Found a Capehart

[kbmuri]

rp,

I'm in Fort Wayne Indiana. Look on the back of your set, you'll see that's where it was built. I started picking up local things of interest on eBay a few years ago, the Capehart and Farnsworth items appeal to me for that reason, although I just bought a Zenith console from 1951, so it's not cast in stone that I'm only a Capehart fan.

Probably not possible to get your 325 here in one piece on a budget, but I guess keep an open mind. Attached is a pic of my 325. I bought it last fall off of eBay, this is one of the ad photos. It's already in pieces, so I can't get a good shot right now. It's proven to be an agonizingly difficult fix, but I'm getting there -- with the guidance of a master/mentor from New Jersey who's coaching me thru it over email. Pretty cool, this internet thing. Pictures will be posted when it's restored and running.

I really like this forum -- I only discovered it a couple of weeks ago. It's been a help, mostly in inspiration/motivation and knowing there are others like me out there...

-kb

[polaraman]

Another Capehart on Ebay. A real nice looking TV set.


polaraman

http://cgi.ebay.com/Capehart-Televis...QQcmdZViewItem

[kbmuri]

It's in the Milwaukee area. It's a keeper, IMHO, but not at the price of driving through Chicago again. There are a few Wisconsin AKers here, hope one of them saves it from the fish tank...

Hey KB, I sent you another PM. If you're like me, you may not be noticing that you got one.

Ralph

[Tubejunke]

I dont know where anybody got the idea that the old Capeharts are considered undesireable. I have always thought DuMont, Capehart, and Sparton were some of the best made and most interesting sets of the 40's-50's.

If anybody believes it I have an early 50s Sparton that a man used to watch all day Sat-Sun while sitting at his flea market table back when I was about 12 years old. It was not for sale. Even then I thought it was cool looking compared to the 60's and 70's crap that had flooded the market by that time. I think it took me till I was nearly 14 to talk the man into selling. I gave either $10 or $15 for the set.

Long story short I am 37 years old now and I can go into the next room and watch this set with as crisp of a picture as I have ever seen. Original caps even. It has developed some vertical shrinkage after about 30 min. Probably (surely) cap time. We just DONT make products like these any more.

By the way I have a Capehart owners/service packet for Models 322M & 322B. This is super cool. There is operating instructions, installation and setup instructions w/test patterns, a post paid envelope to Capehart-Farnsworth, 2 service updates, a schematic, and the neatest thing, a letter to congradulate the new owner, and another letter to tell the service man asking that he insure that the set is set up in an "acceptable" manner. Really neat stuff!! To bad I don't have a set to go with it. I was thinking of putting them on Ebay but I just havent had the time. So if anybody needs this stuff PM me.


Oh yeah, if anybody has any undesireable Capeharts in the way I will remove for FREE!!

Tube out.......

[kbmuri]

That eBay Capehart didn't even get a bid for $50. I was sincere about not wanting to spend 5 hours in the 40-square-mile parking lot known as Chicago. Maybe it'll relist.

I have a hand-signed letter dated April 11, 1956 from the Capehart-Farnsworth company to a repairman in Wisconsin, with materials to aid him in servicing a broken 661-P. Probably a similar service packet.

There was a packet on eBay this week for a 324. I put a couple bucks on it, pretty sure that would be enough, didn't think anybody else would be interested, but somebody sniped me and got it for $2.25. I shoulda put a fiver or ten on it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=280010895130

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=280010819824

[Tubejunke]

Gosh, I would think such info would command at least a $10 or $20 bill. To me the info is more rare than the set in a way. I mean how many service packets or other paperwork (I guess today its a bilingual owners manual and a rebate form) has anyone saved from sets you are currently using everyday. Probably very few. The sets outlast the paperwork.

Still in all none of the stuff is a goldmine. Most TV people are just having fun. None of us are getting rich. Like restoring an antique car, you are only helping in the preservation of something nice from the past. Your not gonna turn a big profit unless you can afford to keep the thing in dry storage for 20 years. Other than that if you more or less break even when you decide to move something you are doing good.

I'm kind of glad TV stuff is not going through the roof. If it were there would not be as many people able to participate.

[kbmuri]

Tubejunke -

Couldn't agree more!

- k

Hey k,
I'm the one who sniped you. I recently bought a model 334 Capehart at a local flea market, Oklahoma City, and I am looking for information. Actually, I bid $31.00 just to be sure I would get it, figuring I could sell it on ebay later for whatever it cost, or close enough. I'm not collecting old literature, so when this package arrives, I will scan it and let you have the originals if you want. I've been watching for a Sam's photofact, 112-3 on ebay, but no luck so far. You can bet one will show up eventually though.
Donald Randall
PS: If it were for the model 334 I would keep it with the television, I believe it has the cx33 chassis so I just wanted it for the information in this case. DR

[kbmuri]

Donald -

Not a problem. Glad the documents are in good hands (an AKer).

Your 334 is a particularly nice set. You're correct it has a CX33 chassis. It should have a full-door cabinet in mahogany. The chassis number is C303, It should have a 16GP4 CRT, electromagnetic focus. A 12-inch speaker, standard-coil (turret) tuner. It was marketed as the "William Penn" model. Circa 1952. It should be a fun set to work on.

I was really hoping by now to be able to post pix of my 325 working. I replaced every capacitor in the set. Verified all resistances, visually checked everything a hundred times over. Black screen and silence being my only reward. I had to put it aside for awhile out of frustration. I'll get back to it later, switched gears and started working on a neat little Magnavox roundie instead (another thread here).

The schematic you'll be getting in the 324 Owner's packet will be fairly accurate, but will probably be missing 2 years worth of production-run changes. Several circuits will be confusing to you, if you're comparing the schematic to the device. I've got all that documented if you need it. That schematic also doesn't include the tuner, as various tuners were used in the 324. I guess rather than have the wrong tuner specified, or having to maintain different documents, it was easier for Capehart to just leave it out.

Post your email address if you want, or send me a PM with it. I can send you some hi-res scans, if you're interested.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=170014673971

Of course, if you can post progress on it here, please do so.

- k

[rld-tv01]

Tubejunke,

I spotted a Capehart tabletop in a Lexington VA antique mall about a month ago. It was green leatherette with two big yellow knobs and the name Capehart across the front. It looked like it was in brand new condition. Everyone walking by it was commenting on it. I think it was about 1951-1952 since it had a 15 inch screen. It may have been the tv in this add on eBay http://cgi.ebay.com/CAPEHART-Televis...QQcmdZViewItem
If interested I can supply the name of the mall. There was no price on it and I didn't ask. I also passed up an 1948 Admiral radio TV phonograph console for $100 in Harrisonburg VA on the way down on the same trip. I was driving my mustang. I don't pass up every tv, I have about 54 TVs now so I am more selective. I got two transvision cabinettes last week. A 7" one on ebay and a 10" one the same day from Harry Poster. I was searching for a chassis for the 7" cabinet and found Harry listed the 10" one right before I did a google search for Transvision. Both are cool art deco cabinets.

[Tubejunke]

Thanks for the tip rldtvo1 but I think I will leave that alone. If it were a double-d roundie at a decent price I might have to consider the maybe 2.5 hr. ride (1 direction). The price of gas is a big factor in going out of town for anything.

Not that I'm that poor but frankly I don't like lining the pockets of the evil oil men. Record profits my friends. Their not completely lying to us, their doing it right under our noses. No wonder we don't need our industrial base anymore in America. Sell what's left/ousource everything and the oil elite can simply give every middle class and poor LEGAL citizen a $20,000 check annualy, TAX FREE. These people would introduce the money back into the economy and everything would work out fine. "Vote for me, and I'll set you free"

Sorry for the rant...I just watched the news

To Kbmuri, I know how you feel on the restore job with very bad results. I had the same experience on a 1958 Zenith Space Command. I replaced most of the capacitors (all of the electrolytics and most of the paper) and had absolutely NO progress toward a working set. Nothing changed!! I had to set THAT to the side for a couple of years! Only lately have I thought about diving into that one again. One would think if you checked or replaced every component in a set that it would work. I guess I'll follow each and every wire and component to check for something misconnected.

[kbmuri]

Too far away for TubeJunke at 5 hrs on the road = WAY too far away for me (20 hours?). The green leatherette sounds intriguing, but strikes me as likely an after-the-fact art project. My documents are very thorough thru 1956 or so, nothing mentioned anywhere about leather or vinyl coverings.

The tabletop model in the eBay ad is a 321, same chassis and knobs and CRT as my (and Ralph's) 325. Just a smaller cabinet.

Worst part about my 325 is just that it might be down to that one last mystery, that if I solved it, it would work perfectly. After recapping the electrolytics I checked every plus-side of each with a 'scope against the voltages called for in the Sams sheet, and everything there is in order, with negligible hum. The original owner told me the CRT was good, and had low hours on it, and I'm inclined to agree by the looks of it, but maybe it's not. Full orange-drop replacement of all the paper caps. Also replaced the 20,000-Volt doorknob and the 6000-Volt flyback-to-ground cap. Oh, and 23 NOS vacuum tubes, all tested 100%. In general, taking scope readings at test points all-around seems to result in reasonable readings. No "dead sections" anywhere.

I should say that when you turn it on, nothing happens. It can be left on for hours with no smoke or overheat. The CRT face will raise the hairs on the back of my hand, as if there's hi-Voltage present (I don't have a hi-voltage probe to be 100% certain just how high, but the screen "crackle" seems right). When I shut the set off, I get a white line from 90% left to 90% right, a few inches higher than centered, which shrinks to the known-and-loved white dot which then fades away normally. That's the only indication it's probably a working CRT. The error has to be somewhere else. It's a mystery, and like I said, shelved for awhile 'til I can work up the motivation to dig harder.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by kbmuri

Worst part about my 325 is just that it might be down to that one last mystery, that if I solved it, it would work perfectly.
I should say that when you turn it on, nothing happens. It can be left on for hours with no smoke or overheat. The CRT face will raise the hairs on the back of my hand, as if there's hi-Voltage present (I don't have a hi-voltage probe to be 100% certain just how high, but the screen "crackle" seems right). When I shut the set off, I get a white line from 90% left to 90% right, a few inches higher than centered, which shrinks to the known-and-loved white dot which then fades away normally. That's the only indication it's probably a working CRT. The error has to be somewhere else. It's a mystery, and like I said, shelved for awhile 'til I can work up the motivation to dig harder.

Maybe there should be an ion trap that is mis adjusted or missing? An ion trap is a magnet device clamped to the neck of the CRT an inch or two between the yoke and the CRT tube socket. You might be able to see by way of dust marks where it should reside. try moving it back and forth, and rotate it as well.

An ion trap is a device that is intended to steer the electrons to hit the phospers on the face plate but to steer to a much lesser amount heavier negatively charged atomic ions away from the faceplate and to get trapped locally in the electron gun structure. Without the ion trap magnet everything gets trapped.

[kbmuri]

The original Farnsworth 160-AR tube is long gone. Has a replacement 16RP4 that's aluminized and says "Use NO Ion Trap" in bold letters. The original ion trap probably left with the original tube. Nothing on the neck now.

Interesting thought that the beam might be magnetically deflected right off the face of the tube. My assumption was that powering down the set caused the gun to fire briefly, but that it wasn't firing otherwise. Guess it could be shooting sideways instead. I'll have to mull it over a bit. Thanks for the thought.

- k