Whole mess of old TV's on ebay - Videokarma.org TV - Video

***Eric H*** · #1 11-09-2003, 03:39 PM

Remember, I said "mess"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=51002

I think I see a Roundie on the left, near the sink.

***Kamakiri*** · #2 11-09-2003, 05:04 PM

That's only about half a step down from the place where I got my 2nd CT100. Only difference is that the stuff he had hadn't been sitting there quite so long.

Rob · #3 11-09-2003, 05:15 PM

Doesn't this seller realize that a Bic lighter is cheaper than posting a sale on ebay?

Jeffhs · #4 11-11-2003, 10:32 PM

Good grief! Who would want to buy a mess like that? I don't think there's even one working or restorable TV in there. (That roundie Eric H. noticed near the sink looks like junk as well.) I honestly don't know what the seller is/was thinking.

Jeffhs · #5 11-13-2003, 04:45 AM

Some thoughts since last night's post.

I was thinking. OK, so there are probably no working or restorable TV sets in that junkpile, as I thought when I posted my last message here. But, there might be one or two chassis in there, such as that roundie Eric H. saw near the sink, which could be used as parts sets. Who knows? Maybe the CRT in that roundie is good yet. One man's junk is another's treasure.

When I was collecting old TVs at my former home some years ago, many were the times I'd strip an old chassis of its components, which always made for an enjoyable evening, not to mention kept my junk box well-stocked. By the time I moved, I had several boxes and cabinets full of old but usable pots, relays, tubes, etc. in the basement, all salvaged from my trash-day finds which I could not restore.

Rob · #6 11-13-2003, 01:23 PM

jeffhs,

Yeah but taking the chassis' apart component by component is SO much work. My idea of using a lighter and probably an accelerant (adds to the fun factor) is certainly a quicker and easier way to reduce this pile of 'treasure'.

That crap probably is corroded beyond reliable salvage. If there were CT-100's in there that would be different but I see nothing of any value. I wouldn't waste my time myself and still find it very comical that someone would actually try to auction such a pile of trash.

Jeffhs · #7 11-13-2003, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rob
jeffhs,

Yeah but taking the chassis' apart component by component is SO much work. My idea of using a lighter and probably an accelerant (adds to the fun factor) is certainly a quicker and easier way to reduce this pile of 'treasure'.

That crap probably is corroded beyond reliable salvage. If there were CT-100's in there that would be different but I see nothing of any value. I wouldn't waste my time myself and still find it very comical that someone would actually try to auction such a pile of trash.

Rob,

You have a valid point. Any pile of anything that's been sitting exposed to the elements for any length of time is worthless, at best. As you said, corrosion, rust and other things set in the longer the stuff sits out there. Now that I think of it, I wouldn't trust anything I salvaged from a TV set (or anything else, electronic or mechanical) which has been sitting out in rain, snow, you name it, for goodness only knows how long.

I can't say for sure, obviously, but I think whomever put that junk up for auction may have done so as a joke--a very sick practical joke. Again, you have a point. This whole thing is so funny it is ridiculous.

I mean, for crying out loud--who in their right mind would want any of the junk in that pile (broken TV cabinets, chassis probably rusted and corroded beyond recognition . . . )?

Whomever wins the auction (if anyone does, which I very seriously doubt--I'd be surprised and amazed if I saw even one bid on it) will have wasted their money on it.

IMO, ebay would be doing folks a favor by canceling that auction ASAP, if they haven't done so already (or if it hasn't ended by now). As I said, it could be and very well may be someone's sick idea of a joke; anyone who bids on it, again IMO, is a fool several times over.

Your idea of just setting the whole mess on fire with a Bic lighter (and, as you said, maybe an accelerant to help things along) makes sense. There is nothing worth salvaging in there anyhow, so turning it all into a pile of ashes would be no great loss. Just be sure the fire doesn't get out of hand (as the small signal fire that started the wildfires in California did).

Jeffhs · #8 11-13-2003, 04:04 PM

I just checked the status of the auction for that junkpile of old TVs on ebay. It ended two days ago, with no bids.

I kinda' figured that was how the auction would end. I think (in fact, I am sure) people are generally too intelligent to be taken in by something as ridiculous as this. Perhaps now the seller will take the hint and either cart that stuff off to the dump or, as Rob mentioned, set fire to the whole thing with a Bic and an accelerant.

I can't help but feel sorry for the seller, however, when I think of the money he wasted posting this to ebay--buying space on their server and all. It was all for nothing. Again as Rob mentioned (and with which I wholeheartedly agree), it would have been a heck of a lot cheaper just to soak the pile in gasoline, touch a Bic to the whole darned mess and reduce it to a huge pile of ashes. The CRT in that roundie near the beat-up sink could be taken care of (read destroyed) by simply throwing a sledge hammer at it and either smashing the bell or knocking the neck off. Being in a junkpile in (supposedly) the middle of nowhere, the mess caused by the resulting implosion would be of no consequence. Or, the stuff could just be left to sit there and rot all to pieces over time (as it will if one lets any junkpile sit undisturbed long enough).

bgadow · #9 11-13-2003, 10:50 PM

Might be a tube or two in there that are usable but nothing worth paying even a dollar for. Shame, I don't think they've sat there all that long.

I used to like to set junk tv sets on fire. (well, I probably still would enjoy it but live in town now) There comes a point in the fire when the edges of the crt face start getting dark, and then soon after POOM! Once was watching one burn (early 80s GE console) when my then girlfriend walked up. She didn't know what was going to happen when that crt went-in retrospect maybe I should have warned her! (that wasn't the reason she left me...I don't think!)

Chad Hauris · #10 11-14-2003, 06:55 AM

Just playing devil's advocate here...I have gotten old TV's like this and been able to sometimes get them to work! There is one in the picture gallery, junkyard Zenith, unfortunately the CRT had a small crack and went to air. Got a rusted old Zenith Royal-X and the CRT was an RCA Silverama that was like new. I salvaged it out and used it in a GE console. And while looking for parts in an automobile junkyard, got a Sears console w/ fairly good 21FBP22. Don't just destroy old CRT's in junker sets out of hand...they could be GOOD!

Also was looking at a house to buy one time and on the burnpile was the remains of a burned RCA CTC-25. Had the tuner motor and everything but was melted and burned all out. There were some good tubes in it though!

Of course this kind of junk shouldn't be on EBAY but when you run across it there may be some usable CRT's in there.

Carmine · #11 11-14-2003, 01:26 PM

I bought the pile of stuff outside of Ebay by contacting the seller. Sorry if you think I'm a fool.

***Eric H*** · #12 11-14-2003, 01:58 PM

Hi Carmine,

I can understand the lure of rooting through the mess looking for treasure.

I do think he should be the one paying you for cleaning out his back yard though!

Please let us know what you find, and take pictures

Eric

Quote:

Originally posted by Carmine
I bought the pile of stuff outside of Ebay by contacting the seller. Sorry if you think I'm a fool.

Jeffhs · #13 11-14-2003, 05:36 PM

Carmine,

Don't know if my last post showed up on the forum, so I'm reposting it. I apologize for that remark I made inferring that "anyone who bids on (that pile of TVs) is a fool several times over." Please don't take it personally; I didn't know you had already bought the whole lot outside of ebay, and no, I don't think you're a fool. The whole thing (my remarks) came out all wrong. I was just very put out at the thought of someone having the nerve to auction off a junkpile like that; I didn't think there was anything salvageable in there and couldn't imagine why anyone would want it, but several others on this forum have proven me wrong. There may well be several good tubes in those sets (including the beat-up roundie near the sink), and who knows, the CRT in that set (not to mention the others) may well have some life in it yet.

Jeffhs · #14 11-14-2003, 05:58 PM

bgadow,

Setting fire to a CRT can be dangerous, if you can get the darn thing to burn in the first place (how does one set fire to glass?). I've seen these tubes implode; when they do go, you had better be far away from them if you don't want to be cut up badly by flying glass, pieces of metal from shattered electron guns, etc. How on earth did you do it? I can see how the bakelite base would melt, but not the rest of the tube (unless it got hotter than a blast furnace, of course).

Where were you living when you set fire to that tube? You told me, in your answer to one of my posts, that Federalsburg is not that big a town. I would guess you were in a much smaller community at the time.

What about the fire laws in the community in which you were living when you set fire to that CRT? Most areas have laws these days, some have had them for years or decades, against open burning of anything.

Jeffhs · #15 11-14-2003, 06:13 PM

Carmine,

I like your avatar. Where did you find it? Looks to me like a scaled-down photograph of an old Zenith color TV advertising sign from the '60s.