Motorola 16CK1 restoration complete

[Steve D.]

Bob,

Outstanding restoration of the cabinet and chassis. The technical workarounds speak to your expertise in solving problems when original parts are no longer available. Great addition to the 15" family of color sets. My only, and minor, critique would be the dyeing of the grill cloth.

See you at the ETF,
-Steve D.

[Username1]

WOW its like lookin' at a perfect nut on an easy to get to branch on a sunny cool morning.........

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by ohohyodafarted

Here is another screen shot of the chassis when it was still on the bench taken in a darkened room with the same camera. Depending on the lighting conditions and how the camera is set, the camera will produce different results.

That is just beautiful color in that picture! I may have never seen better color on an NTSC display of any age.

[WISCOJIM]

Originally Posted by ohohyodafarted

JR you are correct... My Bad! Don't know how I came up with the percentage that I got.

So if that holds true, maybe they only made 100 15" sets???? Seems like a rather small number. I would guess it was more like double that at least. In any event there probably were not very many produced.

Have you and John compared serial numbers to see if that yields any clues?


.

[zenithfan1]

You did it again Bob! WOW! I'd love to come see this in person!!!! It's gonna be hard to top this one

[Robert Grant]

What is that chalky substance that gets on (and, it seems to me, into) Motorola knobs, and how do you clear it out?

P.S.: stunningly beautiful work!

[ohohyodafarted]

Originally Posted by Robert Grant

What is that chalky substance that gets on (and, it seems to me, into) Motorola knobs, and how do you clear it out?

P.S.: stunningly beautiful work!

I am not sure what exactly that white stuff is. I think the material the knobs are made with is CAB, cellulose acetate buterate. We used to buy tubing where I worked, made of this compound and it has the same odor as the knobs have when new.

As for cleaning the stuff off of the knobs: I use a stiff plastic bristle brush and also use my finger nails to scrape the thick layers of white stuff off. Then I polish the plastic with white automotive polishing compound and a terry cloth rag. After cleaned and polished and nice and clean, I then spray with the ACE clear gloss lacquer and force blow dry with a hair dryer. Test the spraying of the lacquer on some old knobs to perfect your technique before you spray the knobs you are restoring. You wouldnt want to botch the spraying of the lacquer by applying to much or not enough etc.

FYI CAB plastic will melt in lacquer thinner, so this whole spraying procedure needs to be done to perfection and you can easily botch the job if you don't get it right the first time. So practice, practice, practice on old knobs before you risk doing this to the knobs you intend to restore. If you decide not to protect the knobs with clear lacquer, your knobs will continue to get that chalky residue again.. It is some sort of oxidation from the atmosphere and only clear coating with lacquer will inhibit the reformation of that stuff.

Bob

[Dave S]

Originally Posted by Robert Grant

What is that chalky substance that gets on (and, it seems to me, into) Motorola knobs, and how do you clear it out?

That's been discussed here and elsewhere. It's the plastic decomposing. Just polish it off, although it will probably recur. (It's not mold as some may tell you, so don't bother trying to kill it!)

[Tomcomm]

Somehow I missed this thread on your 15in Motorola untill now. I guess I was distracted by my 21CT55's demise. It ranks right in there along with your 21CT55. I knew you were working on one, glad it turned out soooo good! I was really impressed with your last color bar screen shot. The colors are so vivid and the red is the purest I’ve ever seen. Maybe all the hype about the original phosfers is true? Does your 21CT55 with the 21AXP22 have the same reds and greens, they must be side by side upstairs by now. I’d like to see the color bars on both sets using the same camera settings. That ought to prove if they used the same phosphers........Tom

[ohohyodafarted]

Hi Tom,

Yes, both sets are side by side in the livingroom now. In a side by side comparison, I can tell the two sets are nto set up the same. Because of that issue it is hard to make a phosphor comparison. The Moto is leaning toward the green and the CT55 is leaning toward the red.

I would tinker but my living room is very tiny and I have barely enough room to place the sets, let alone move them into a position to work on them. So I think for now at least, I am going to just let them as is. If I get time I will post a side by side photo of the two sets, with color bars adjusted to as identical as possible, so you can see the very aparent color mis-alignment.

Bob

[Tomcomm]

Originally Posted by ohohyodafarted

Hi Tom,

Yes, both sets are side by side in the livingroom now. In a side by side comparison, I can tell the two sets are nto set up the same. Because of that issue it is hard to make a phosphor comparison. The Moto is leaning toward the green and the CT55 is leaning toward the red.

I would tinker but my living room is very tiny and I have barely enough room to place the sets, let alone move them into a position to work on them. So I think for now at least, I am going to just let them as is. If I get time I will post a side by side photo of the two sets, with color bars adjusted to as identical as possible, so you can see the very aparent color mis-alignment.

Bob

Hmmm. Is the MOTO a narrowband R-Y, B-Y or a wideband I-Y, Q-Y like the 21CT55? Looking forward to the comparison photos. Shouldn't effect the saturated colors when judging the phosphers though?
Tom

[David Roper]

I can answer that: the Motorola uses narrowband demodulation.

What happened to your 21-CT-55 chassis?

[miniman82]

Originally Posted by David Roper

What happened to your 21-CT-55 chassis?

Ditto, I must have missed it too.

[Tomcomm]

March 21, 2010 at 3:30pm my 21CT55 ate its flyback transformer and I am looking for a replacement, LOL......Tom