Hi im considering bidding on this tv and wondered what these sets suffered from. I know every set has its merits and pitfalls do these suffer from duff crts or fly,s as these will be imposible to source over here in the uk. eBay item number:221348871424
Hope the link works thanks Danny

That must be quite rare over there, not so much here but it's still a desirable set and hard to find with an undamaged cabinet and all the knobs.
The only thing I see missing is the small cover at the back of the cabinet, not a big deal and you may be able to locate one.

They don't seem to have any more problems than any other set of the era, chassis is rather cramped to work on, CRT condition is always a gamble.
England is a rather humid place so that might cause issues that we don't see here.

Parts shouldn't be too hard to find, though you may have to buy them here. The small tubes are all common.

That is a lot more (U.S.) money than I would expect to pay for one here in the States but then again if I wanted to buy a Bakelite Bush TV here I imagine it would be expensive.

One more thing, I wouldn't bid on it unless you can pick it up in person, the cabinet is unlikely to survive normal ground shipping methods.

Thats the double "D" version.
I restored a GE 805 a couple years ago - it was a fun project.
I found that they are great performers too with the 10BP4 CRT.

Some tips that were given to me was that you can wash that light green
rubber mask around the CRT and it will come out looking like new.
I also polished the solid brass pieces and then applied red paint in the
engraved lettering to bring out the appearance.

One more tip, when you get ready to work on the chassis, do put a
cardboard cover the speaker as it is in the perfect spot for your
finger to punch through the paper cone.

The cabinets do polish up nice and shiny.

The chassis contains daughter boards where you will have to
spend some time recapping. There are two Selenium rectifiers
that you will want to replace.

Good luck and have a lot of fun.

Carl

Carl, do you remember the value of the dropping resistor you used on the seleniums? My 14 year old son decided that he'd like to try recapping a set with me, and those are going to have to be done.

Carl, do you remember the value of the dropping resistor you used on the seleniums? My 14 year old son decided that he'd like to try recapping a set with me, and those are going to have to be done.

Surprisingly I did not need to put in a dropping resistor.
The voltage levels were spot on.
I did though use two 1N4007's in series instead of one.
My thinking was that if one diode shorted out, the other would
take over protecting my electrolytics. Cheap insurance:-)

Carl

Placing Si diodes in series causes the forward voltage drop of the diodes to sum which as you put more in series causes the forward voltage drop to more closely approximate that of the original Se diodes reducing the size of the series dropping resistor needed or eliminating the need for it.

Hi thanks for the input i dont know yet if i shall go for this as its 250 miles away and the starting price is already quite high . The restoration doesnt bother me if the major items are ok i will have to find a schematic for the set if i get it. I dont think in the uk there will be many bidders so i may let it end and make an offer. thanks Danny

I have a chassis (no cabinet) of one of these, when work slows down some I will make some videos of the check out and repairs (sure it will need some caps replaced). I like to have working chassis around just to show to folks that have never seen tubes before.

find a schematic for the set if i get itThe Riders manual for GE 805 can be downloaded from the Early Television Foundation archive:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/tv_schematic_diagrams_postwar.html

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

I suppose you'll have a signal for it?

Hi thanks for the link i have visited the earlytelevision before but hadnt noticed there archive ive downloaded the schematic so shall drool over it before i make my mind up on this set its not so much the cost but the time driving to pick it up as im back at work now.I messaged the owner and asked him if he had any pictures of the insides he said no as he couldnt get one of the cover screws out so it will be a big gamble . Yes i do have a signal for american sets i bought a modulator from the us and us tvs dont seem to mind uk 625 line video i have a couple of us sets already . for bench work i use my good old BK tv analist although the rf output is a bit harsh .
Thanks Danny

Correction. I did use a dropping resistor in series with my GE 805.
I was running it for a while without a surge resistor but later
put in a 5 ohm surge resistor. This video I made reminded me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=836MIymlD2A

Carl

The 805 is a good daily runner when restored.
Mine is sweeped to CCIR and works great with 625 lines.
I bought mine in Maryland on my last USA-trip, more than 20 years ago.
I can help with a free scan of the SAMS manual.
A personal local pick-up is a must when you are planning to buy it.

TV-collector:stupid:

Mine is the best playing vintage TV I've ever owned. Just a rock-steady clear picture. I hate to turn the set off when I watching it!

Hi after chating to the seller he told me he had another ge with A dammaged cabinet which he would do a little cheaper. He told me he visited the states to buy tvs for his collection and posted them to the uk thats how one of the sets got dammaged. I had to collect a motorcycle for a friend that was 50 miles from the tvs owner so i now have two slightly diffrent sets. The chap has other us sets and will be sending me pictures of these soon.
I cant wait to have ago at the 805s and see how thay pair up with the uk rival the bush tv22.
Whats the diffrence between the two sets is it just the cabinets and what dates did these hit the streets. Thanks Danny

The one on the left might be a 10T1. The earlier style is the rounded rectangle mask. Manufacturers later switched to the "double D" mask to boast larger screen area but really you're sacrificing the corners.

I believe the two chassis very similar if not identical. They were produced in 1949 http://www.tvhistory.tv/1947-49-GE-Photos-Pg1.jpg

Hi all I have made a start on these and found a nest in the one with the back missing not good as there is shassis damage from animal pee the other set has been got at and some wires have been pulled of in places. Has anyone got a component layout diagram for these sets as the downloaded schematic doesn't show this. the set with the cracked top has had a crt breakage in the past as there was bits of glass inside the current crt tests like new so this will be the first to get going. The other tube tested very low but after a tickle it came up very good as well . Danny

I have the factory service manuals for both of those sets and neither one has a component diagram. If you downloaded the Riders manuals available on the ETF website, they are almost identical copies of the factory manuals. At least they have socket voltage diagrams that'll come in handy when troubleshooting.

I just picked up a 10T4 this past week myself, which has the same chassis as your 10T1. It's going to be a long while before I can get to work on it, so I'll be curious to watch your progress.

Do you have nicknames for American TV's in the UK? I know you call American cars over there Yank Tanks. Just wondering if you have other names for other stuff.

Oh well it looks as if im going to have to just follow wires and trace the components back this will be time consuming but as I have two sets I should be able to do it I may do a diagram listing the component locations for future use. Thinking about it I could take photos and just mark the items when I discover there locations . most uk diagrams had the location of capacitors ect this does help in fault finding. I have now removed the crt and will start cap changing and tracing the loose wires . A friend has repaired the cracked case but wont let me see it until I have a picture on the set .
I don't know of any nicknames for American tvs other then the ones already given by the us trade . some statements are its from across the pond or made by our 110v brigade . I think the yank tank bit comes from the fact that your large cars are as big as our military tanks . my friend has a 57 shevy pickup minus its running gear and we are going to fit it to a landrover discovery shassy well actually two joined together as it is to long for just one. I will post all my findings when I get power on the set and when this set is restored im going to do a comparison against the uk tv22 I wonder which will be the winner . Danny