http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/RileyWestwolf/image_zps030esrdg.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/RileyWestwolf/media/image_zps030esrdg.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/RileyWestwolf/image1_zpsztj5xuoh.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/RileyWestwolf/media/image1_zpsztj5xuoh.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/RileyWestwolf/image2_zpsllakvpep.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/RileyWestwolf/media/image2_zpsllakvpep.jpg.html)

Picked this up today at the WARCI meet in Milwaukee. I was able to fiddle with and clean it up pretty decently inside, and cleaned the pots, and was able to get it to produce a picture and clear sound, as shown.

Reception is weak and very finicky on VHF though. UHF seems to work correctly. Though despite that, it is proving to be a very promising little set. I plan to leave the patina the way it is, as well.

The picture is pretty bright, but the set does have some healthy hours on it, but I think once it's filled with new capacitors and some adjustments, it should still produce a pretty healthy and watchable picture.

Now for the meat of the post: Does anyone have a PDF for the Photofacts for this Chassis? it has a lot of bumble bee capacitors in it, and honestly I don't know how to read them. I've never found a chart to translate their colors to make sense of them.

If nobody has the service manual on hand, you can order one from http://www.samswebsite.com/ .

This article has info about identifying old capacitors, including a chart that explains the "bumblebee" color codes:

http://antiqueradio.org/recap.htm

Your TV already works so well that you are likely to have a great watcher if you can avoid making mistakes while recapping. Instead of replacing many caps at once, I would try the set frequently -- after every replacement or two -- to make sure that you didn't make a flub which suddenly made things worse.

Remember the old doctor's motto: "Above all else, do no harm."

This article has some more basic restoration info that you may find useful:

http://antiqueradio.org/FirstStepsInRestoration.htm

Have fun,

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

I may have the SAMs, I'll check and let you know.

I love that color. I've got that set in red/white with chrome.

That is a cool little tv ! Neat that you are able to see it working before making
any parts replacements.... Good Luck ! Take your time, and as stated be careful !

.

I have one in solid orange/red and it's an excellent reliable performer. In pictures it looks larger than it is. It's actually a very light, compact portable. The problem with these are that the paint will often just pop right off the aluminum cabinet in large chunks.

I may have the SAMs, I'll check and let you know.

I've got it - PM me your address and I'll get it in the mail, yours for postage only...

It appears that set was a popular one on the bench - the Sams folder shows wear, or as my Dad used to say "This looks like a repeat offender, or at least, that's what Howard thinks" - Howard being Howard W. Sams, of course...

I have one in exactly the same color scheme, it even has the same missing paint.

They must have been hugely popular, cheaper, lighter and larger than the RCA portable and far superior to the GE 9" of the time.

Lots of kids probably got one for Christmas.

If I recall right, only the sets with the model number ending in AL were Aluminum cased, some of them had Steel, I think I have a blue one with a Steel case.
The Aluminum was probably a later revision to make them lighter.

http://www.vintagetvsets.com/images/admad.jpg

Your set has several "prime value" bumblebees - save them and offer up on eBay, and pay for your recap with the proceeds..

Your set has several "prime value" bumblebees - save them and offer up on eBay, and pay for your recap with the proceeds..

My guitar friends are always looking for "bumblebee caps" to "color" thier sound :smoke: since they were used inside some of the 50's guitars. I have supplied a few at no charge.

My capacitor order came in today so I figured I would start making some headway on this set. I am going to do it board by board.

This board lives right under the CRT and it's pretty hard to reach. So I figured I would do it first since servicing it requires removal of the CRT.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/RileyWestwolf/image_zpsy4v4uazd.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/RileyWestwolf/media/image_zpsy4v4uazd.jpg.html)

Two more caps to go in this section.

Whoops. I only replaced 5 capacitors so far, and I lost HV. It's suddenly only producing 5000 volts.

I'm just going to set it aside, and wait for the sam's to arrive then tackle it again.

Can anyone tell me the values of the bee's in my picture? Just double check my work for me, so I know I read them correctly. Never really dealt with bee caps before. I think I read them correctly.

The big one on the left is 0.033 and 0.047 on the right. Small on the right is 0.0047. Can't quite make out the one in the back.

Same color code as resistors with value in pico farads.

So three orange stripes is 3 + 3 + 3 zeroes = 33,000 pF or 0.033 uF.

The big one on the left is 0.033 and 0.047 on the right. Small on the right is 0.0047. Can't quite make out the one in the back.

Same color code as resistors with value in pico farads.

So three orange stripes is 3 + 3 + 3 zeroes = 33,000 pF or 0.033 uF.

Okay so I flubbed something else then. I replaced them all exact, and was reading them correctly.

Okay so I flubbed something else then. I replaced them all exact, and was reading them correctly.

You may not have flubbed anything. It is quite possible that one of the horizontal caps went and took the HV with it....

As a general rule on paper cap era sets, I prefer to go after the horizontal stage first (once the PS is operating) to restore it's operation to know the state of the rest of it, or to keep it from failing (and thus demanding attention).

My recommendation while waiting for a schematic, if the set has a tube chart, is to find the horiz osc, osc control, output, and damper tubes, and go after the caps connected to those tubes and the ones connected to the parts connected to them.

You may not have flubbed anything. It is quite possible that one of the horizontal caps went and took the HV with it....

As a general rule on paper cap era sets, I prefer to go after the horizontal stage first (once the PS is operating) to restore it's operation to know the state of the rest of it, or to keep it from failing (and thus demanding attention).

My recommendation while waiting for a schematic, if the set has a tube chart, is to find the horiz osc, osc control, output, and damper tubes, and go after the caps connected to those tubes and the ones connected to the parts connected to them.

I was thinking that exact thing too...

Because I double and triple checked the values before I installed them in to the set. I intentionally did this board first because it can't be serviced or accessed with out removing the CRT, so I wanted to get it done first.

At least it didn't hurt the flyback. It's still producing a solid 6kV.

There is one bee that translated to having a 1,600V rating, which I don't have any with a voltage rating over 630, so I left it, and it has an electrolytic in the horizontal section of 475. Another voltage rating I own none of.

I may be wrong, but the way I read 'em:

Left Large = 3 3 000 10% 600v
Right large = 4 7 000 20% 600v
Right small = 1 0 00 20% 400v
top = 1 0 0 20% 400v

top one is difficult to read on my screen.

jr

I may be wrong, but the way I read 'em:

Left Large = 3 3 000 10% 600v
Right large = 4 7 000 20% 600v
Right small = 1 0 00 20% 400v
top = 1 0 0 20% 400v

top one is difficult to read on my screen.

jr

So translated as long as I understood correctly reading the chart would be.

.047uF 10% 600V
.033uF 20% 600V
.01uF 20% 400V

Right?

So translated as long as I understood correctly reading the chart would be.

.047uF 10% 600V
.033uF 20% 600V
.01uF 20% 400V

Right?

First two ok... then:

.001uf 20% 400V
.0001uf 20% 400V

jr

Okay.

I'm going to sit and wait for the schematic to come, first. Then I'm going to dig in again. I am not going to mess anything else up because I know right where I sit right now, and I can very easily track back and correct mistakes.

The CRT has to come out, and part of the deflection yolk is falling apart. It'll still work, but I don't want to risk it not working at all since the plastic shell is crumbling off.

Fair warning: schematics can have typos, or not reflect the production change revision of the set in front of you, check values labeled on parts against the schematic, and watch for differences.

My first TV restoration burned me that way...It was a '53 Zenith, and the sams listed a different value by a factor of 10 for the cap on the parts list than it did in the schematic. I could not read bee caps at the time (and it was full of them), and replaced them based on what it read on the schematic......It had a no video problem at the time and the typo was on a vertical stage cap. I was between residences in Wi. and Fl. at the time and a couple of years in when I finally got video back I became aware of the problem....The vertical was scanning at 120Hz instead of 60....I had no caps or money at the time (mid way through highschool) to try the other cap value listed, and no clue where the original was so I fixed the issue with decade box engineering.....I connected a resistance decade box in place of several of the resistors until I found a value I could change a resistor to to restore it to 60Hz operation.

I used lousy caps on it then, and did not change them all (since I was bad at parts sourcing back then) so it is almost due for a re-recap....When I get to that I'm going to see if I can re-fix (it has not relapsed) that vertical issue 'right'.

I could give you two or more examples of sams leading me to the wrong move, but I've already rambled plenty.

Oops. I read that small cap on the right backwards. It's a 0.001 at 400 volts like jr tech said.

I did a four part video restoration series on this same model on YouTube recently.

That includes fabricating a new yoke cover from scratch using styrene plastic stock. Here's that segment: https://youtu.be/UXyra3vNYuQ?t=2m6s

I also took a bunch of photos while working on it that may be helpful to you. https://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/albums/72157652163729602

Oops. I read that small cap on the right backwards. It's a 0.001 at 400 volts like jr tech said.

I did a four part video restoration series on this same model on YouTube recently.

That includes fabricating a new yoke cover from scratch using styrene plastic stock. Here's that segment: https://youtu.be/UXyra3vNYuQ?t=2m6s

I also took a bunch of photos while working on it that may be helpful to you. https://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/albums/72157652163729602

Hah. That's amazing. Could I pay you to make one for me? That kinda stuff I am no good at, at all.