My first post here in this forum.I found a set today...I couldn't say no.It followed me home.It is a Westinghouse,and I am not sure of the model,and does need some knobs.The guy said he had it powered up,I don't know when(could have been 30 years ago)It is tempting to plug it in,but I know I shouldn't.So now that I have this thing home what the hell do I do with it?

So now that I have this thing home what the hell do I do with it?

Well you put it in a crate, then load it on a truck and have it shipped to me! :D

Seriously, that is a nice looking set. You'll want to power it up slowly through a Variac or a Dim-Bulb tester (i.e. run the power in series with a 200 watt bulb)
You can pretty much bet it will need new capacitors but if you can at least get a raster you can confirm the CRT is good.

Eric

<i>It is a Westinghouse,and I am not sure of the model</i>

No way! Remember, you can be SURE if it's Westinghouse!
:banana:

From what I recall.....He said he had it on and the screen had a glow and some lines.I looked inside none of the caps look like they are leaking,they don't appear oil soaked.But I don't know....Just glad I saved it.

From what I recall.....He said he had it on and the screen had a glow and some lines.I looked inside none of the caps look like they are leaking,they don't appear oil soaked.But I don't know....Just glad I saved it.

Yes - definitely! That's one nice little set! Good find!

Anyway, it'll almost definitely need a lot of new capacitors - the old ones of the type that you'll find in that set are made out of paper, tinfoil and wax. These capacitors are pretty unreliable to begin with, and now even more so that they're 50 years old. While they might not 'look' bad, they're probably electrically leaky, and probably need to be replaced.

Now, the main concern for plugging the set in is the electrolytic capacitors. Those can fail, short out, and cause a fire, burn out power transformers, etc. Most of the can style electrolytics of that era won't be 'wet' - i.e., they won't leak oil and gunk. IIRC, they stopped using the wet electrolytics for the most part after the war. Could be wrong though - just never seen one in a television.

Of course, you probably knew a lot of this, but I need _something_ to type in the morning :)

Anyway power the set through a dim-bulb tester. If you don't have one, make one. All it is is a power socket wired in series with an incandescent light bulb socket. It'll limit the current going into the set, and if the set draws way too much current - i.e. a short - the bulb will glow very brightly, and divert the current from the television. If there isn't a nasty short in the television, the bulb will glow dimly, and the TV will get power, although not as much as if it were plugged directly into the wall. Stuff should mostly work though, tubes should light up, the picture will be smaller and the tuning might be a little iffy, but it will run though a dim-bulb tester. You can also use the tester to reform the electrolytic capacitors (or attempt to) by letting the set run for a while, then changing the light bulb to a different wattage, letting it run for another hour or so, change the bulb.... It might reform the caps, it might not. Leaky or limping electrolytics will affect the rest of the set, most noticeably you might get a loud hum that drowns out the audio, or rolling bars of interference on the screen.

But, in the end, you'll need piles of new capacitors. And resistors - stuff larger than about 1meg ohm tends to drift upwards. Replace any that are off-spec.

Ok, I'm rambling again....

BTW - post chassis pictures! I want to see what's in there!

-Ian

I would like to know how to rig up/make a dim-bulb tester.Can someone post a picture of one and tell me where to hook it up to.Here is the inside It is a Westinghouse model #T-1201.

See:

http://www.antiqueradio.org/dimbulb.htm

For a good article on how to build a tester, and how to use it.

Thanks!I just made one with a 25 watt bulb and yes the bulb is lit. :worried:

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25 watts isn't enough. That set probably draws 200-300 watts when running perfect.
I use a 200w floodlight and sets usually won't run on that much but it will tell you if it's got a short. It will go almost completely out if everything is OK.

Your set looks like it uses a 5U4 so you've got to get enough juice to fire that off or you won't get any B+

Alright I did try a 100 watt bulb.It starts off bright and then dims out to about 1/2-3/4 of the brightness.I will have to wait until tomorrow to try the 200 watt flood.Most of the bigger tubes are slightly glowing,but it's hard to tell on some of the smaller ones.Sure would be nice to run down to the hardware store to check these tubes out.

That sounds about right. I'd try it with a 200 watt bulb though just to be on the safe side (or wire two 100 watt bulbs in parallel). The important thing is that you don't seem to have a dead short. Run the set like that for a minute or so, and make sure the electrolytic cans aren't getting hot. As for the tubes, they should all light up, albiet a little dimly. It depends on the set, and how much juice it draws though. I know that I've been able to run a 23" Zenith (60's vintage, tube) through a 100watt bulb and it worked, although the picture was smaller that it was supposed to be, and rather dim.

I wouldn't worry about testing the tubes just yet - they're pretty much one of the most reliable parts in those old sets! Capacitors leak and resistors drift, electrolytics dry up in storage, but tubes pretty much have an infinite shelf life, and die slowly enough that you should be able to tell what's limping by what doesn't work. i.e., your horizontal won't lock, check the horizontal oscillator tube, etc. Yeah, I've encountered bad tubes, but more often than not, it's the components connected to the tubes that go bad. Also - just because a tube is weak, doesn't mean it's bad. In some circuits and situations, it really doesn't matter if the tube is at peak performance - for example the phase inverter tube in an audio circuit.

Good luck!

-Ian

Well I went ahead and plugged it in.Let it sit for about 20 mins. and there was no fire,just a hint of burning dust which cleared right up.Nothing on the screen and no sound at all.All the tubes are glowing nicely.The back of the crt,where it plugs in, is glowing as well.I guess I will start pulling it apart maybe next week and start checking things out.Any suggestions.......

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Be cautious on those really old electrolytics, though...I like to just replace those on old 40's era equipment like this...that way you're not dealing with flakey problems due to bad lytics. While you've got the set apart just replace them. In later sets like 60's the electrolytics are usually o.k. but it's a good use of your servicing time to just do all those caps while youre in there rather than have to chase down problems later.

Well I went ahead and plugged it in.Let it sit for about 20 mins. and there was no fire,just a hint of burning dust which cleared right up.Nothing on the screen and no sound at all.All the tubes are glowing nicely.The back of the crt,where it plugs in, is glowing as well.I guess I will start pulling it apart maybe next week and start checking things out.Any suggestions.......

Did you plug it in directly?

If there is no sound (not even hum?) or raster then you probably have a low voltage power supply problem, (low voltage in this case means something around 400 volts so be careful)
Does this set have a 5U4 tube, that one tube with the shoulders looks like one.
Anyway, if it does, that will be the low voltage rectifier. check to see if it's lighting, a shorted or leaky filter cap can blow the heaters right out on that tube or cause the plates to glow orange.

You can also check the voltage at the filter cap attached to the 5U4, should be several hundred volts, if not the cap or tube may be bad.

Even if you get the LV power supply working correctly the set will probably need the paper caps replaced to make the rest of it function right :yes:

I did plug it in directly.There is no hum at all,nothing.The tube you are asking about appears to be lit normally,or appears normal.I guess some sort of schematic would help so I can measure voltages and test/check tubes.I am really getting into this thing now.It sure is a beautiful TV.

Wild stab in the dark: It looks like a two-tube rectifier setup using (perhaps) 6AX5GT types. If I'm correct, they're the tubes directly above the shouldered one. Its identity is a puzzlement; another wild stab would 6Y6G. Isn't there a tube location chart pasted to the interior of the cabinet?