I probably shouldn't have, but since it was only about 23 miles away I couldn't resist. The cabinet is in really good shape and the chassis is fairly clean.

The listing said a piece of laminate had come off. There was an old envelope taped to the front of the set. It was sealed and dated 1980. I pulled it off and found that the laminate was inside. It appears that it was placed in the envelope about 29 years ago.

That will make repair very simple. The only problem is that there is scotch tape stuck to the finished surface of the veneer. I need to find a way to remove it without disturbing the finish.

The set is a Philco 50T-1432.

John

It's a good thing you got it. Someone might have been tempted to install a LCD or plasma HDTV display in it. As the picture tube is surrounded by a wooden "frame" that looks a lot like a 16 by 9 rectangle, the shape of HDTV displays... :thumbsdn:

Nice set, and unusual too.
The knobs look like they're slanted upward, is the chassis mounted at an angle to achieve that?

The best thing i use to remove tape,gum,tar,and anything else that may be stuck to the finish of the set is GOO GONE. You can get it at Walmart or at least local here i can. It works very fast and it doesn't hurt the finish at all. If you can't find it let me know and i'll ship you a bottle. Yellow color in the bottle makes it hard to miss on the shelf. Thats a very nice set. GOOD SAVE.


Don

Very nice set, and, a definate keeper. Great find!!!!
Bill Cahill :D

Very nice set John. Your Sylvania will have some very good company. Great save!
Bob.

Nice set, and unusual too.
The knobs look like they're slanted upward, is the chassis mounted at an angle to achieve that?

The chassis is mounted at an angle, although I'm not sure of the reasoning for it. Besides the knobs being angled up towards you, the back panel is hinged. Coupled witht he tilted chassis his gives very easy access to the tubes. Maybe it was for both reasons.

John

I forgot to mention that the 12LP4 is an RCA brand. I'm guessing it must have been replaced at some time. The aquadag is also peeling. I'll probably have to recoat it, if the CRT is good.

John

Back "in the day," the TV man was a frequent visitor to early sets. The hinged back door made his job faster. This is a really nice set and in great condition.

Reece

Wow, thats a nice find.

Tonight I tested the 12LP4 in this set. I used a Sencore Supermack. I coudn't adjust the tracking at all (grid cutoff out of range) and no emission. Same after about 20 minutes. Then I tried raising the filament voltage by 10% to simulate a brightener. It started to barely register. Then there were a couple of jumps and it started to climb. After a few minutes I could just barely adjust the tracking and the emission was reading good. Then I lowered the filament back to 6.3VAC. The tracking was still just barely good and the emission good. The life test was o.k.

I then tried it with the B&K 465. The emission was just barely above the good line at 200ua. The grid cut off was just barely within range. The life was 2 seconds. Not impressive.

So, it might work. It might work better if a rejuvenation was tried. Therein lies my quandary. It might not be long for this world and it sounds like Hawkeye might be closing soon. I'm not going to work on this set right away. Do I try to rejuvenate it and see if it improves a lot? Do I send it to Hawkeye so I have a good known tube? I'm probably not going to be able to test it in a set before Hawkeye closes.

I do have two 12LP4As that I'm about to pick up. One not too bad and the other very questionable. I could send that one in. But it is the grey filtered face version. Having one good one and two o.k. should keep the set going for the foreseeable future.

What would you do?

John

That set is drop dead gorgeous.
The grill work and cloth are exceptionally nice.

I wish my 50T 1630 had that nice of an exterior finish.

The best thing i use to remove tape,gum,tar,and anything else that may be stuck to the finish of the set is GOO GONE. You can get it at Walmart or at least local here i can. It works very fast and it doesn't hurt the finish at all. If you can't find it let me know and i'll ship you a bottle. Yellow color in the bottle makes it hard to miss on the shelf. Thats a very nice set. GOOD SAVE.


Don

I haven't tried that product--although I've seen it displayed....I'll keep it in mind... :thmbsp:

In my experience good ol' mineral spirits will do the same job, and may be even more gentle to the finish on an old set. Might one be exactly the other....:scratch2:

For Scotch Tape? Any Tape? WD-40.

It's not agressive. Goo Gone CAN be too aggressive. I've seen it mar an old lacquer finish.

Try WD-40 First. Goo Gone if not successful.

Let the WD-40 wet the surface for a bit, then remove with a PLASTIC spatula.

LJB:smoke:

PS: Good catch!

Good old Ronsonol Lighter Fluid works great on most sticky things, it's very light Naptha solvent and leaves no residue, I use it to clean price sticker goo off record labels and it doesn't hurt them at all.

I guess there are a lot of solvents of different forms that will solve the problem, but the key thing is to be quick about it, and get all of the solvent off after it has done its job. This will minimize the damage to the original finish.

Again: In my experience mineral spirits is #1 at the task over all. It will slowly and safely do the trick, and generally leave the old finish unharmed.

I worked for many years in a retail music store where we refurbished and resold used organs, pianos, and other wooden cabinet instruments, and this was always the standard drill for all the trade-ins we received that we had to make presentable to new owners. Mineral spirits always worked well in cleaning up woodwork of the residues of Scotch tape, decals and other abuses of the finish. And the finish was always left unharmed.

I guess I have to somehow peel off the plastic part of the tape so the solvent can get to the adhesive.

John

I guess I have to somehow peel off the plastic part of the tape so the solvent can get to the adhesive.

John

That is the problem with "Scotch Tape", you have to get through the base in order to soften the adhesive. I also use lighter fluid. One benefit is that lighter fluid comes in a very handy container. Just yesterday, I used it to remove some gum labels that were attached to some plastic parts cabinet drawers. It turned the adhesive to a sticky mess and then easily removed the residue.

Now I have found that the white adhesive tape residue from medical tape will come off with alcohol, not lighter fluid. Acetone works well but it will destroy most paint finishes and plastic. It is good to remove tar from an overheated transformer when it leaves "smoke marks" under the chassis on its way out....

This is straying off topic, but since you mentioned alcohol... I had my car parked under pine trees and it got covered with pitch. I tried everything, WD-40, commercial bug/tar remover... Then I tried 200 proof ethanol. It worked great!

John

If you're careful with it, a hair drier can soften the adhesive on that Scotch tape enough to get it loose. Works good on record covers.

I probably shouldn't have, but since it was only about 23 miles away I couldn't resist. .............The set is a Philco 50T-1432.

John

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL set.:thmbsp: Really nice looking wood! Congratulations on your acquisition.

After asking for advice, and receiving plenty of good advice, I attempted to remove the scotch tape. It peeled right off as though it had been applied yesterday. I was astounded! The veneer was in a sealed envelope dated 1980 and was yellowed enough to lend credence to that. I can't believe the tape lasted that long.

Anyway, no residue. I just need to flatten the veneer and reapply it. :D

John