its me again, more questions on the sylvania. its would seem that my tripler has developed a problem with arching. over the past few days is been hissing occasionally (its been very humid), and today I went to turn the set on and its started popping (like an arc) 3 times within 3 seconds and i shut it right off. it did this before a while back and it seemed the tripler was replaced with an nec unit, however i dont think it was a new unit. ill post pix of it here in a sec, but my question is do you think it in infact the tripler? if so where can i get a new (not used) unit for this? price is not a concern really. its been working perfect since the last repair you all helped me with (vid detector ic), this has put it out of commission again thow and id like to get it back in action. thanks guys.

It should be an ECG (or NTE) 526A. Call around to electronics stores and see if anyone who carries the NTE line has it. I bet Andrews may still. 1-800-289-0300. But try locally first, depending if you have a store nearby.

Also, check to be sure it crosses to a 526A. Most did, but not all.

Charles

attatched are pix, i opened it up to check the tripler for signs of arching and what i found surprised me. i noticed a hole burnt in the plastic that seperated the top of the crt from the implosion metal cable, i pulled it back and found the HV cup had a hole melted in it. looked like this is where the arching was taking place. poix attatched. is this sold with the tripler? or seperate?

first pic is of the plastic, you can see where it melted next to the metal cable. second one is of the cup. sorry the pictures look like something from 1920, my room is dark at night.

You can usually replace just the cup. Some twisting should allow the old one to slip off, being careful not to tear anything. You could source a replacement from just about anything with a crt, like an old computer monitor. I'm pretty sure I have some NOS generic replacements if you just couldn't find anything. The only difference might be if the guage of wire varied-most seem pretty close.

is this common? it looks like its got red gel stuff under the cup thats sort of oozing down the tube. should i clean all that off. its sticky (assuming to seal the cup??) also how do i get the lead out of the tube? i know its been discussed here before but i cant seem to find it. im kind of timid about messing with anything that attatches to the tube cause im not sure what will make it 'mad' if you know what i mean. any tips on what to seal the new cup with?

There may be a tiny screw located in the center of the anode connector that needs to be removed before the HV lead can be seperated. You can probably salvage a good anode cap from a junk TV or monitor. Some older electronics stores may still have new ones in stock.

The new tripler may or may not come with the HV anode cap attached. Most did; but, some did not. The NTE523 or 526 triplers usually come with the connector attached. I would not replace the tripler unless you see cracks in it's case and/or know it's arcing. Of course, a new tripler may give you better peace of mind. That will have to be your decision. The one for your set will run between $20 and $30. Some parts houses may still have those cheap "no name" jobs for $10 or less. I'd stay away from those. I've purchased too many of those cheap "no name" parts (flybacks, semiconductors, etc.) just to have them bite me in the butt. The NTE, ECG, and SK triplers seem to hold up well.

I've had to replace a few anode caps over the years. Most of them were on '50's and '60's sets where the rubber was rotten.

That gunk around your old HV cap is likely some sort of silicon based material designed to help keep moisture out and reduce arcing. I didn't really see where it was any better than other TV's without this material. I'd probably clean it off before I installed a new anode connector.

You can discharge the CRT by connecting one end of a clip lead to the metal part of a good insulated flat head screwdriver. Connect the other end to the CRT aquadag ground. Now, holding the insulated end of the screwdriver, work the blade under the HV anode cup until you make contact with the anode connection. You will hear a loud pop and see sparks if the tube is fully charged. You can eliminate some of the fanfare if you place a very high ohms (500K ohm or more) resistor in series with the test clip and the aquadag ground.

These HV cups do go bad and will "hiss" for awhile until they fail. High humidity or kitchen moisture will make them do this. HV cups are easy to find.

These HV cups do go bad and will "hiss" for awhile until they fail. High humidity or kitchen moisture will make them do this. HV cups are easy to find.


yeah thats how it started, ill see about getting the anode off tonite. ill see if i can approximate the wire guage. attatched are 2 more pics with the cup off. now it looks like the HV lead solders into the bottom of the cup where the metal prong parts are...do i unsolder that inside the cup or can that whole thing be pulled through and soldered/unsoldered then the wire pulled out of the cup?

sorry for the dumb questions i dont want to regret not knowing what im doing later on.

P.S its awg #20 wire.

UPDATE:
once again you people on the board have come through for me, this time Bryan was able to send me an HV cup, which i recieved today and installed on the set. Im happy to report the sylvania has been revived once again. its been on for a little over an hour watching my favorite TV show deadliest catch, and its working beautifully as usual. Bryan, if you have not done so yet check your PM's please i sent you a message.
No hissing no popping, my tv's quiet again.

Bryan is good people. I'm glad it turned out to be a simple fix and your Sylvania is up and going again.
-Tony