replacing caps first. A lot of damage can be done by shorted caps.

I fully agree with Kamakiri and it's dam tough not to get baited into plugging it in to see what you got!. Not only can you cause damage But trying to trouble shoot something with multiple problems is like chasin rabbits.


Effort rewarded on first trial. Note! of all the capacitors in the pile only one check ok. Including the eletrolytics with the pile of caps, Here are 30 plus reasons why not to turn on a unrestored set!.