With all these old and massive tube sets available, I wonder, is there a risk of introducing all kinds of insects when one brings such a set home, even if the set looks clean on the outside?

I've never experienced this, but then again I've never bought a used set before.

Does anyone have any such experiences?

You might get a spider or two. All depends on what condition the place was in that you got it from. It's always best to check it out before you put into your car or truck. After you get it home, use an air gun(if you have one) to blow all the loose bits and cobwebs out. Be careful if it was in a garage or storage area. be sure to check under the set for black widows or other nasty creatures. Wear gloves if possible. If it was inside and the home looks clean, probably not much to worry about. I've never had an issue but there is always a first.

iv always been conserned about bringing home a tv or someother peace of equitment with roaches in it.esp.a tv thats been in a house not working for years ,i have freind thats a cop , they went to a house once that he was walking in the back door and though the wall was a brown color until he notice it was moving around the closer he got in it was covered with roaches, in the kitchen .he didnt stay long he said.

I've had a hundred tiny little spiders arrive in a radio. Lucky I saw them: put the radio in a garbage bag and sprayed with ether (engine starting fluid) in the bag sealed up overnight. I've also heard of guys going to service a TV and finding it stuffed with roaches, dead and alive.

I will preface this story by saying that I have never got any bugs in stuff that I bought for myself.

However, where I work (at the electronics recycler), we had a contract with a rental company for a while. When their rental TVs died they sent them to us. We regularly got roaches and bedbugs in those TVs. They were all dead, but it's still gross.

One time, it was cold in the warehouse and I was wearing a jacket while working. I was having a hard time getting this 32" LCD to pop open. When the back finally let go, it popped open and threw about 40 dead roaches all over me, in my jacket pockets and everything. Ahh good times...

I remember a story from several yrs back, some poor dude bought & went to pick up a BIG console radio, got it loaded in his van, got back underway home w/his new playpretty, & found out The Hard Way that said radio was ALSO home to a rather LARGE Wasp Nest...ALWAYS check 'em..

ahhhh roaches all over you whata life ----/i have another friend that works for comcast and he was telling me a few stories once ,he was installing cable threw the walls useing 12-14 " long drill bit ,he got to one wall he ran the bit threw and when he pulled it out ,out came hundreds of roaches he said .they were in cover all's tool box ,when he got home his wife made him strip in the back yard and inspected every inch of clothing tools ex.

Roaches, mice, spiders and a King Snake blasted by B Boost in a Magnavox console. Picked up a Zenith TV that had so many roaches that Zenith wouldn't take the dud module on trade. Little roaches in a VCR that clogged the tape and jammed the transport!
And hotel TVCR's! You name it, I found it in the VCR tape opening! Half sandwiches, butter knives (used), game cartridges and much more!
And a big vacuum tube audio amplifier that an Iguana used as a bathroom.......
House calls were always "fun"!

Oh god.

I'm picking up a used TV set tomorrow, my first off CL. I'm scared now more than ever.

How should I check it?

I found a mouse nest in a Zenith 25LC20 that was stored in a backyard shed. Good thing they didn't use it as the bathroom.
I always pulled the back cover off everything and vacuumed out before bringing anything into the house.

Another time the owner of a shop I worked made up the bill and charged a customer for a can of RAID, they weren't amused.

Of course, the mid-atlantic has nothing on the gulf coast and Florida. Yikes!

when you work on peoples cars you wouldnt believe what you find inside the cars either ahhh esp. limo's

I've had my share of roach motel TV's and, unless it's something old and worthy, I won't even bring such a set home if I suspect it's full of roaches (usually, such TV's give off a stink that's hard to forget). In the past, I've opened the backs of TV's only to find a mix of dead and live roaches, along with all the roach shit.

How do I know if I should suspect a 'community' in the set?

I plan to take the back off outside and vacuum as well as conduct a visual inspection, but I worry that I won't be able to clean as well as I like if the criminals aren't obviously large.

Keep in mind that the TV I'm looking at is clean on the outside. My question concerns whether looks can be deceiving.

Most infestations worth worrying about are pretty obvious when you take the back off. Once they are inside the unit, they are finished being discrete, heh.

Roaches leave brown and white crap (poop or eggs, I dunno) all over, which usually causes any metal in contact with it to rust. I've seen VCRs in very bad shape from this activity. Roaches seem to be drawn to the warmer areas of electronics.

Bedbugs look like roaches only smaller and more round. They are usually dead in the corners.

Mice poop all over. Looks like a spilled bag of black rice. In older TVs they get up under the chassis and chew random things and make nests.

As most people said, just get a good look at the TV's surroundings, take a big whiff of it, it'll probably be ok. Take the back off right there if you are that worried about it. Tell the seller you need to see the inside to seal the deal.

Just steer clear of items that are from filthy houses, rental companies, hotels, etc. I have taken thousands of pieces of equipment across my bench, and I bet less than 15 have had obvious infestation history, so it's not that common (around here anyway). You just always remember the nasty ones!

It's confusing. It's current surroundings are fine, but it came from an older relative, and I have no idea what that was like.

Judging from what I've seen from most old people, I don't like my chances.

I'll probably just take the back off outside my house, the seller has already been very nice.

It's confusing. It's current surroundings are fine, but it came from an older relative, and I have no idea what that was like.

Judging from what I've seen from most old people, I don't like my chances.

I'll probably just take the back off outside my house, the seller has already been very nice.


:thmbsp: The fact that your smart enough to even consider what may be living inside an old TV means you'll never get surprised inside your house by an infestation that went unnoticed . Since you will open it up outside , you can shoo any obvious critters back into the wild (?) and bring a clean TV inside . It's the people who don't give such things any thought that have problems , when their new find brings in the great outdoors with itself ......

if you got a compressor just take off the back loosen up things and blow the nasty all away ,outside and if looks pretty dusty were face mask dont breath in who knows what.

The chances are real good that there will be nothing to worry about at all. The level of filth that would be present inside would tend to be on the outside at some level. I think you'd know there was an issue.

Well I got it and took the back off.

I found a dead stinkbug and a whole bunch of bug wings (?). Oh, and an unreal amount of dust.

I used both cans of compressed air that I had, and it was still dusty. I took some pictures.

Looks like I won't be hanging on to this set.

Trust me, i've seen alot worse than that! If you really like this set and it's worth something to you,i'd hang on to it.:yes:

If I were to keep it, I'd have to get the dust out. The dust in the pictures is seemingly caked on, compressed air doesn't move it; and a lot of areas are inaccessible to me, such as the speaker cabinets.

How should I clean them?

You should do what I do and use a new paintbrush to just wipe off all the dust

I went from this: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0360.jpg

To this: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0403.jpg

That's NOTHING compared to some of the stuff I've seen. What you have there can easily be removed with a paintbrush, old toothbrush, and damp rags, followed by a dry rag to dry.

Take a look at this video I shot of a 32" Trinitron I saved from a thrift store. This set is currently the main set in our house, in the living room armoire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMjMGbZt0ZU

There is one particular house a few streets down from me that seems to have an endless supply of older electronics to dispose of. I have come to the conclusion that they have an infestation of German cockroaches, as most of the pieces I have removed from their curb have shown evidence of their presence. One 80's vintage Emerson 19" CRT comes to mind...this one had mostly live roaches inside. I learned quickly (and thankfully, in time) to open everything outside first!

Like Inx64 and Yamahafreak said,assorted soft bristle paintbrushes,a good cleaner(i use 50/50 ammonia/water solution in a spray bottle.)Rags,paper towels,vacuum cleaner(forgot about the old leaf blower trick:D)I usually go a step further and take the chassis out for more thorough inspection(bad solder joints,lead cutting etc.)By the way, how are your soldering skills?That CRT pcb is gonna need some work and probably the main pcb as well(bad solder joints)....:scratch2:

Oh man, I knew I shoulda patented the leaf blower method :D

You should have seen the dust cloud that came out of the Trinitron set in the aforementioned video. I regret not filming it, but my camera probably thanks me. x3

Maybe I'll try to convince my tech to give it a once-over. I don't know what to touch and not touch in there.

By the way, how are your soldering skills?That CRT pcb is gonna need some work and probably the main pcb as well(bad solder joints)....:scratch2:

The set seems to work fine though, how do you know there are bad joints on the PCB?

There is one particular house a few streets down from me that seems to have an endless supply of older electronics to dispose of. I have come to the conclusion that they have an infestation of German cockroaches, as most of the pieces I have removed from their curb have shown evidence of their presence. One 80's vintage Emerson 19" CRT comes to mind...this one had mostly live roaches inside.

Jesus. How do you know you've eradicated them before you bring it in? I'm pretty sure they leave behind eggs and other trash.

The set seems to work fine though, how do you know there are bad joints on the PCB?



From what i can see,it looks like it has bad solder joints on the socket pins on the crt board (cracked solder)if you have a magnifier light or a loupe,you would see it right away.I also believe sony's were prone to horiz. output failures due to bad solder in the horiz./high voltage areas so i would have your tech go over the whole set:yes:....

In my honest opinion, all the joints I can see in the photos look good. If the set works well as is, the solder should be okay. As for the German roaches, it's pretty easy to find and remove all of their traces once you've completely dismantled the set. ;) Had I not really liked this set, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble. It's a 19" Emerson stereo set, with the removable glass sheet over the CRT. Model number MS199R.

EDIT: Upon closer examination of your photos, Outland, that set appears to be a Trinitron. Worth keeping, in my book! Can you provide the model number for us? (On the back panel; will begin with KV-)

It's probably going to the tech anyway, I'm sure he'll be able to figure out if there are any solder problems.

I don't think the pictures show it, but Sony seems to have slapped their logo on every transistor and capacitor in the set. It's a 1988 KV-27HFR. It has a fantastic picture, which is why I picked it up.

It also has good sound, but the quad speakers are isolated, and I can't figure out how to get in there without taking all the boards out. I'm afraid there might be more surprises waiting in there.

DEFINITELY keep that set. Early Trinitrons seem to be getting harder and harder to find, and 'quad speakers' has me intrigued. Sony usually brands all of the boards in their sets, as well as adding a single or double letter board code, to make servicing easier. I really wish I could find more of these older Sonys; right now, I have a KV-2771R and a small one which I can't recall at the moment (6-inch or so CRT, with knobs)

I like the set. There wouldn't be any problems if it wasn't so dusty.

I could do it myself, but I need to know a few things first.

1) There are two circuit boards that extend all the way under the tube and connect to the picture controls on the other side. How do I pull these boards to see what's under them?

2) The speakers are 'isolated' and in their own little compartments. The backs extend all the way into the plastic chassis, so I have no idea how to pull them aside of removing the tube itself. How do I get access to them?

I can provide pictures if it would be helpful.

Gee, I hope the TV's okay with spending the last two nights in the garage wrapped in plastic.

I might just give it to the tech so he can deal with it.

Photos will certainly help (shot of the whole TV from the back, with cover off), but most CRTs from that era come apart the same general way. Usually, the mainboard in the bottom of the set just slides out, or is held by a set of plastic clips. Sometimes it is screwed down. Once whatever is holding it in has been removed, it should just slide right out. (Be careful not to snag or damage any cables connecting the mainboard to the rest of the set.) Some sets will need to have the picture control knobs on the front removed first, so the board can slide out. (You can just pop the knobs off pretty easily from the front, most of the time.) The CRT board should just pull right off the back of the CRT neck, but be gentle with it if those solder points look iffy. As for the speaker cabinet removal, photos will help there. I'm assuming there will be screws attaching the enclosures to the inside of the front panel of the set.

I was repairing some ac units for an apt complex at home and pulled the cover off a compressor and 50 or more roaches went scurrying off.
It took years to get rid of their offspring.
Moral have the raid spray close by.
BTW this was outside the critters found their way into the house.

I was repairing some ac units for an apt complex at home and pulled the cover off a compressor and 50 or more roaches went scurrying off.
It took years to get rid of their offspring.
Moral have the raid spray close by.
BTW this was outside the critters found their way into the house.
Reminds me of the time I went into our spa to figure out why the jet system motor kept blowing fuses. There was rust in the base of the motor. I found a bazillion roaches when I opened the motor up...maybe they caused it to seize! :D I just couldn't figure out why they were living in there - I didn't think copper windings gave much sustenance. (Oh, and I was able to get the motor going again--much better than a $300 replacement!)

DEFINITELY keep that set. Early Trinitrons seem to be getting harder and harder to find, and 'quad speakers' has me intrigued. Sony usually brands all of the boards in their sets, as well as adding a single or double letter board code, to make servicing easier. I really wish I could find more of these older Sonys; right now, I have a KV-2771R and a small one which I can't recall at the moment (6-inch or so CRT, with knobs)

I rescued a KV2775R, now my work bench set. Looks though it has only one speaker and it was in the rain before I got it. The picture is great though.

I've used the leaf blower, also the shop vac in reverse with the narrow nozzle that makes a really sharp stream.

I tried to use a vacuum and paintbrush today, but the dust just doesn't want to move.

bills, that is exactly what I am afraid of. Thankfully, I haven't found any traces of anything except stinkbugs and dust so far.

YF; I don't want to offend you, but it seems like you may have an infestation, given that you've handled equipment with live specimens and have found them alive in your home.

I couldn't get the boards off without risking breaking something, they're too tightly set. I took some pictures.

I've been informed that one of the joints (H2 I believe) on the CRT board is broken, or on the verge. I've snapped a picture of that too.

So how am I supposed to get to those speakers/under the boards?

Yes, I would resolder that H2 connection if/when you can, and the two nearby on the same piece of foil as well.

I see screws on the speakers and a row below them (that might lead to others if there are any). Did you try removing those screws? Why do you want to remove them, anyway?

The H1 an H2 socket pins are what supply the CRT heater voltage to the pic tube.
Other than that one pin and a couple of the resistors associated with it, it doesn't look to bad! Also, it looks like that chassis should pull right out.The wire harnesses should be all plug ins but i could be wrong:scratch2:watch that 2nd anode cap as well as your going to have to discharge it before removal...:yes:

Sorry about not replying for a few days, I had some other priorities.

I'm probably going to send the TV off to my tech to resolder the H1/H2 and the little resistors on the CRT board, as well as to clean out the dust.

He did say that he prefers to wait until problems surface before soldering anything, which does kind of make sense (if it ain't broke...).

What do you guys think? Maybe we should just leave the solder joints alone?

i would resolder any that look bad , 2 ways to go about it . simplest and quickest is to add flux then re-flow . other way and maybe best way is remove old solder and refresh with new .

Hey Pete, I didn't know you were on VK! Glad to see you.

Yeah, I think I'll ask the tech to retouch them.

Chris, I missed your last response. Sorry about that.

I want to get to the front speakers so I can see if their surrounds need refoaming or not. The speakers seen in the pictures are the rear speakers. The TV has quadrophonic speakers, so there are more hiding in those compartments.

There are screws that secure the whole assembly to the chassis, but the compartment itself is too big to take out without hitting the picture tube. I have no idea how a serviceman is supposed to access them.

Maybe from the front?

Your fear of dust reminds me of that Detective monk(it would be amusing to see him try to clean that set)......That Trinitron was pretty bad, but I've seen MUCH worse in tube gear. Probably the worse was a pre-war Goodyear console that had somewhere between 1/4" and 1/2" of dust completely covering the chassis and tubes....There was also the HV cage inside my 52 Philco split chassis set. When I was a little kid I used to take apart fans and vacuum cleaners (among other things) and that Philco was several times as bad inside the cage....though come to think of it the rest was fairly aweful too...

My mom has a policy that ,unless something has been in the garage overnight or is impossible for roaches to hide in, it can't enter the house. While I understand her reasoning it can be annoying at times.....Heck I blew a good pair of Fischer speakers once trying to prove that nothing was in them, and that if there was the volume of the sound would have killed it.:tears:

I've found vacant mouse nests in at least 3 tube radios and 1 tube TV before...never fun, but usually interesting. On a good piece of equipment a serious collector just has to man-up and deal with it.

Monk wouldn't even touch this set. My guess is Natalie would be stuck cleaning it. :D

Well I decided to take it over to the tech today, so I unwrapped it from it's plastic, stuffed it in the car, drove over to find...

...that he's closed for the day.

Now the plastic part surrounding the picture tube is bent in a few places, all for nothing! :tears:

Oh well, it's ok. I'll just have to wait until I can find another time to take it over.

EDIT: To Be Continued...

How did I forget about this thread? :P

Anyway, no, there is no infestation in my house...the roaches in the pump motor were completely separate from the house, and we do keep up on pest control in and around the house. Haven't actually seen a roach inside the house in several months. :3

DavGoodlin, what a coincidence! My set also suffered slight water damage, but due to it being stored in a damp location. The surround on mine's speaker was totally bad, but I didn't have much trouble finding and installing a very similar replacement speaker. Actually, quite decent sound for what's there...:music:

I serviced the stuff at a rent to own company for years. You can smell the roaches in electronics long before you take them apart. Sickening sweet smell.

I wouldn't take a set to the shop if it isn't showing problems.

I've got a Sony from 1992 that has never had the back off for service, and it runs at least 4 hours every day. I have serviced it, though. The alignment adjustments are done thru the remote on this chassis.