1951 rca kcs-47
 

I got this from the Radio club today for $20. It was left in the building when the club moved in 15 years ago, and they had it in the Annex. The Annex consists to two very large rooms filled to the roof with TV and radio stuff. I also got a B&K 445 CRT tester, which I used to test the tube in the set. When I tested the tube in the Annex, it tested 70%. I bring it home, clean all the tubes and tube sockets, and test the tube again. This time, it tested 80%. I leave the tube tester on it for about two minutes, and then walk away. When I come back twenty seconds later, the emissions had fallen to 20%. What gives?! I hope it's just the tube tester acting up. I'd really hate to have to find a new tube for this thing. The cabinet is in exquisite shape, too.

I briefly turned the set on to verify that the tube had not been destroyed by the B&K 445. It still produces a bright picture. The horizontal is running way too slow, the vertical - very screwed up, and the hum from the lytics has plenty of bass.

Here is the image.

I will go ahead and tell you now. It needs to be recap before you run it more than a minute. Those paper caps is just layers of wax paper and oil and when they blow they have been known to catch fire. Now that would be a good set to learn repairing and restorations on. I am not trying scare you , but I have had happen to me back in the day. I was learning myself and it scared the crap out of me.

Yes, yes. I know all about old wax caps. No need to preach to me. I only wanted to see if the tube had been ruined by that tester. This thing will be getting all new Sprague orange drops, or at the very least, those yellow polypropylene things. Although, I don't really like those.

Be forewarned....this set is probably one of RCAs worst sets. Even when restored they have lousy focus and picture quality. Most KCS 47 chassis sets are best used for displaying spider plants. Unreliable even when new.

Personally not a fan of those yellow caps....I get mine from mouser, or capacitor world.

Thanks for the warning, Kamakiri. The cabinet is in such nice shape (except for the top), I think refurbishing (not restoring) this set would be nice. And please feel free to change this thread's title to "1951 RCA KCS-47" instead of "1951 rca kcs-47." That is driving me crazy.

This was not the best RCA by a long shot, but if you're up to the challenge it's still a good candidate for restoration.

Agreed...RCA made many fine tv sets, sadly the KCS 47 is not one of thier better efforts. :thumbsdn:

Out of curiosity, what do people dislike about the yellow caps?

jr

I have not taken the chassis out yet, so I really don't have any idea what I'm up against. I have recapped a few radios, so unless there is no rotten rubber wiring or unobtanium parts, I think I can handle it.

The most important and expensive parts appear to be OK, the flyback, yoke and CRT. And since the cabinet is in good condition, what do you have to loose but a few bucks for capacitors? Go for it!

Thanks for the encouragement, kvflyer. I'll probably take this TV back to the club this weekend and begin working on it. I just need to find a schematic.

Most likely because they're shinny bright yellow. :) Ironically they're cosmetically and construction wise about the closest thing to the original types used. I've removed thousands of old paper caps that were apparently originally yellow, except that they've darkened over the years from heat and dirt.

Schematic is a free download from the ETF archives.

http://www.earlytelevision.org/pdf/R...Sams-113-7.pdf

Thanks. I printed it out on my mother's printer, but right when I got to the schematic parts, the ink ran out.