Picked up a RCA KCS72A today1

[josephdaniel]

Today I want to this overpriced flea market today and saw the same RCA set that has been there for over a year just siting. It has been there so long because they were asking 200 for it but today it was 50! I'm somewhat mad they moved it outside under the deck a few weeks ago as we have had several inches of rain recently and it didn't help the finish nor the cabinet... I had my CRT tester with me just in case I stumbled upon anything I asked if I could plug it up and test the CRT and it came up about 50% on my tester! I got the home and just for the heck of it plugged it in (I know I shouldn't) as soon as the set warmed up I was greeted with a nice bright full raster and very clear and good audio. I couldn't get the horizontal to lock but there was some video getting through.
After that I took it upstairs and pulled the chassis and from the parts under there this set was almost entirely recapped with brown drops in the 60's and there was one new looking orange drop and a few mica caps that looked very new. I am guessing the the local Mr.Wizard did this and just fixed the set to work... All in all I think there were about 15 wax papers left in the set if I remember right, but I am going to replace all of those brown drops too. Also does anyone know when Radio Shack was selling those "lifetime" tubes this set has two or three of them installed...

Pictures coming soon!

[Dangler]

Regarding the "Lifetime" tubes, I bought a couple in the mid to late 80's. Those were the only ones I bought. I could get them elsewhere cheaper but without the lifetime guarantee.
Might be funny to see if the guarantee is still good!

[josephdaniel]

I have heard that RS will still honor the warranty over on one of the antique radio forums... I find it odd that a set this old was possibly still in use into the 80's and possibly even into the 90s given the newer parts that are under the chassis... It came from an estate sale so anythings possible :p

[josephdaniel]

Here are some pictures of the chassis. Those papers that are all scraped up are oen I had to scrape the wax off of to red the value.
I just put in a order in from just radios for most of the caps except for a few 1000v caps they didn't have that I will have to get from Mouser.
Does anyone else HATE replacing filter caps?

[N2IXK]

Radio Shack will still give you a free replacement tube, but you have to jump through a few hoops.

First of all, you have to get a Radio Shack employee to stop trying to sell you a cell phone long enough to explain the situation. Generally, they will have no clue, and will try to blow you off. Be persistent, and have them contact their district manager if they try to claim that the warranty is no longer valid.

They will obviously not have the tube in stock, and it will take a long time to get it. The last time I went through this, it was about 6 weeks to get replacements.

The tube you are requesting needs to be available through one of their suppliers. Only a handful of tube types are still being made. I put in a request for a new pair of 6L6GCs, to replace a gassed-up pair of RS Lifetime tubes. 6L6s are still being made for the guitar amp market, but most TV/Radio types are long out of production.

If you manage to get your free tubes, they will NOT carry the lifetime warranty any more. They won't even be RS branded. The 6L6s I got were Russian "Sovtek" brand.

[josephdaniel]

Wow, I might wait until these lifetime tubes die and take themin and see what I get... They probably wouldent even have to be feat tubes as no radioshack still has a tube tester anymore...

[Username1]

I use to use RS Tubes all the time, especially H output, never had problems. They were good tubes..... Never had to turn one in though.....

[josephdaniel]

Hmmh
Anyone ever heard of a B&W set this old being used through the 80's?

[truetone36]

Originally Posted by josephdaniel

Hmmh
Anyone ever heard of a B&W set this old being used through the 80's?

My 6T84 was used from the time it was new ('51) right up till the switchover to digital in 2009.

[josephdaniel]

WOW! Was it common for some older people to keep the same set untill the 80's and then get a color TV?

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by josephdaniel

...this set was almost entirely recapped with brown drops in the 60's and there was one new looking orange drop and a few mica caps that looked very new. I am guessing the the local Mr.Wizard did this and just fixed the set to work... All in all I think there were about 15 wax papers left in the set if I remember right, but I am going to replace all of those brown drops too.

Check those brown drops first before replacing - the ones in your set look like CDE or Mallory replacements, same quality as the Orange Drops of the era. WMF/DME series (CDE) and PVC (Mallory) were made in Massachusetts by Sprague through the 80's, and are not the ElMenco (EM) brown drops. CDE and Mallory have merged film lines, and CDE recently bought the Orange Drop line from SBE, so if they are CDE, Mallory, or Sprague, I'd leave them be if they check good. Get rid of the wax types for sure, but take pause before replacing the brown-drops willy-nilly-fashion and wasting money.

Cheers,

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by josephdaniel

Hmmh
Anyone ever heard of a B&W set this old being used through the 80's?

I wouldn't say that it would be common by any means, but certainly not out of the question. One must consider that television (even with 10in.black and white picture) was considered a luxury as well as an investment from the late 40s through the 60s. We tend to forget as we stare at monolithic flat screens these days that the whole television concept was revolutionary not all that long ago.

On top of that an average set say in the mid 50s cost around $200. That was a lot of money then. I believe this is one reason why older folks would save an old floor model TV for many years after it had gone "on the fritz" as they would say, or perhaps they were lucky enough to upgrade to color and/or remote control.

I remember doing a short stint delivering furniture back around 1990 and I would rather often come into a home and a late 50s set would be in the living room and I saw many a color "roundie" that seems to be the rage these days still in regular use. I myself was using one of those at that time. For me it was a way to get a (then) decent size color TV for a cut throat price as they didn't have a lot of resale value.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by josephdaniel

Here are some pictures of the chassis. Those papers that are all scraped up are oen I had to scrape the wax off of to red the value.
I just put in a order in from just radios for most of the caps except for a few 1000v caps they didn't have that I will have to get from Mouser.
Does anyone else HATE replacing filter caps?

Is that set a 21" console, using a 21AP4, metal cone CRT? If so, I have two sets, just like it.
One has a rebuilt CRT, the other has the original, with a brightener. It seems to be an economy model, as it uses a penthode tuner.

[josephdaniel]

Yes it's the 21 inch console

[stromberg6]

Nice! Plenty of room under the chassis for any electrolytics, if you don't want to re-stuff. I mounted new e-caps under my CTC-4 chassis to keep the originals on top. Pic of the cabinet, Please?
Kevin