RCA Victor RCA-6T71 (Where to start?"

[cwmoser]

One more tip, when you are moving your TV, keep this in mind what happened to me.
I was bench testing my Raytheon TV and got it working the way I wanted.
Always being careful, when I pull the power I immediately shorted out the Anode
lead on the CRT. Then I got the cabinet ready for the chassis and went back
to pick up the chassis to install in the cabinet. Something told me to ground that
Anode just to be sure and when I did I noted a spark. I had already shorted it out
once but the charge built back up. There is a name for this phenomenon - can't
recall right now. Imagine how pissed I would be if I had that big old chassis
in my hands, got shocked and dropped the chassis and CRT together.

Be careful and its going to be fun.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Coshi

OK, Update time, I've got the picture tube cleaned safely put back into the Cabinet I put foam rubber insulating strips around the safety glass and to cushion the bottom of the picture tube.

But I found that the HV lead that connects to the edge of the picture tube isnt getting good connection to the edge of the screen. I have it taped to it with a peace of rubber tape, How SHOULD it be connected? I'll get a picture of it soon as I can.

It's been ages, since I worked on one of those.
IIRC, the anode lead is clipped or connected to one of the spring contacts, located around the front of the CRT.
They also used to use a foam gasket, that crumbled after a while, to keep the dust out, between the CRT front and the safety glass.

[Coshi]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

It's Mr. . My name is Tim.

I did a couple sets for people in the DC metro. I don't know what others charge for such a job, but I'd hook up with someone local to you.

While this set can be brought back to life and used, using it as a daily driver it is eventually going to need additional service no matter how it is restored. Tubes, filter chokes, transformers, etc failed when the sets were a lot newer than they are now. And plan to invest in a tube tester, failures among tubes are commonplace.

Putting a dozen or so hours a month on a KCS47 that's been restored isn't out of the question, but for long-term reliability you'd be better off with a different set if you plan to use it as TVs are used today. Just my .02....

Thats what I expect from a set this old. Mr.Tim I go to DC often would you be intrested in helping with this set? I could pay you.

As for using a different set what would you suggest? I was hoping to over time make the set more reliable by replacing broken parts with more robust parts.

[Kamakiri]

I have a friend in your area of MD that comes this way quite often, and he's brought his sets (along with others) for me to work on when he comes up. So far I've worked on 6 sets for him. That's really not a job that can be done in a day. The fastest restoration that I've done took me 3 weeks from unknown to done and running.

As far as more robust parts, you can to a degree. Things like capacitors and resistors can be upgraded significantly from their original counterparts, making them much more reliable. Things like transformers, yokes, and other hard parts, you pretty much have to use what's available, which means whatever the set came with. Fortunately it looks like on your set, that all of that stuff is still good.

Now as far as a reliable "daily driver" set, you'll get a lot of opinions here, but IMO you just can't beat an early 1960s Zenith. They're the top of the list as far as reliability goes.

Here's a picture of my 1961 23" Zenith console. I use this set almost every day and have put hundreds of hours on it since restoring it with no issues. If you're looking for a set of a similar era to yours, just about any Admiral is an excellent choice.

I really didn't mean to temper your enthusiasm on the set you've got. It's a very nice looking set, and should be able to be made into a watchable set with little difficulty. But if long-term reliability is the goal of owning a vintage TV with little else to do other than turn it on and watch it, this may not be your ideal candidate.

[Bill Cahill]

That lead should go between one of the metal spring clips, and, the metal bell of the tube. This set uses a number of hv capacitors in the hv cage, and, underneath. Value, and, voltage are very important.
As said, the electrolytics are no good. I can see hum patterns on the screen telling me the electrolytics are shot.

This is a 117Volt, 60 cycle ac only set. If you try using it on dc you will destroy the power transformer.
The KCS 47's don't usually use the older white chokes that went bad. These chokes are more reliable.
This set works on very high dc voltages, and, I would highly recommend you get someone to help that knows what they are doing. And, yes, unfortunately, they are not a highly reliable set. I have one I've bben restoring, and, every time it acts like it's finished, something else goes wrong.
It's worth saving, but, it will need a lot of careful restoration.
Good luck.
Bill Cahilll

[Coshi]

I see... Is this set worth anything? Would I be able to trade it for a less valued set? I'm looking for a black and white set from 1960 or earlier. I was told that a muntz set would be unreliable but easy to repair dew the few parts. And yes I've been working on this set for weeks I expect it to take a long time.

[benman94]

For what it's worth, I've parted out two RCA KCS-47 sets, one of which I had been trying to coax a respectable picture out of. Even when fully restored, they're mediocre performers at best. I think you would be much happier with a '48 or '49 Admiral. They make fantastic daily drivers. My Admiral 20X122 is easily the most reliable set in my collection, bar perhaps my RCA 630TS, and it's a very simplistic and straightforward set to work on. Just my 2 cents...

[Kamakiri]

Originally Posted by Coshi

I see... Is this set worth anything? Would I be able to trade it for a less valued set?

The problem is that even though your set shows signs of life, unless the prospective buyer has a desire for that particular set or is new to the hobby, there really aren't many sets that hold a lower value. I try to stay away from all RCA B&W products from 1951-1955 or so because I'm familiar with the pitfalls of them.

I'd peg that one at a solid $75 as it sits, to the right person. Typically, $50. My fully restored 1961 Zenith, though, is probably worth $150 at best, even though I probably have $75 into it in parts. We restore them for the challenge, the admiration and appreciation of the genius that it took to build them, and the fact that it's good cheap entertainment. Plus they're fun to watch. Kinda like Sea Monkeys, we sit in front of them just to see what they'll do

What's your bottom line budget on a set?

[Coshi]

Well I payed 150 for this set... I was hoping to get a set that was easy to fix. What do you mean a bottom line budget? and ordered 17 dollars worth of caps.

[Kamakiri]

Bottom line budget, as what you'd want to spend on another set if this one didn't pan out.

Funny, I have my Zenith listed on CL for $150 right now, figuring if I sold it, it'd be incentive for me to finish my DuMont RA-113. Got absolutely no bites on it.

http://buffalo.craigslist.org/atq/4484509506.html

[Coshi]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

Bottom line budget, as what you'd want to spend on another set if this one didn't pan out.

Funny, I have my Zenith listed on CL for $150 right now, figuring if I sold it, it'd be incentive for me to finish my DuMont RA-113. Got absolutely no bites on it.

http://buffalo.craigslist.org/atq/4484509506.html

OH! Would you be willing to trade? I have a tube tester and a oscilloscope and a bunch of old tube type stuff that is working. And of coarse this TV that I'm working on. And some money?

[Coshi]

Back to work on this one. I have photographed the bottom and wire connections. 9So I can put it back) But what I'm now working on the filter cans. so the question is what values can be used in place of these for better reliability

MFD VOLTS
35 450
35 450
10 450
5 450

[Phil Nelson]

Replacing them with modern caps of the same values will give you better reliability because modern caps are greatly superior to those made 60 years ago. This article has lots of information about choosing replacement capacitors:

http://antiqueradio.org/recap.htm

I normally choose replacement caps with the same capacitance values and voltage ratings as the originals. There is no real advantage to using caps with a higher voltage rating than the originals. Higher-voltage caps will be larger and they will cost more, but otherwise your TV will perform the same either way.

Some folks make sure that new electrolytic caps have a good maximum temperature rating -- say, 105 C or higher.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

[bandersen]

35s are no longer made, but 33 MFD is plenty close enough. Capacitor life is exponential with regard to temperature rating so 105C last considerably longer than 85C caps but they also cost more.

[Coshi]

Ok, So I am very VERY dumb I fail to understand how to replace the electrolytic caps. I Have the 4 replacement caps for the metal can But how do I know where each one hooks to?