Riddled TV Repair Forum

madmanmapper · Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Posts: 36 Location: Chicago, Il, USA

What can I say? I'm a sucker for a lonely antique sitting, abandoned, next to a garbage can. It's a 1951 RCA Victor B&W console TV, the first vintage TV I've owned.

Like this.

I didn't actually take any pics, it's... had a rough life. Anyway, the important question at hand, anybody here know anything about vintage electronics?

Initial inspection: It's been kept indoors and clean for most of its life. All the electronics are there and even in good shape, except the power cord was cut and the screen cathode wire apparently had a connector halfway down the wire that no longer exists. A close look shows nothing popped or burned, most likely everything as it was in 1961, the last tube replacement noted on the back cover in pencil. (I thought that was neat!)

Speaking of tubes, I've tested all of them with my grandpa's old Hickok 533A, found 3 bad, and 1 that's destroyed on the inside. I have replacements. I've also ordered all the replacement caps I'll need.

The real question is: how do I proceed? Do I risk plugging it in? I do have a variac. But even so, the last time I did that, with an old Simpson oscilloscope, it blew up a resistor so bad that I don't even know where one end of it was connected! Frankly I'm scared to plug it in just to blow something up, but at the same time, I feel like I should really replace one cap at a time and power up in between to see if it's improved or if I made it worse. If I replace them all at the same time, I'll be extra careful to get it right, but even my OCD can't prevent every mistake. Should I just say yolo and replace all 59 of the capacitors in one shot? Am I Mad for attempting such a venture? Will I ever stop asking questions?

Advice?

Google

madmanmapper · Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Posts: 36 Location: Chicago, Il, USA

Ok, update. I attempted to test the crt, but without an actual crt tester... I have no idea what I'm looking at. I used the Hickok CRT adapter, but the thing is, the reading you get is on the 'english' scale, which means I have no quantifiable answer. The filament works, and I get the reading in the red/bad zone. However, according to the card that comes with the adapter:

kuhurdler · Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 2879 Location: Overland Park, KS

I find this project incredibly fascinating, and am grateful for the opportunity observe what you're doing. I wish I could be helpful to you but I have never even seen inside something that old.

madmanmapper · Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Posts: 36 Location: Chicago, Il, USA