Philco 7053 CRT Tester

[Winky Dink]

This an item I picked up last August. It cleaned up nicely, and I'm hoping it could be useful for a quick CRT check when buying a TV in unknown condition. I have a couple of shelf-dwelling TV's to try it out on.



I have no documentation for the unit, so I cracked it open to see what I could figure out. There were only three "usual suspects"--two resistors and a paper cap--so I replaced them with on-hand components. I cleaned the single rotary switch and the pots with CRC electronic cleaner. Both pots seem to work correctly. The transformer is marked 6.3V and 220/0/220V with 117V line. I put it on a variac at 117V, and I got 6.7 and 240/0/240.
I haven't checked the NE45 bulb, but it does flicker on when I turn the function selector switch.



I posted this request on the Philco Phorum, but the response there shows only that documentation for this tester is hard to find. So, I'm first asking if anyone knows where I can find instructions for the 7053. I've looked around, but haven't seen anything available except a couple of units with instructions for sale at some previous time.

If no instructions are available, can someone give me a clue how use this thing? My immediate goal would be to get to the point where I can connect it to a known-good CRT and get an appropriate result.

A better view of the controls:



Thanks much.

PS: My Nationals lost the playoff, but worse than that--THE GAME WASN'T ON THE RADIO!

[earlyfilm]

Originally Posted by Winky Dink

This an item I picked up last August. It cleaned up nicely, and I'm hoping it could be useful for a quick CRT check when buying a TV in unknown condition. . . . . . I have no documentation for the unit, so I cracked it open to see what I could figure out. There were only three "usual suspects"--two resistors and a paper cap--so I replaced them with on-hand components.

Well, the first thing you should do is to get a manual, and in the past they have been relatively easy to find, provided you look for the Eico 630 CRT tester! The two units are electrically identical. In fact the biggest difference, other than control layout, is the Philco uses a .0047 MF 400V cap while the Eico uses a .005 MF 400v cap.

The other parts are a 33K ohm 1W 10% and a 10K ohm 1/2W 10% resistors and a NE-45 Lamp. The calibration pot is a 2 Meg ohm.

This original manual just ended today, unsold.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281459528911

To give you an idea what the Eico 630 looked like, this is a picture of the earlier model. The later models were silver.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/380971165517

This checker will check most any CRT between a Pilot 3KP4 and a Du Mont 30BP4, but it won't safely check small neck tubes or almost any tubes later that the mid-1950's and any tube that does not have a 6.3 filament.

Mine is my checker of choice for 7JP4s. I'm impressed how clean yours is! When I first bought mine, it had been stored in a damp basement and the bottom had completely rusted through.

The octal socket on top is for an adapter, which must be wired by the owner, with clip leads, to check special based CRTs in a list in the instruction book.

There is one epay vender selling a CD of Eico circuits for $20, but it seems overpriced to me.

My paper manual came from an epay seller. If memory is correct, it came from glendalemanuals.

Search for one of their epay Eico manual listings and ask them. Two years ago, mine was $7.99 with shipping.

(No affiliation, other than a satisfied customer.)

James

[Electronic M]

A good tester if you plan to only do 7JP4 based sets, but there were better testers for magnetic deflection types. If you ever look at buying late 50's-70's monochrome sets or any color sets, or want to try CRT rejuvination you will want something newer.