Had an opportunity to pick up a Emerson 1032. So I did. It's a 55 /57 ish 14 inch portable in a wood case. The top flips up for the controls. The case is done, sooooo done. As expected the 25 caps need to be replaced along with 10 sections worth of electrolytics, selenium rectifiers. There is no safety glass. I havent even tested the tubes yet. The CRT checks great, even at reduced fillament volts. The DY plastic cover has crystalized and a knob is missing. The wooden case could be duplicated by me.
My question. Is this a special set of some type worth saving? My gut feeling is "Parts Donor"

Depends on if you like it or not. If it's worth the work knowing you will probably never be able to get your money out of it, like many sets, then it's OK. Maybe sit on it for a while and see if your opinion changes. I couldn't tell you what I would do or not without looking at it. How about a photo?

The one I have only uses one selenium rectifier. The nameplate says "Emerson AC-DC". The 14QP4 is dead.

I don't think it's a special set, every one I've seen has been somewhat rough due to the portability and fabric covered cabinet.

I won one on eBay a few years ago for $9.95, it had a dead tube and was in poor condition so I scrapped it recently.

If a really nice one ever showed up then it might be nice to have one, otherwise that 14QP4 fits a few other sets that are more attractive, like the 14" GE's for instance.

According to this ad, it is likely 1954... a bit earlier than the metal 50s sets:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1954-original-vintage-Ad-Emerson-portable-television-model-1030-/310397447898?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4845212eda

Cute, but if the leatherette covering is in poor shape, it is tough to re-do.

jr

I need to remember this is a VISUAL forum.

The cabinet don't look too bad....just fill the missing wood with spackle, sand, glue some new leatherette on(after ripping off the old) and no one will ever know that the cabinet is a POS underneath....

Jumped in a cap for the LV power supply. I have HV and horizontal sweep. The other cans are running quite warm (no supprise) and I notice the Vertical ckt has been worked on...a lot. VOT cathode resistor burned up. Jumped it to ground and the tube appears to just draw more current and bounces the line.

I suspect I need to quit while I'm ahead. I know if I try much more I will catch the fever and convince myself "I can do it". Thats how this restoration fever goes.

glue some new leatherette on(after ripping off the old)Yes, that cabinet is salvageable, especially since a new cover will hide the structural repairs.

If you remove the old cover carefully, it can serve as the pattern for cutting the new cover.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

Aah, vertical bugs ain't too hard to fix! If you like it, and don't have a set you care much more for that needs parts from the Emerson, then why scrap a restorable set?

I've had one for years but have never done a thing to it; I need to at least test the crt. Mine is in just okay condition, mostly dirty; it's yellow(ish). I found another one recently, maroon in color, but decided to pass on it. It does seem like the kind of set that might be something special but I've not seen folks lined up looking for them.

I had walked past that yellow one a bunch of times at the junque store. It had the screen facing the wall so I just figured it was an old portable record player. Then one day I took a look...

Numerous vertical repairs like that require you to first get the factory schematic.
Make sure the right parts are installed. If you're lucky, its just a paper capacitor.
Next, check all the resistors, even the yoke and vertical output transformer winding resistances.

I have 1956 Hotpoint and RCA 14" sets that were both vertically-challenged until I gave up and just checked everything including the height, linearity and hold controls. Seems like hold controls got rotated quite a bit....due to the barely-marginal rabbit ear reception these second sets had to work with.

Sure vertical sweep operates at 60 hertz, but that's the simplest thing about it

I firmly believe in saving any TV with a safety glass (pre-65), especially a portable.

If I can get a copy of the schematic or at least the vertical section I'll give it a try. Just a basic would be fine. I dont even have a tube chart, the original is gone. The 6S4 is the output. I want to repair the basic fault first before deciding on a restore. There is no buzz from the vert trans so the yoke is not suspect at this time.