I stumbled across a craigslist listing for this set for $70 but wasn't really all that interested.
A few days later though I was giving a friend a lift that would take us right by it so I arranged a visit with the seller.

It turned out the set had passed down through the family and had been fairly well looked after. That is except for the control door of course :tears:
He remembered watching the set as a child and said one day the picture shrunk down to a small white dot and they retired it to the basement.

I had brought along my B&K 440 to test the CRT and the seller had no issues with me popping off the back and hooking it up. We waited about 10 minutes and it was reading 0 emissions. I cranked it up to 7 VAC on the filament and it just barely improved. While we were waiting, I mentioned the broken control door and the difficulty in finding replacement picture tubes - especially a 16GP4.

He was selling the house and was very motivated to get rid of this and some other stuff and said I could have it for $20.
Before I could even respond he said just take it for free. I think he was happy having it go to someone that would at least attempt to resurrect it.

So I brought it home along with this XRay tube lamp his father had made.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5227/5622942757_f570ed9c85_z.jpg

Packed face down for the ride home.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/5618590104_4c7db94f39_z.jpg

Here it is on my back porch. I do have all the knobs.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5142/5618005951_50ca04b9d0_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5146/5618005667_dcd1686fea_z.jpg

Looks to be in good shape inside.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5063/5618589952_4636173724_z.jpg

He's also selling this stove. If anyone is interested, let me know and I can put you in touch.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5024/5621136748_db80374d4f_z.jpg

I've started poking around inside the set.

The 5U4 has an odd looking base. It looks fried but one side tests fair and the other good.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5028/5620554675_e1f2b7118a_z.jpg

The flyback looks OK physically.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5021/5620554513_f1d2e32e49_z.jpg

Well there's one source of trouble. A HV lead has broken of the rectifier tube.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/5621142764_04e5c29aa6_z.jpg

Time to let that CRT cook for a while at 7 VAC.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5147/5620561669_e86aecf805_z.jpg

After 30 minutes, it was just reaching green. After an hour, it was well into the green :)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5621149890_ba04d05e8e.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5303/5621150020_15cb7dd1fc.jpg

I repeated the tests with my Sencore CR70 at 6.3 VAC. It takes a good 10 minutes to warm up, but once it does the emission and life test are decent.
I won't consider using the rejuvinate function until I get the set running and evaluate the picture it produces.

I just took a look at the TV History website for some info and found a sister set. This must be the high end version.

Now that I know what the missing control door looks like, I figure I can fabricate a reasonable facsimile. Perhaps take a piece of clear plastic stock and cut it down to size. Maybe put some bevels on it too. Then, back paint it with gold/brass. Perhaps even apply a replica logo water slide decal. Finally, glue on a couple pins for the hinge.

http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950-Admiral-26X56A-16in.jpg

I work with a guy who has the high end version with doors. He is not a tv collector by any means, he just thought it was neat and had it recapped. It must be a pretty stable receiver, as he says he never has to adjust any of the settings.

Nice score! Man-O-Man I wish something like that would pop up around these parts. We just do not get the opportunities around here ( Central Texas) that seem to be everyday occurrences on the East Coast.

Thanks. I imagine it's to do with the location of the factories and the way neighborhoods and populations have moved around. The East Coast guys seem to get a lot of Dumonts and RCAs while we in the Chicago area get loads of Admiral, Motorola and Zeniths.

I took a little time tonight to clean up the knobs and cabinet.
First, I let the knobs soak in some Fantastik orange cleaner/degreaser and the crud just fell away.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5269/5623956248_d629336ea3.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5109/5623368213_7457443402.jpg

Next, I polished up the brass inserts with metal polish and buffed the plastic with Novus #2/#1.

Finally, I filled in the recessed channel #s with some gold lacquer stik.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5623368363_fc25392dff.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5265/5623956682_2eae65d12a.jpg

Then on to the cabinet. It had a few dings, a water stain and some paint splatters. I used some Howard's Restor-a-Finish mahogany and #0000 steel wool to tackle all 3.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5262/5623368669_a5d225cd12.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5229/5623368893_3fef9dfb00.jpg

I also removed the control panel and buffed with Novus.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5623369111_890f6bac30.jpg

Finally, I used a little Howard's Feed-n-Wax on the cabinet and cleaned the faceplate with Novus.
Not perfect, but a lot easier than refinishing for sure. I'll save the sides and speaker area for another day.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5107/5623957594_0328b18944.jpg

Admiral claimed that the gold trim on those knobs was genuine gold. I always thought those 5U4's were neat looking.

Wow, another great find.

And as usual you're doing a super job of spiffing it up. Knobs look fantastic :thmbsp:

you might want to check out this ebay auction

http://cgi.ebay.com/1950-Admiral-TV-Control-Panel-Trim-W-Sub-Control-Door-/260770630061?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb72409ad

you might want to check out this ebay auction

http://cgi.ebay.com/1950-Admiral-TV-Control-Panel-Trim-W-Sub-Control-Door-/260770630061?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb72409ad

Talk about lucky :D

Nice set!

you might want to check out this ebay auction

http://cgi.ebay.com/1950-Admiral-TV-Control-Panel-Trim-W-Sub-Control-Door-/260770630061?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb72409ad

Thanks. Eric H. already tipped me off in a PM.

I figure I can justify the cost since I got the set for $0.
I am a little worried about how much life is left in the 16GP4 though. From what I've read in various threads over the past few years, they seem to be kinda scarce / expensive.

Thanks. Eric H. already tipped me off in a PM.

I figure I can justify the cost since I got the set for $0.
I am a little worried about how much life is left in the 16GP4 though. From what I've read in various threads over the past few years, they seem to be kinda scarce / expensive.

You might try tvdude211@yahoo.com he offered me one on Sunday but the set I was after that had the 16GP4 was too for gone to restore. (I looked but didn't find him in the members list).

Good luck.

Thanks. I'll keep him in mind once I get the set running.

Any tips on pulling the chassis ? This is the first set I've encountered where it's mounted on the side.

It looks like it pulls straight out the back along with the board on the left side. Looks very heavy.

Actually the set isn't all that heavy for it's size. Metal CRTs weigh a lot less than their all glass counterparts.

I'll go take a look and see if that board can slide out.

I used to lay sets like that on it's side to minimize the chance of breaking components when pulling a chassis, especially if the CRT is attached.

I used to lay sets like that on it's side to minimize the chance of breaking components when pulling a chassis, especially if the CRT is attached.

Ah yes, that's a good idea. I'll put an old blanket down to protect the cabinet.

I did win the control door and another was listed by a different seller almost immediately! http://cgi.ebay.com/1950-Admiral-TV-Vertical-Control-Panel-Faceplate-Door-/350458169934