Spotted this one on CL local to me in the free section. It's a 35" console. After remembering some comments about the quality of the set, I decided that I can't let it get destroyed. If someone's interested I'll be glad to hold it for you....if not, I'll make some room for it and use it.

One owner, he was really hoping to find a good home for this set. Going to arrange pickup for Friday most likely....

If its working good once you have seen it you wont give it away.
Bring an appliance dolly with straps, makes it a one man job.

73 Zeno:smoke:

That was the best Thomson-era RCA chassis.

Good ol' 169...

Can't really say enough GOOD about them!! I own 2 , used here at the house. WHile not exactly in the category of a "flat chassis set(such as a flatty Zenith or even RCA--like a CTC-40 or 44), They ARE a good set--for a modern tv. They are usually easy to fix--and STAY fixed--for many years...once you do some "P.M. "

Now--IF you intend to keep it...there are a few things you should do--even if it is working now.

(1--replace those 2 caps in the hot side of the power supply. I think a 47/50 and a 2.2 at 50 for the feedback cap.

(2--replace the 12 volt diode--in front of the SMPS transformer. 164589. I think it is the # or a ecg equiv F.R. diode.

(3--check the condition of the pincushion and retrace "block caps" --make SURE they are not at ALL "bulging". If they are--REPLACE THEM.

(4--on the bottom of the chassis--resolder ANY connections that appear "questionable", in particular, the h-out and drive area, the vert. return cap (a big, usually blue block cap, the power supply diodes, tuner and any daughter board connections that may not look good.


It is VERY likely--the tube will be like new. I have only seen a handful of 169 sets--both DV and projo--with bad pix tubes--out of THOUSANDS I worked on !!!

After all of this--that tv should work VERY well--and last a LOT longer--than ANY modern flat panel !!

A 36-er console, there's something I don't see a lot of. I'd be dumping that universal remote and checking around for an original though.
If its working good once you have seen it you wont give it away.
Bring an appliance dolly with straps, makes it a one man job.

73 Zeno:smoke:
Yeah, the straps are especially important for getting consoles through doors considering that they have to go through sidelong. Try tipping even a 25-er back on a dolly without straps. I've got to seek out some old seat belts.

Good ol' 169...

Can't really say enough GOOD about them!! I own 2 , used here at the house. WHile not exactly in the category of a "flat chassis set(such as a flatty Zenith or even RCA--like a CTC-40 or 44), They ARE a good set--for a modern tv. They are usually easy to fix--and STAY fixed--for many years...once you do some "P.M. "

Now--IF you intend to keep it...there are a few things you should do--even if it is working now.

(1--replace those 2 caps in the hot side of the power supply. I think a 47/50 and a 2.2 at 50 for the feedback cap.

(2--replace the 12 volt diode--in front of the SMPS transformer. 164589. I think it is the # or a ecg equiv F.R. diode.

(3--check the condition of the pincushion and retrace "block caps" --make SURE they are not at ALL "bulging". If they are--REPLACE THEM.

(4--on the bottom of the chassis--resolder ANY connections that appear "questionable", in particular, the h-out and drive area, the vert. return cap (a big, usually blue block cap, the power supply diodes, tuner and any daughter board connections that may not look good.


It is VERY likely--the tube will be like new. I have only seen a handful of 169 sets--both DV and projo--with bad pix tubes--out of THOUSANDS I worked on !!!

After all of this--that tv should work VERY well--and last a LOT longer--than ANY modern flat panel !!

More than likely, I'll be picking it up tomorrow...I'll take some pics and heed your advice :). I'll be making some space down here for it. Pretty sure it's going to replace that Sony KP-5020 projection set with the separate screen down here, at least in the short term. I can't get that set to hold convergence worth a darn, it ALWAYS drifts. Probably needs a good freshening up.

Or it's just a typical Fony problem, it wouldn't surprise me. Normally I don't care much for consoles that recent, but that bugger's impressive.

When those feedback capacitors in the power supply fail, the B+ will rise to a very excessive level. Often, when this happens, the HOT shorts and the power supply chopper transistor and control IC can also blow up. If you have to replace the HOT, chopper transistor, or the control IC; you really need to try and find OEM parts.

Another problem I've seen is leaking (literally) electrolytic capacitors, mainly in the vertical area, and the electrolyte can eat the traces off the PC board.

Years ago, there was a shop in town that gave me all his junk sets. He hated 169's because he claimed they wouldn't stay fixed. I think the problem was that he was using cheap generic parts and/or under-rated parts. I told him that I'd take all of them that he wanted to give me and out of all the ones I fixed that came from there, nothing came back to bite me.

I stopped having anything to do with him when he told someone, "don't take your stereo to him - all he knows how to fix is all that old tube shit that ought to be thrown away." I found that comment to be very insulting, seeing as how I was fixing a good bit of the SOLID STATE stuff that he had written off.

Years ago, there was a shop in town that gave me all his junk sets. He hated 169's because he claimed they wouldn't stay fixed. I think the problem was that he was using cheap generic parts and/or under-rated parts. I told him that I'd take all of them that he wanted to give me and out of all the ones I fixed that came from there, nothing came back to bite me.

I stopped having anything to do with him when he told someone, "don't take your stereo to him - all he knows how to fix is all that old tube shit that ought to be thrown away." I found that comment to be very insulting, seeing as how I was fixing a good bit of the SOLID STATE stuff that he had written off.

Well..in THAT case...I guess all of that "old shit" as in old paintings, statues, recordings, and other such "JUNK" (in MY opinion), ought to be "thrown away" too...

I am having flashbacks to delivering these in college. I hated these sets because they weigh a ton and the swivel base would always be moving around on you! The remote isn't original but I am sure you probably knew that.

I'd like to know how much voltage drives that screen.

Tim... oh Tim...... Great set, but keep us posted of your fun moving it. I helped someone get the "Proscan" version of that set, and it took 3 of us to move. I thought I was gonna die. I believe it might have ranked up there when I helped a friend get a Zenith Porthole combo unit.

First thing I have to do after I pick it up is grab some furniture moving dollies from Harbor Freight. Between this set, the Dumont Sherwood, the Dumont RA-110 I'm working on in the basement, plus the other stuff that I need to move around to work on, I oughtta stock up on the suckers :)

I have one of these in storage. Be prepared, it's HEAVY! But after moving a few Dumonts around this shouldn't be too hard to move.

Holy Mother of GOD. HEAVY doesn't describe this set.....

Well, got it loaded in the van. This is the Home Theater series set. Must weigh 300 lb easy.

Got it unloaded, and carefully with 4 family members assisting, we got it inside the back hall. Once it was inside the back hall, the set slipped off the dolly and the picture tube got necked. PSSSSHhhhhhh.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

I tried my best :(

Holy Mother of GOD. HEAVY doesn't describe this set.....

Well, got it loaded in the van. This is the Home Theater series set. Must weigh 300 lb easy.

Got it unloaded, and carefully with 4 family members assisting, we got it inside the back hall. Once it was inside the back hall, the set slipped off the dolly and the picture tube got necked. PSSSSHhhhhhh.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

I tried my best :(
I truly fell sick & feel your pain. :tears: Its one thing when you do it to a customers set & the boss has to pony up for a new jug. This is MUCH
worse. Now you gotta go find another one, many more fish in the sea.
You just have to know where to drop your line & the bait to use.........
I will have an extra ale for you tonite.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Damn. Better accidental destruction than deliberate anyway.

Oh Tim... Crap! That Sux.... And after moving that heavy ba**ard.... :(
The people that I had helped move theirs offered it to me when they fot a flat screen. I loved the set, but said NOPE. I am DONE moving anything that heavy ever again.

Oh Tim... Crap! That Sux.... And after moving that heavy ba**ard.... :(
The people that I had helped move theirs offered it to me when they fot a flat screen. I loved the set, but said NOPE. I am DONE moving anything that heavy ever again.

And as am I. I couldn't believe that televisions actually weighed SO much. After this week with the Dumont Sherwood and then this one, I'm about pooped. I'll harvest as many parts from this set as I can, but it won't be too many I'm guessing.

At least it was this one that got necked, and not the Sherwood.....

I cringed when I saw that picture thinking back about how heavy those sets were to deliver. RCA actually made one even heavier, it was a 36" with a VCR storage compartment with smoked glass doors under the CRT. We'd deliver one of those, and usually remove a working CC II or Colortrak that we would kick off the back of the truck when we got back to the shop, neck the crt and break the cabinet down to fit in the dumpster. At the time I felt bad doing it to a Zenith, but now I feel bad thinking about doing it to any set.