Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

[Mrx3750]

Hey guys, it's been awhile. I was out and about when I saw an old tube TV sitting on the curb. When I say old tube TV, I don't mean some CRT set from the 80's or 90's. I'm talking about a TV with a metal casing and a chassis full of vacuum tubes.

Pictures are attached. Based on what I know, I'd date the TV around the very early 60's. I say that because of the rectangular CRT and the fact that the CRT has integral explosion protection. However the chassis is hand wired, no printed circuit board so it's definitely not a later 60's set.

I don't know if the TV works, since tube sets that have been sitting need to be brought up on a variac which I don't have, but cosmetically it's in great shape.

Any information on this set would be great. I think the chassis number is ZDTS-589Y-C02C

Edit: I realize it's a long shot, but figured I'd post and see if I get lucky.

Oh and for a bit of irony, the pictures were taken on my Motorola phone.

[kc8adu]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

bring it up on a variac and see what happens.biggest concerns are flyback and crt condition.
if it plays then replace all the lytics and any wax paper or "black beauties"(black leakies) you see.

[Mrx3750]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

bring it up on a variac and see what happens.biggest concerns are flyback and crt condition.

ahem...

I don't know if the TV works, since tube sets that have been sitting need to be brought up on a variac which I don't have, but cosmetically it's in great shape.

Right now I just want to get an idea of when it was made and learn more about it. Once I know what I have, I'll go from there

[goontron]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

bring it up on a variac and see what happens.biggest concerns are flyback and crt condition.
if it plays then replace all the lytics and any wax paper or "black beauties"(black leakies) you see.

are you nuts!?! the biggest worry is the filter caps blowing shrapnel so high that they sing the satellite anthem!

[stj]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

Right now I just want to get an idea of when it was made

maybe march 1965

that's 50years old, so forget reostats/variacs and do a full recap before you put power into it.

[Mrx3750]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

Yeah I was wondering if that 3AA65 was a date code.

1965... isn't that a bit old for a non PCB chassis?

[stj]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

non-pcb valve tv's started in germany in ww2 - for the public use i mean.

pcb use started in the 70's when valves got replaced by transistors.

btw, you can probably find date codes on the valves and other components.
also there is probably some stickers on the crt.

[Mrx3750]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

Yeah, it's March 1965. I found a date code on a 1964 set, and what i thought were two A's is Motorola's M logo. so yeah, it's 50 years old.

I'm going to do some more research on the TV before I decide whether or not to restore it. I don't really have the equipment for testing tube electronics. I may end up giving it to somebody who collects tube TV's as a hobby. Anything to keep it from getting crushed in a garbage truck

[Ltank]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

Tv tubes will be hard to get. On the other hand tubes for music amps are available but expensive for quality high power amps.
Tubes amplify harmonics that is distortion, that sounds more pleasing to the human ear. Transistors do not. Technology superior but don't sound as good. Mosfets do amply harmonics but no to the extent of tubes. Sorry. I got side tracked.

[kc8adu]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

hence get a variac and watch things closely.
a few other things.
why waste parts untill you know if the rest is healthy?
i dont expect the o p to own things like a crt tester like i do but a variac is vital if you want to test antiques.might sneak by with a dim bulb tester and an array of bulbs.
who cares about the caps anyway?
if that bad they will get plenty hot before they vent.i pay more attention to the power transformer.a few minutes of cap leakage will heat them but once i see what is up they are trashcan filler.
flybacks if not burned up are often ok even if the wax dripped.they can be baked dry and redipped.
and tv tubes are plentiful and cheap.many billions were made and many are still with us.i can go to any hamfest and come away with buckets and boxes full for little of nothing.and weed out the audiophool stuff for a nice profit.
btw the uhf tuner mandate hit in 1965.
that one spins it as a feature.ALL CHANNEL!
so the datecode is probably correct.

are you nuts!?! the biggest worry is the filter caps blowing shrapnel so high that they sing the satellite anthem!

[SteveNielsen]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

The PSU filter electrolytics are in a pretty solid can that is soldered to the chassis, the most damage it could do is blow out the bottom "bung" and spew its guts, but it's probably so dried out that all it's likely going to do is blow a fuse if it is shorted.

Post a good shot of the bottom of the ckt board too.

[Mrx3750]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

I'm probably just going to give this set to someone who restores tube TV's as a hobby. Not much sense in me trying to restore it. That and I really don't have the room for a black and white TV from 1965.

I will say that before I realized that it was a tube set, I did plug it in and power it on. The channel indicator lit up. Then I realized that I didn't hear any HV and realized that for how old it was, it was probably a tube set, and I quickly turned it off and unplugged it.

This was all in the span of 30 seconds, so who knows. The thing might work, but I'd rather somebody more experienced with 50 year old electronics make that determination.

[SteveNielsen]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

I find it interesting that the HV rectifier cage label instructs to test for HV by arcing or metering the anode to chassis. In other words 50 years ago drawing an arc from the CRT anode was a normal test procedure in the absence of a HV probe. It was too. I was there and you could get a nice blue and orange arc up to about 1/2" long from a good HV output ckt.

[NJRoadfan]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

Its worth asking here: http://www.videokarma.org/forumdisplay.php?f=45

Someone might even have the Sams service manual for it laying around.

[Mrx3750]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

Huh. I'll be...

I used to post on Videokarma. Back then they wanted $25 a year for membership. I couldn't afford to renew, so I had to drop my membership.

I wonder if my old login will still work...

[Alastair E]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

Plug it in, Give it the full beans, If it goes bang, then that part needed replacing anyway!

Redneck way of reforming caps--

Chances are, nothing much will explode, it'll make 'hot' smells etc of burning dust on the tubes. Run it for say 3-5 mins, observe for faults etc pull mains-plug and then check for hot filter/reservoir caps etc....

No problems found, --Run for 15 mins then do the same again. Keep progressively extending On time adding 10 mins till you're up to an hour....

I have successfully used this method on TV sets and old tube gear, radios etc, that has passed all visible inspections and quick meter checks that have been dormant for up to 50 years. Havent had one explode yet!

[stj]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

Plug it in, Give it the full beans, If it goes bang, then that part needed replacing anyway!

love it - hardcore fault diagnosis!!

i knew a guy that used a similar method on digital stuff, he ran it for a few min's and then touched every chip till he burned his finger!

[usermike9]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

I learned on these when I was a lot younger back in the 70's Caps will probably be all dried out and a variac is always a good idea but not a lot of harm in plugging it in and testing it after a good visual inspection. You know make sure a mouse didn't take up residence at some point and chew leaving an exposed wire or relieve himself on something
I have a number of tubes in storage that I am going to put on Ebay if you find one bad I can see if I have one for you.
Kind of interesting project to work on.

[budm]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

love it - hardcore fault diagnosis!!

i knew a guy that used a similar method on digital stuff, he ran it for a few min's and then touched every chip till he burned his finger!

Same way as other people that is trying to find the shorts on the circuit board by forcing current through the board and check for which component gets hot.
I think there is a couple threads here that the guy is trying force 10 or 20A through the board to locate the shorts.

[Mrx3750]

Re: Found an old tube TV. Want to find out more about it.

Hey guess what?



It's alive! (Sorry for the crap picture. The phone that I took the first pictures on... the one with the good camera... yeah it decided to die on me last night, so I had to rush out and buy a cheap phone to get by until I get some money.)

In any case, sound and picture works, and the set seems to be new enough to have mylar caps instead of wax.