Whenever you test a 6BK4 tinted like that you know it's gonna' check bad. Looks like some original's there too, that's quite a service life!

That's quite a pile there. I don't think I've ever found more than four or five bad tubes in one set. Yes, that regulator is a little bit dark! :D

The 6BK4 is mostly just dirty, it is the original tube though with a 23/60 date code.

That 6EW6 has a Sylvania date code and type font on the type number!

That old 6BK4 will run forever. I've seen them almost black and they are still regulating.

6AQ5's running at 10-20% will still make sound.

I look forward to seeing a picture on this one. Mine is run about once a month, and looks decent on original caps, except for a couple of electrolytics. It will get a recap eventually.

Amen! That particular tube always seems to be bullet proof.... even in the vertical circuits.

Perhaps all that dirt on the regulator will provide some extra shielding! :D

As of seeing this post I finally know why an old TV I trash-picked in my youth had that nice little black spot in the middle of the screen.

I've been working on the cabinet, a little here, a little there.
The top was really a mess, the paint was cracked all over and there are dings and gouges.
I reflowed the Lacquer to smooth out some of the cracks then I sanded it.
The biggest issue is they didn't veneer the top since it was going to be painted anyway, this means it has a fairly coarse Plywood grain, that's what cracked the paint, the grain was poking through on the high spots. Stripping it completely would make it worse since the old paint is acting as grain filler right now.

This cabinet must have a hundred dings and gouges from careless handling, I will have to fill and smooth all of them before I paint it. A couple of the feet have some parts chipped off, I'm going to have to fill those areas and reshape them with a Dremel, at least that's the plan.
That's the best part about it being painted, none of the filler will show through.

I took off the doors and refinished one of them as a test, here's the result, I used Ace Hardware Black Lacquer paint and it is a really good match.

Nice!

Man, this is going to turn out to be awesome when you finish!

Here's what the cabinet looks like after the first round of filling in the dings, I have to let it dry thoroughly before I can sand it smooth.
I hate using wood filler, I think Bondo might work better but I don't have any to try and don't want to buy any to experiment with.

Anyway you can see it has a lot of boo boos, the ones on the edges are the most difficult to deal with, the amount of filler is so small it's hard to make it stay put, gotta put on extra and sand it down flush.


This poor set was not treated kindly over he years but at least it was kept dry so it's solid and there's no water damage to deal with.

:yes: A so beautiful tv set console deserves all this care for the restoring work! My best wishes!

21FJ finally done removing the safety glass.
 

After soaking since whenever I first posted about it the last piece of the safety screen finally came off.

I let it soak for a week before attempting to remove the glass, as it delaminated the already cracked safety glass would crack more as the tension on it changed, I dug out as much of the PVA from the edges as possible to allow water to seep in.
It seeped in all around the edge at first, then the cracked area would fall off, allowing water to seep in further.
I helped it along where i could by shoving a plastic putty knife in behind the PVA and watching it separate from the screen. Bigger and bigger parts would come loose until tonight the last bit came off with just a bit of wedging and tugging on the PVA.
It has a very light color phosphor and the safety glass was tinted, since the set uses a separate safety glass and it's tinted it should come out just about right.


Since the whole project of restoring this set hinged on having this new tube to use it would have been a catastrophe if it had broken, not to mention the possibility of getting injured. :no:

I've also been working on the cabinet and it's just about ready, another coat of paint on one side and the door and I'll call it done. It's not perfect but I have to draw the line on perfection somewhere or I'll never finish it.

It's going to be a five footer, looks good at five feet but if you get down on your knees and pick it apart there will be plenty of flaws to find.
A couple of the legs had large chunks missing where it had been dragged over something and chipped out, I just filled them in with wood putty and painted over it, looks ok at five feet. :yes:

I discovered it was missing a couple of flat brass strips from the front doors, I found a place online (Liney Machine) that sells brass in the right dimensions so I just have to see if they will sell the small quantity I need. It's also missing part of the brass trim that presses into the front of the leg assembly, I think I can just glue a flat strip of brass the same width in place and it'll look fine.

AWESOME!! Looking forward to seeing more as it happens! :thmbsp: :grnbounce:banana::grnbounce:banana::grnbounce :thmbsp:

Great work Eric! Did your 21FJP22 have a green or gray catharact under the safety glass?