Today, I had the opportunity to raid the "junk floor" at the local TV station. Among some of the things I picked up, I got this 21" solid state RCA AccuColor TV from '72 in a metal cabinet with the tilt-out speaker. I haven't turned it on or removed the back; but, I can tell it uses the upright modular XL100 style chassis. From what I remember, these sets made great pictures when they worked.

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff341/radiotvnut/stash016_zpsb76653c9.jpg (http://s538.photobucket.com/user/radiotvnut/media/stash016_zpsb76653c9.jpg.html)

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff341/radiotvnut/stash017_zps909a873d.jpg (http://s538.photobucket.com/user/radiotvnut/media/stash017_zps909a873d.jpg.html)

my grandparents had that exact same set in their family room well into the 90's. i used to watch football with my grandpa on it. Picture eventually looked like it lost luminance and they showed it the curb.

these sets are great.the xl100 was on par with zenith chromacolor sets.some of the finest produced and they made a fine picture

Pretty sweet set, good catch.

Nice. Looks to be in average cosmetic shape. Clean it up ! Too bad some silk screening is rubbed off :(

That's a fine TV. Should make a good picture once the set is restored. That the set has lasted over 40 years and probably still works speaks volumes for the quality of the true RCA televisions. If you do try to test the set before beginning to restore it, I'd bring it up slowly on a Variac so any chassis problems can be seen (and corrected) before any damage occurs. This set deserves to be restored, as it again very likely has a lot of life in it yet. The only thing I'd wonder about would be the condition of the CRT. After four decades plus of use, the tube is probably weak and the gray scale tracking may be off. It wouldn't hurt to check the convergence as well.

I have an RCA "XL-100" Commercial Skip CTC185A7 TV that still works great, 14 years after I bought it new. I put the XL-100 in quotes because, according to an RCA representative I spoke with on the phone some years ago, this is simply a model name that meant nothing then (by the '90s) and still means nothing today. XL-100 was used with RCA's first all-solid-state televisions and formerly meant "extended life 100-percent solid state", but RCA held on to the designation even after the company became Thomson. I don't see "XL-100" on today's "RCA"-branded flat screens, so the model name has probably, even likely, been retired. It's just as well, since the term has outlived its usefulness and former meaning.

Yeah, the condition of the CRT is a concern of mine and since it's a 21" tube, finding a replacement won't be easy. Fortunately, these older RCA tubes will usually take a good hit from a rejuvenator and if it comes down to that, I hope rejuvenation will last long enough until I find a good tube. My friend started working at the station in '94 and he said he does not remember this TV ever being used. Judging by the location of the room it was sitting in, it probably has been up there for at least 20 years.

I fired it up and it has an HV issue. I get no HV, with a very low level high pitched squealing sound. This is a CTC46A1 chassis with an April, '71 date on the delay line. The CRT tested very tired; but, came back up after I rejuvenated it and it stays in the green at 5V. Hopefully, it will stay up long enough for me to find a suitable replacement. As far as the HV, this set uses SCR's in the horizontal output stage and I suspect the trouble is either the SCR's, the tripler, and/or an open filter capacitor.

triplers were a common issue on these sets.that crt will take a hit over and over.you can hit those a bazillion times,i love these era rcas and as i said before,they are right up there with the chromacolors as far as dependability and picture quality.

Nice. Looks to be in average cosmetic shape. Clean it up ! Too bad some silk screening is rubbed off :(

Seems like every set, the OP gets, is grungy and needs a lot of detailing.
I did enough of that years ago, when used sets were bringing a decent buck. Now, forget about it, unless I need a part from it. :no:

Seems like every set, the OP gets, is grungy and needs a lot of detailing.
I did enough of that years ago, when used sets were bringing a decent buck. Now, forget about it, unless I need a part from it. :no:

It doesnt take much effort to clean the sets.
First some compressed air, some soap and water and a paintbrush or a horsehair detail brush,
and maybe some car spraywax for the plastics.

triplers were a common issue on these sets.that crt will take a hit over and over.you can hit those a bazillion times,i love these era rcas and as i said before,they are right up there with the chromacolors as far as dependability and picture quality.
In that case I ought to be set for life with my Chromacolor and my 19" XL-100, assuming the '78s were just as good. Not stopping there though.

It doesnt take much effort to clean the sets.
First some compressed air, some soap and water and a paintbrush or a horsehair detail brush,
and maybe some car spraywax for the plastics.
Not the sets you get, but the ones he gets.
When the sets are that far gone, even after a lot of work, they just look good enough. They just don't bring top dollar.
I have a ultra-sonic cleaner that does a great job on cruddy knobs. :thmbsp:

Well, I'd love to find pristine looking sets like you guys find; but, the sad truth is that rarely happens around here. In my area, TV's and such don't simply sit in an unused den for 50 years with a total of 50 hours use being put on them since they were new. Around here, TV's and other A/V entertainment devices are usually well used and abused. Stuff the age of this RCA is getting impossible to find around here; so, I was happy to get this one, dirt and all. I don't buy most of this stuff to resell; so, it's really not a big deal if I can't get it looking like showroom condition (I just have to clean them as best I can and be happy). Hell, around here, I couldn't give this RCA away if it looked brand new and worked just as well (it's not flat enough).

Around here, these early 70s RCA color TVs are some of the rarest to find in the wild. Even when old TVs were turning up everywhere on the curbs, I never found one like the one you have. Closest would be the '76-'77 RCA XL100s and then the colortraks of 1980 or so.
I once found a G.E. tube color from about '71 which had a control panel just like this. I don't think G.E. had any color clones of RCA this late however.

Im pretty sure most CRT TV's pre 1985-ish are very very difficult to find period nowadays, nevermind in clean condition.
90% of them have been thrown away, and the 10% remaining are owned by collectors, or just sitting in someone's basement waiting to get thrown away.

I dont even bother looking for 1990-2004 CRT tv sets. 1980-1989 are borderline for me. If they have tuning knobs and is free, i will take it.
I just picked up a 12" 1988 Quasar today for free.
I'll have pics shortly.

In the '90's, I was finding a fair amount of RCA consoles with the upright chassis; but, the metal cabinet sets were rare, even back then. About the only ones who had them were schools.

I haven't seen a metal cabinet RCA color set in years around here. The only RCA's I have from around this time are a beat up CTC-53 and a XL-100 from about '73. I see quite a few 50's B/W sets in metal cabinets, though.

In my area, a very small town of 3100 population, older TVs of any make don't seem to show up on treelawns or curbs anymore. The last TV I saw in the trash in this area, last year, was a late-model Westinghouse flat screen, near the trash barrels behind my apartment.

I haven't seen any older sets here in some time. The last 1978 color TV I saw, just down the road from me, was an RCA Colortrak 25" console. After that, I saw a couple of large-screen CRT-based portables, but since then, nothing. I guess folks around here are finding other ways, such as recycling, to dispose of their old TVs when they are replaced by flat screens.

Surprisingly, aside from the Westinghouse set I mentioned, I have not yet seen any other flat screen TVs in the trash, either in the neighborhood or in the trash area behind my place. Given the terrible reliability record of many if not most flat screens, most of which are manufactured of cheap parts (electrolytic power supply capacitors that fail after only a year, etc.) by no-name offshore companies, I would think I'd be seeing more of these sets than I've seen so far being thrown out left and right after the warranty expires. My own Insignia 19" flat screen is out of warranty by seven months and still works well, but for how much longer may be anyone's guess. My first DVD player had an electrolytic in it that was supposed to last only nine months before swelling and splitting open, but the part lasted much longer than that; however, something else went wrong with the unit after only three years, not unlike a cheap offshore-built tube-type 12" portable TV I bought new in 1975. That set lasted all of three years, then something shorted and burned up. I junked that set after the failure and bought a Zenith 12" solid-state b&w portable. That set lasted 22 years and was still working when I got rid of it shortly after moving here. Go figure.

I don't think pre-'85 sets are 90% thrown away by now.. I routinely see 70s and 80s sets at estate sales, and on eBay and Craigs' there are plenty of 50s-60s tv sets available.
Some models and brands are scarce by region

Dirty or clean.

Finding the gems is the key.

If it works, a little spray cleaner will do the trick.

Dirty or clean.

Finding the gems is the key.

If it works, a little spray cleaner will do the trick.
Amen to that. I certainly never expected to get my '73 Chromacolor, let alone have it brought to me so quickly and for a nominal fee. There's also a Chromacolor II non-remote 25" console model J2530E that's out of my reach at the moment, but I told the seller that my offer will still be on the table whenever he comes into the city should he be unable to sell the set locally.

All but one of the TV's I got were dirty.

I gave them a quick wipe while I was carrying them. After finding out of they worked, then they got a real cleaning. Why waste the time before checking it!?

My 1983 RCA CTC115 portable was a bucket of filth when I got it. Nice-looking home, so it probably sat in the guy's garage since the tuner quit. Still got to diagnose that one.

My 1983 RCA CTC115 portable was a bucket of filth when I got it. Nice-looking home, so it probably sat in the guy's garage since the tuner quit. Still got to diagnose that one.


Do you have a video/photos of this RCA?

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Do you have a video/photos of this RCA?
Just this photo right now.

Just this photo right now.

What a cool little set! Very "space age" looking. I like it!

What a cool little set! Very "space age" looking. I like it!
I have one of those as well! AC and 12 volt battery operated.

I have one of those as well! AC and 12 volt battery operated.
Yours must have the switch on the front to toggle the power source. Mine is just AC-powered. All I get is static over the speaker and snow on the screen, it won't pass a signal. Cold joint in the tuner somewhere I reckon.

Fresh pics showing more of the set and that a higher-end point-and-shoot digital camera is inferior to the cheaper analog cameras of yesteryear. I still need to get another one of those; my full-size VHS camcorder is a start anyway.

I found the TV's manufacture date inside.

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That's a nice one. It's rare to find the matching cart that went with these TV's.

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Looks like the top panel of your cart collapsed at some point, no surprise considering what they're made of.

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just try and find how many parts have been replaced in the rca. most likely none those were great sets. i believe much much better than the zeniths of the same time frame.

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forgot to mention i have 2 of the mini consoles 21" i would love to find 2 nos crt,s for these. one of the consoles never had a single repair and was used for about 30 years. they gave it to me when i sold them a rca 46" projection tv ctc-169 it,s still running also. steve