kinda sad looking RCA 630ts in Pennsylvania

[jpdylon]

http://cgi.ebay.com/1949-RCA-VICTOR-...QQcmdZViewItem

At least the starting price is realistic. He even posted a screenshot of a raster, so at least its working....somewhat.

Sams seems to be included as well. How come every one of these I see seems to ahve a broken or missing top? Were they that flimsy?

[Whirled One]

I haven't actually noticed a lot of those with missing cabinet tops, but if it is missing I'm sure it's just because it got lost at some point. That top panel is designed to be easily removable on the 630TS and many other 630-style sets. The removable top is not just a convenience though-- it's almost a necessity for servicing. Otherwise, you'd have to pull the chassis to gain access to some of the tubes, and since the CRT is partially supported by the cabinet, the CRT has to be removed in order to pull the chassis from the cabinet. Also, due to the way the cabinet is designed, you have to remove the top before removing the front bezel/frame, which you also need to do before removing the CRT.

Anyway, even with the missing top, that's a bargain at the $9 bid price! Hopefully someone here can get it..!

[Phil Nelson]

$10 is a bargain just to get a medium-quality 10BP4 CRT, and this one at least lights up.

Yes, to do any serious service on a 630 you need to remove the top cover and front face plate, then remove the CRT from the front (after disengaging it inside), then loosen the chassis bolts from underneath and slide the chassis out the back.

Looks like this one is also missing the ventilated metal back cover, as well as the front safety glass, which is held by brass clips on the two bottom corners as well as the central top clip of the wooden face plate.

It's also missing the back plate for the power resistor case in the upper left of the chassis when viewed from the rear. Somebody obviously hot-wired some new resistors in place of the old burned two-section resistor, but it is not rocket science to put that section back to stock and cut/drill/paint a piece of metal to replace the cover.

A local auto glass shop could cut and finish a piece of glass to replace the original safety glass. If I'm not mistaken, there's also somebody who sells repro metal back panels. Or you could just say, "Who needs a back panel?"

The tricky bit would be replacing the arched top piece, unless you know somebody good at woodworking.

This one looks eminently restorable, anyhow. Just this week, I moved my freshly restored 630TS into the house from the workshop, so I can testify that it's an excellent B/W set when working properly.

For anyone thinking of bidding, note that the TV weighs around 90 pounds unpacked. I would strongly recommend talking the seller into removing the CRT and chassis from the cabinet (i.e., three boxes). The CRT has a very thin, long, neck, and its weight is not supported by the chassis. If a couple of little supporting clips at the front of the cabinet give way, the whole thing could bounce around, snap the CRT neck, and chew up the "unobtanium" focus coils, etc. If the seller is hesitant about the disassembly, send me an email. I can post the factory assembly instructions, which are very clear on how the set is installed and un-installed.

[bgadow]

I would agree with Phil-unless I could look at it first, I would be afraid to carry this TV across the room, not even thinking about shipping it across country. My experience is that the tabs holding the face of the crt often have dry-rotted rubber and are very loose. The crt is usually just bouncing around like a see-saw. If the mounting was tight it would be okay to drive it home in your car but I would never even think of shipping one of these with the crt mounted.