This is one of those sets that keep the tube heater string on all the time in order to provide the viewer with a solid state like warm up period. I personally am not in such a hurry that the difference in a tube warm up and solid state really mean anything. I would like to rig the set to be OFF when I turn it off. I guess the simplest thing to do would be to put one of those thumb operated line cord switches on the thing. I guess by now enough time has passed where sets like this are considered nostalgic in some way. I never thought I would put any time or money into a rectangular tube color set but the thing does produce a nice picture and looks OK in a Brady Bunch kind of way. Anybody ever messed with one of these?

I used to work for Sears in their service department, 25+ years ago. Check to see if there is a switch on the back of the cabinet marked "Vacation"; this disables the instant-on feature. Some sets had this switch. If the switch isn't there, the set could be modified to defeat the feature, or you could operate the set from a switched power strip. The instant-on feature went by the wayside around 1973 or so.

Hi Tim, do you happen to know who was making the tvs for Sears in that time? More specifically who made the Medalist 2? My father has been with Sears since 1972 but he doesent remember who did the production at that time. I do remember in the early 80s he said that Samsung was making Sears sets. My main set right now is a Sears floor model we bought new in 82. If it is a Samsung than they made on hell of a product. The set has never needed any kind of repair and has always seen daily use. People dont care much for console tvs today but there is no way I can justify getting rid of my out of style, old, dependable set to go purchase a new, trendy, plastic, non adjustable, remote dependent, piece of junk that may last long enough to save up for another. At times I think it is spooky that I view the same set as a 35 year old man as I did as a 13 year old kid. I show more wear than the set!

Sears apliances rule!

Hey TubeJunke! Cool set!!!!! Sometimes those older sets surprise ya when they have a better picture than some of the new ones out there. I'm also impressed that you still use a console for your main set! I love those older consoles, and don't understand how the trend turned to plastic boxes that seem to last for a few years. As for this set, I think it may be a Sanyo. Check out DRH's (Doug's) post "New Estate Sale Finds for 2004" on page 5 in this forum. His Sears set is 4 years older but looks allot like yours. I'm on a quest to find as many consoles or table top sets I can find from the late 60's thru early 70's. I think these sets are overlooked by most collectors. Did you see if your set has some type of "vacation" switch for the instant on? I wouldn't worry about this feature too much, but if you are concerned and it doesn't have a defeat feature maybe you could plug your set into a switched outlet, or plug it into a power strip that has a fuse or curcuit breaker. Enjoy your set!

many older sears sets were warwick or wells gardiner.
in the 80's most were sanyo.

If the chassis number starts with 528, it was made by Warwick; they were a big supplier of radios and TVs to Sears.

Tim

That is a really great looking set. I always liked Sears TVs for some reason (my first old TV (almost 7 years ago when I was 15) I got was a 1975 25" Sears console with a delta gun tube. It was my grandfathers. Unfortunately I no longer have it). I also had a 1975 Sears 19" table top model, model # 528.41671401. I no longer have it also :(. It was Sears's last hybrid set they made too. Thing weighed a ton. It was not an instant on set, but it had a spot in the back that said 'Instant On Defeat' but no switch there. Both sets never had a repair, gave great pictures, especially the console, although the tube was extremely weak from about 18 years of 12 hour day non stop use. (If anyone wants to see them I can post a picture.)

Actually, my first TV I ever had my parents bought for me when I was 8 was a Sears from 1990. Still got that TV, still gives a nice sharp picture. I just added it to the photo gallery. Don't know the model # offhand. Probably made by Sanyo. It's a mono set, but has 2 speakers and A/V inputs. It cost close to $300 back then, and to upgrade to the stereo sound model of the set cost $50 more.

I have a 1976 Sears table top TV right now, seen here (http://www.audiokarma.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1467&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=503). It is made by Sanyo, but built very well. Heavy set with a metal cabinet, gives great picture, and appears to never have been worked on. Coworker gave it to me about a month ago.

Wow this old thing does generate some interest. I was thinking the other day about how time is funny in the span of life. I mean sets like this strike me as fairly modern looking. Then I thought about the fact that it is 32 years old. Someone in their early twenties would see it like I see a 1951 Dumont. Old and interesting, if not a work of art in some strange way.
jstout66 mentioned being impressed at my use of a console as my main set. Well though currently out of the mainstream consoles were not that far back. There are still a lot of good 80s consoles floating around and still in daily use. I think solid state electronics reached a peak in quality and durability somewhere in the 80s. They were still striving to perfect the circuitry at that time. Many of the Tvs and also VCRs from the 80s are bullet proof. Now we live in the age of corporate greed which like all shit rolls down hill to you and I the consumer. High profit +low production cost=bad quality. Thats what we are stuck with. Many new sets dont last 5 years, much less 25. There is a good side. Here we have a furniture store who still stocks wooden console tvs. Not old ones. New ones. I think they do a lot of business with the older, rich crowd in town as they are rather pricey. seems like they go for around $900. I'll have to stop by there one day and see who the maker is.
With the model # begining with 528 I guess my set was made by Warwick. According to Tims info. I have never heard of them but it looks like they made a good product.
I could not find DRH's post on page 5. I tried to do a name search and it said DRH was not enough letters. Any hints anyone?

I found Doug's post about his 1969 Sears in this thread (http://www.audiokarma.org/forums//showthread.php?s=&threadid=13268&perpage=15&highlight=sears&pagenumber=5) Another cool looking set.

My 2 1975 Sears sets were Warwick TVs then. In the picture, the console is from November 1975, the TV on top is from March 1975 (Sears' last hybrid tube set), and a 1982 model Sears/Sanyo on the left with the same cabinet as my current 1976 Sears.

In the Sears hybrid set, all the tubes were labeled 'Sears' on them, which I thought was unusual. I knew their picture tubes all had stickers that said Sears, but not individual tubes too.

Sanyo bought out Warwick in the late 1970s, around 1977-78. Warwick was based in Chicago, and was primarily a "private-label" manufacturer, although they did make a line of radios under the "Clarion" brand. The company had been around since the 1930s.

Sears had their own brand of replacement tubes, which were used by their service department and were also sold at their parts counter.

The instant-on circuit in some of their TV sets used a multi-section on-off switch which sometimes gave trouble; I changed lots of them.

I finally found Dougs set. Quite different than mine. Cool just the same. He mentioned having a bunch of tubes in his set. Mine is dated 1972 and only has maybe 6 tubes. Most of the tubes were marked Silvertone and a couple of Phillips. The population of Sears tubes probably means my set has not seen very heavy use. Silvertone CRT as well. There is no mention at all of insta-view or vacation switches. I'll just keep it unplugged as long as I keep it. Havent decided yet. Still looks too modern with that sharp corner rectangular tube and plastic cabinet for my blood. Its funny the more I look at it the more I like it. I dont feel like I would want to attempt much repair work as it looks like it would be a mess to take apart. I'll just watch it and go from there. Thanks for the interest and comments guys!

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