I occasionally volunteer at a local Thrift Store. I spotted an old TV in the back that although they recognized that it may be collectable, they didn't quite know what to do with. I don't know anything about televisions and I don't collect them so I am turning to the fine folks here at AK for advice and suggestions. I am trying to help the Thrift store determine a fair asking price for this set.

The TV is an RCA model 14-PD-8055, B&W portable tube type with a metal cabinet. I did search Google for the model number and found some limited information that, if the information is correct, indicates that this would be a chassis number KC5111C, Sams # 396-3. It is pretty dirty and the two knobs on the right side for volume and (?) are missing. The channel selector knobs are there. Other than the dirt, everything else appears to me to be in place and unmolested inside and out. I did try to power it up very slowly with a Variac but it is dead. There is no sign of life at all. None of the tubes light up. I didn't attempt to find out why and just put it away. I don’t intend to do any troubleshooting.

Suggestions and information about this set will be appreciated.

I restored one of those. I would not pay more than 35, with it being incomplete. I got mine for 35 at the first ETF convention. This is a hot chassis set, with the switch going to the power supply. Polarizing the plug is all that's needed to make it safe.

The PC board was a pain to recap, as the tuner had to be removed to access the board. Once recapped, these are pretty decent performers.

They are cool sets, but don't command any real money unfortunately. Nice that you saved it from the beatings of the thrift realm.

If its completely dead, there is probably a tube with an open filament or the series resistor that is in line with the tube filament string. Hopefully the CRT doesn't have the open filament.

The other critical thing is the selenium rectifier and filter caps. I would replace those in addition to the above mentioned before trying to see if any signs of life are present.

They can seem intimidating if you're nothing but an audio guy, but they are actually fun to work on and the reward is that you have a cool looking old TV that you can watch and show off to your friends who will go "WOW, that thing actually works?"