Whirled One
01-06-2013, 04:52 PM
Hi all,
I picked up this Magnavox color set at an estate sale this weekend. The sale was actually at a former TV repair shop which had probably been closed (or at least out of the TV repair business) since the 1980's. Any real 'gems' among TV stuff had evidently been pretty well picked through at one time/point or another, but there were still a few somewhat interesting items. Among them was this Magnavox, which was found among a group of very beat-up TVs, all of which appeared to have kept around only as "donor sets," as most had obvious missing parts and the store owner had marked the CRT type somewhere on the cabinet on each one (I assume for reference so that the CRT could be used in the future to replace one in a customer's set).
This Magnavox is pretty rough looking, but I guess I sorta liked the "mini console" style wood cabinet, and it seemed pretty early for a 19" rectangular color. Also, it was only $2.50 (it was half-price day), so I figured it was worth a shot if only for educational value. Also, unlike most of these sets, this one looked pretty much untouched and complete, even after pulling the back cover. One thing that I thought was odd, though, was that the CRT number marked on the cabinet by the shop was a Japanese type number (490GB22). I don't think I've ever seen a large USA-made set from that era by a domestic manufacturer that uses a Japanese CRT. The CRT itself has no markings I can see other than a Magnavox tag pasted on it, which has only a serial number.
The cabinet of the set has the usual Magnavox little cardboard tag with the model number and other ID information. The tag indicates the model number as 10T510G, but I couldn't find anything like that in the SAMS index. I couldn't find a chassis number anywhere. However, I did notice a hand-written number ("887-2") penciled on the inside of the cabinet, probably by the shop owner long ago. Assuming this to be the Sams photofact number, I checked, and, sure enough, that is the folder for a Magnavox color TV. Also, I already happen to have that Photofact set, so I dug it out, and indeed, it appears to cover this TV. However, the model numbers and chassis numbers on the Photofact don't come close to matching any numbers I can see on this TV, so I'm not certain. This same chassis was used on a large number of individual Magnavox models, including 23" and 25" sets. The CRT for the 19" version is listed as 490GB22 (same as that written on the set by the shop owner), but also as standard US types 19EXP22 and 19EYP22.
I haven't tried powering it up yet. I want to check it over a little bit first, as it looked like every other TV in that shop had some sort of "gotcha" waiting to happen to whatever unwary individual that might come along to try to plug it in without looking. :) :yikes:
Anyone know anything else about this TV? I'm not very familiar with older Magnavox color sets.
Oh, one other thing. The CRT looks like it has a frosted finish, and the face is rather scratched up in the center. Will Novus polish work on this, or will it just make it look worse?
By the way, it's been a few years since I've been here. I kinda fell out of the community for a while, mostly due to some Real Life stuff. I'll probably end up just popping in and out, but I'll try to keep in more than I had been the past couple of years. Thanks!
I picked up this Magnavox color set at an estate sale this weekend. The sale was actually at a former TV repair shop which had probably been closed (or at least out of the TV repair business) since the 1980's. Any real 'gems' among TV stuff had evidently been pretty well picked through at one time/point or another, but there were still a few somewhat interesting items. Among them was this Magnavox, which was found among a group of very beat-up TVs, all of which appeared to have kept around only as "donor sets," as most had obvious missing parts and the store owner had marked the CRT type somewhere on the cabinet on each one (I assume for reference so that the CRT could be used in the future to replace one in a customer's set).
This Magnavox is pretty rough looking, but I guess I sorta liked the "mini console" style wood cabinet, and it seemed pretty early for a 19" rectangular color. Also, it was only $2.50 (it was half-price day), so I figured it was worth a shot if only for educational value. Also, unlike most of these sets, this one looked pretty much untouched and complete, even after pulling the back cover. One thing that I thought was odd, though, was that the CRT number marked on the cabinet by the shop was a Japanese type number (490GB22). I don't think I've ever seen a large USA-made set from that era by a domestic manufacturer that uses a Japanese CRT. The CRT itself has no markings I can see other than a Magnavox tag pasted on it, which has only a serial number.
The cabinet of the set has the usual Magnavox little cardboard tag with the model number and other ID information. The tag indicates the model number as 10T510G, but I couldn't find anything like that in the SAMS index. I couldn't find a chassis number anywhere. However, I did notice a hand-written number ("887-2") penciled on the inside of the cabinet, probably by the shop owner long ago. Assuming this to be the Sams photofact number, I checked, and, sure enough, that is the folder for a Magnavox color TV. Also, I already happen to have that Photofact set, so I dug it out, and indeed, it appears to cover this TV. However, the model numbers and chassis numbers on the Photofact don't come close to matching any numbers I can see on this TV, so I'm not certain. This same chassis was used on a large number of individual Magnavox models, including 23" and 25" sets. The CRT for the 19" version is listed as 490GB22 (same as that written on the set by the shop owner), but also as standard US types 19EXP22 and 19EYP22.
I haven't tried powering it up yet. I want to check it over a little bit first, as it looked like every other TV in that shop had some sort of "gotcha" waiting to happen to whatever unwary individual that might come along to try to plug it in without looking. :) :yikes:
Anyone know anything else about this TV? I'm not very familiar with older Magnavox color sets.
Oh, one other thing. The CRT looks like it has a frosted finish, and the face is rather scratched up in the center. Will Novus polish work on this, or will it just make it look worse?
By the way, it's been a few years since I've been here. I kinda fell out of the community for a while, mostly due to some Real Life stuff. I'll probably end up just popping in and out, but I'll try to keep in more than I had been the past couple of years. Thanks!