View Full Version : sylvania gt matic


sampson159
10-05-2015, 09:49 PM
couple screen shots of the e11 sylvania gt matic set i got at the swap meet.this set has the famous 25vdmp22 crt that actually tests and looks excellent.this set was originally brought down by bigdavestv from michigan,sold and resold to me.everybody made out on this deal.i watched some football on it saturday evening and a little sunday before the oil filled cap went.common repair on these back in the day.cabinet is really nice and i am ecstatic to own it.will go right in place with my e45 and e48 superset.love these sylvanias of that era.

MRX37
10-05-2015, 10:14 PM
Hmph, I'm a bit jealous now because your Sylvania tube TV works correctly. :( (or will once you replace that cap)

WISCOJIM
10-06-2015, 08:44 AM
For those of us unfamiliar with the 25vdmp22 crt, what makes it "famous"?

.

BigDavesTV
10-06-2015, 06:38 PM
That Sylvania did make a really nice picture! I am glad you are enjoying it, I almost kept it, I liked the cabinet too. I got the set a couple months ago from the south side of Flint MI., in a nice residential neighborhood. It was in the living room, unplugged from AC, but still connected to the outdoor antenna, which I took a picture of, because I also enjoy "looking up" at TV antennas, have every since I was a very young kid! I hope you can find the replacement cap quickly. I had played that set a couple hours after tuner and control cleaning, without incident, except for vertical looking like it might need a few caps eventually.

sampson159
10-06-2015, 06:45 PM
the vertical controls needed some deoxit and a quick set up was all it needed.the famous 25vdmp22 had an almost black shadow mask.this is what made the picture so sharp.i have a e48 superset with the very same crt.picture is amazing!total different look than a chromacolor crt.alas,the sylvanias only lasted a few years while the zeniths are still going strong for 40 plus years.the cap is available at my local hvac supply house.very common in bryant ac units!

wkand
10-13-2015, 01:44 PM
Oil filled capacitor? Did i read that right? Is it also considered electrolytic?

Jeffhs
10-13-2015, 02:12 PM
Is your Sylvania GT-Matic TV the model with the picture controls behind a locked door on the front panel? I remember reading, in an advertisement for these sets some years ago, that the GT-Matic's color controls and circuits were so stable, once the controls were adjusted for a good picture, that the user could lock the door over those controls with a key. The controls seldom required readjustment once they were set, which was the reason the control door had a lock to which the set owner held the key. This feature also prevented children and other curious people from fiddling with the color controls once they were properly set. I am curious about this since Sylvania was the only TV manufacturer, to my knowledge, that had a locking door over the color controls, and the GT-Matic feature was found only on their best 25-inch sets.

DavGoodlin
10-13-2015, 03:39 PM
Oil filled capacitor? Did i read that right? Is it also considered electrolytic?

Oil-filled is an AC-rated capacitor in a round or oval can with push-on terminals, normally 2-15 mfd used for motor-starting applications. Definitely not an electrolytic.

Zenith CCII sets also used them. I need to look up a 17EC45 schematic to see how it was applied.:smoke:

Edit: I have a Zenith training binder (the casettes are gone) showing the power supply and explained the function of C213, aka oil-filled cap (remember, its not PCB oil, so it may be flammable:() It was explained in this book to wit:
The capacitor is across the entire power transformer secondary. It is tuned to resonate at 60 Hz, thereby increasing the secondary voltage and saturating the secondary winding. This effectively isolates voltage variations on the primary from being proportionately induced in the secondary winding. The pass regulator transistors further this advantage.

I can attest to this feature as I knew folks on rural fringes of electric utility lines whose Zenith CCIIs performed well despite the voltage sags, which showed obviously with dimming incandescent lamps and shrinking vertical and horizontal on most other sets, notably series-string tube sets.

zeno
10-13-2015, 04:14 PM
On its own winding that is part of the main B+ windings.
The "ends" IIRC. If it goes short will pop main breaker / fuse.
If opens pix will be unstable & pulsate. If good the sets
that use it will run apx 85-140VAC normally. Dont change it on
a re-cap. In fact dont recap this set ! Bad idea.....

GT-Matics were the first sets to use a master h/v osc.
It eliminates H&V hold & became industry standard. Came in
13", 17"IIRC, 19" & 25". 19 & 25' that used the 3 board chassis
had short lived CRT's. The key came with all sets but a
screwdriver worked fine. The "dark lite" CRT's could give a
spectacular pix with totally black blacks, not grays. Well built
but not quite Zenith or RCA PCB quality. Enjoyed by all
the techs I knew.

73 Zeno:smoke:


Oil-filled is an AC-rated capacitor in a round or oval can with push-on terminals, normally 2-15 mfd used for motor-starting applications. Definitely not an electrolytic.

Zenith CCII sets also used them. I need to look up a 17EC45 schematic to see how it was applied.:smoke:

Ed in Tx
10-13-2015, 05:28 PM
...and the GT-Matic feature was found only on their best 25-inch sets.I had a 19" Sylvania GT-Matic with the auto stuff I bought new in 1974, about $449 as I recall. Almost month's pay in those days!

Jon A.
10-13-2015, 06:40 PM
the vertical controls needed some deoxit and a quick set up was all it needed.the famous 25vdmp22 had an almost black shadow mask.this is what made the picture so sharp.i have a e48 superset with the very same crt.picture is amazing!total different look than a chromacolor crt.alas,the sylvanias only lasted a few years while the zeniths are still going strong for 40 plus years.the cap is available at my local hvac supply house.very common in bryant ac units!
I didn't know any E48 sets were equipped with the 25VDMP22. Mine apparently has a 25VFAP22 which came back nicely with auto-restore. It too has the almost black shadow mask.

sampson159
10-13-2015, 07:33 PM
my e 48-2 has a 25vdmp22 crt in it.the 25vfap22 is also listed on the info sheet on the deflection shield.the controls on my gt matic has the locking door and i have a key!saved one for over 40 years.the gt matic also has something most techs never mention-the brightness and contrast controls are mislabeled.here in columbus,all sylvanias were purchased at sun tv.they sold them as a house brand.these sets always had a flaw.a short leg,mislabeled controls,etc.some sort of flaw.they sold like hotcakes!we repaired so many of them.at least 20 to one versus zenith and about the same for rca.sylvanias had beautiful pictures but i prefer the zenith chromacolor crt over them all.the dark matrix crt looks good when its strong,but they suffered from a short life.chromacolors last forever.

jstout66
10-14-2015, 11:41 AM
In the town I grew up in, there was the RCA/Magnavox dealer, and the Sylvania dealer.
We were Zenith. We carried a secondary brand, so as not to lose a sale to those who could not afford a Zenith. We had the secondary brand on the other side of the store, because... if you fired up one of those next to a Zenith, the secondary brand looked like they had a horrible picture. Well.... Circa 1979/1980 we carried Philco, which at that time was a rebadged Sylvania. I know some had the 25VDM tube. Those we wouldn't fire up next to a Zenith because they were the only set that gave Zenith a run for the money. Some people actually preferred the picture on the Philco. However.. everyone is correct. Those tubes were NOT long lasting at all. ( I wonder why? Sylvania was a good tube maker)

Jon A.
10-14-2015, 01:49 PM
Well, I guess I'm going to have to take the back off mine to find out for sure what CRT it has. Where's a good 1/4" drive when I need one? My last one rounded off quite easily. Since I ran auto-restore the indicator doesn't drop at all with the life test. The 25VCXP22 in my Electrohome wasn't nearly as lucky, but at least everything else is really nice.

zeno
10-14-2015, 04:06 PM
Get the old extra long Xcelite 1/4. Takes 5 yrs to round one out with
constant use. Also has a magnet & is indesposable when pulling
tuners on consoles or on 19" Zenith hybrids. Mine are buried.
If I can find one I will give u the model so you can watch E-bay
for one. Once you have it they will have to pry it out of your
cold dead hands !

73 Zeno:smoke:

Well, I guess I'm going to have to take the back off mine to find out for sure what CRT it has. Where's a good 1/4" drive when I need one? My last one rounded off quite easily. Since I ran auto-restore the indicator doesn't drop at all with the life test. The 25VCXP22 in my Electrohome wasn't nearly as lucky, but at least everything else is really nice.

zeno
10-14-2015, 04:15 PM
The magnets must have fallen out BUT you can use vasoline to hold
the screw.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Xcelite-Magnetic-5-16-1-4-NUT-Driver-21-long-1-4-7-32-red-handle-used-/271980397264?hash=item3f534b82d0

The 5/16 was used in Admiral & others. Also made a XL philips
for rice boxes. Almost all Xcelite are of the highest quality.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Get the old extra long Xcelite 1/4. Takes 5 yrs to round one out with
constant use. Also has a magnet & is indesposable when pulling
tuners on consoles or on 19" Zenith hybrids. Mine are buried.
If I can find one I will give u the model so you can watch E-bay
for one. Once you have it they will have to pry it out of your
cold dead hands !

73 Zeno:smoke:

Dan Starnes
10-14-2015, 08:41 PM
I had one of those way back. Cool!!

Jon A.
10-14-2015, 09:20 PM
The magnets must have fallen out BUT you can use vasoline to hold
the screw.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Xcelite-Magnetic-5-16-1-4-NUT-Driver-21-long-1-4-7-32-red-handle-used-/271980397264?hash=item3f534b82d0

The 5/16 was used in Admiral & others. Also made a XL philips
for rice boxes. Almost all Xcelite are of the highest quality.

73 Zeno:smoke:
Whoa, I could use those to beat the crap out of an attacker as well.

They're a little rich for my blood at the moment, especially with the abysmal exchange rates. I'd rather wait out a set complete with magnets anyway. At least I now know what to look for.

sampson159
10-14-2015, 09:25 PM
i use a craftsman 1/4 socket and ratchet exclusively.sylvanias did give zeniths a run picture wise.a majority gave the nod to sylvania but the real quality was service and longevity which was won by zenith.i love those old sylvanias,easy to fix and built simple but effective.the crts though were an issue.2 to 5 years and gone.zenith crts still going strong after 40 plus years.the sylvania 25vaqp22 was a very good looking and performing crt.used in the d16 series,seldom did they fail.the philco sets after 1974 were rebadged sylvanias.decent but employing the one piece chassis that was used in the 19 inch sets.we saw few of those.the 19 inch sylvanias had great pictures and the absolute best convergence magnets ever.you could achieve perfect convergence.dont know why they didnt use this on the 25 inch inline.i have an e-11,e-45 and e-48.very happy with all three but have a zenith avante waiting in the wings as my daily watcher.cant wait to hook upwith dave goodlin in order to get it working.back in the shop days,we would use zenith crts in those sylvanias.never had one come back and many lasted 12-15 years plus.

Ed in Tx
10-15-2015, 08:47 AM
The 19" I had I think was a E09 chassis. Beautiful picture quality. I had it 5 years before I bought a 25" Magnavox "Computer 330" Star System set, sold the Sylvania to friends that used it at least another 15 years or so in their daughter's room.

DavGoodlin
10-15-2015, 10:56 AM
The magnets must have fallen out BUT you can use vasoline to hold
the screw.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Xcelite-Magnetic-5-16-1-4-NUT-Driver-21-long-1-4-7-32-red-handle-used-/271980397264?hash=item3f534b82d0

The 5/16 was used in Admiral & others. Also made a XL philips
for rice boxes. Almost all Xcelite are of the highest quality.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Xcelite tools were totally worth the extra money, they sit on my bench to this day. I dont lose them like the others because they stay in the shop:D

I have a mini-shorty 5/16" model P10 in my pocket today for some reason

Jon A.
10-15-2015, 03:44 PM
The extra-long 1/4" drive Xcelite would get the most use, so I say just seek out that one and use it with socket adapters and screwdriver bits when needed.

sampson159
10-20-2015, 08:21 PM
its alive as of noon today.replace capacitor and she running!watched the fugitive,gunsmoke and bonanza this afternoon.flawless performance.gotta love those sylvanias

DavGoodlin
10-21-2015, 11:05 AM
Are you ready for the Zenith CCII yet? I get it tomorrow after work. I tested the CRT for it this AM, ready

I think its 25DC56 chassis has that CAP also:)

sampson159
10-21-2015, 06:22 PM
yes,cc2 has the same cap.i got 2 spares,just in case