So, on my way home from the estate sale where I got the Moto 19CK1, I stopped in Mundeline north of Chicago and picked up 3 more sets. I was mostly interested in a CTC5 Aldrich the seller had. Paid $200 for the lot. The other 2 sets are crummy B&W that I have no interest in.

The cabinet is a 5 to 6 on the 10 scale. Top is pretty good but the panel under the pencil box has some of the faux finish pealing off.

I was mostly interest in the possibility of getting a good 21AXP22. So I removed the back and much to my surprise some hack had installed a 21CYP22 in place of the 21AX. Well this totally sucks! So I get the Beltron out and test the thing. The 21CY tests great! see photos below. So I figure what the heck, I don't like this set anyhow, I may as well plug it in and see what it does. And in any event I am so disapointed I don;t give a rats ass if the thing goes up in smoke. Much to my surprise it gets a raster We have H and V and HV too. WooHooo!.

Don't know what I am going to do with it. I already have a nice 21CY in my spare crt inventory and I don't need another one. Maybe I part it out and put the crt on epay or if someone whats the whole thing, I would be happy to sell it to recoup my cost of acquisition ($200) PM me if you have an interest in taking this off my hands.

PM sent your way! :)

The CT5 Aldrich is sold to a local collector.

Thanks for sharing the pictures, didn't mean to rush you :-) Nice Aldrich, the 21CYP turning out good, really made it a nice buy!

So since it has a glass tube, did they use the conversion kit to install it or does it look home brew?

I doubt it was a home brew.....
A shop in that era would have replaced a 21AX with a 21CY as it was thought the 21CY was a better tube, or maybe a 21AX wasn't available or cost prohibitive.
We were picky and didn't like to sub tubes, but it WAS common practice.
And really.... would the stupid "Wizard of Oz" shot that everyone seems to post look that different on a 21CY?

...

So since it has a glass tube, did they use the conversion kit to install it or does it look home brew?

Not sure Nick. It has a genuine 21CY metal shroud and some clips that hold the crt in place that do not look home brew, so I would guess it is a factory conversion kit. I don't know why a dealer would change the crt type back in the day. Plenty of 21AX new and rebuilt crt's were available back then. So there was no rational reason to upgrade to the all glass CY tube. In any event I already have a buyer for this bastardized set and it will be leaving my stable on Thursday.

I got a good 10BP4 and a GE 17BP4 that is like new out of the other sets in the lot with the CTC5. The 17BP4 tests 1000 on my B&K crt tester. It is a newer aluminized version with the straight gun. Both crt's are now in my crt hoard.

Ahh HATE Yew...-Yosemite Sam, Esq. (grin)

So since it has a glass tube, did they use the conversion kit to install it or does it look home brew?

Here's my CTC-5 Wingate w/a 21FBP22A installed w/an RCA factory conversion kit.

-Steve D.

Here's my CTC-5 Wingate w/a 21FBP22A installed w/an RCA factory conversion kit.

-Steve D.

I looks like the job was done by the RCA service co.
The small sticker, next to the Colorama label, shows that they changed it.

I looks like the job was done by the RCA service co.
The small sticker, next to the Colorama label, shows that they changed it.

dieseljeep,

I believe you're right. Here's a close up of that sticker.

-Steve D.

I doubt it was a home brew.....
A shop in that era would have replaced a 21AX with a 21CY as it was thought the 21CY was a better tube, or maybe a 21AX wasn't available or cost prohibitive.
We were picky and didn't like to sub tubes, but it WAS common practice.
And really.... would the stupid "Wizard of Oz" shot that everyone seems to post look that different on a 21CY?

I remember seeing one of the price lists, where the 21AXP22, was like $220 VS the 21CYP22, priced at $150. I don't think the conversion kit was any more than $10 or $15, at the time.
Maybe, the original went to air, that early.
The technician probably told them, it was a better way to go. :thmbsp:

I suspect he real reason it was changed is the insulator used for the metal tube had a very bad habit of breaking down and would start arcing at some very inconvenient time. My parents had an early RCA color set with a metal tube. It was a regular occurrence that it would start arcing on Friday night, making the set useless for the weekend. On Monday, RCA Service was called and on Tuesday or Wednesday, the service tech would arrive. As a kid, I got on a first name basis with him. He came that often. He'd change the insulator and all would be OK for a couple of months, then the problem would return. Eventually, they changed the CRT for a new all glass version. After that, we had very few problems with the set.

A question--would it be possible--to get shocked THROUGH the insulator shield on the AXP tube?

I ask this--because a guy I once knew--who messed a bit with tv sets (but never really got "all into" it) --once told me he got shocked on a metal color tube in an RCA set--by simply touching the plastic tube SHIELD. I did not really believe him at the time. Was he likely telling the truth? he is long dead--can't ask him now.

If the outside isn't grounded well, you can get a nice static 'jolt' off it. Ask me how I know. Also the silver coating has a habit of flaking off, so the static charge has no where to go. Solution as with glass is to apply dag.

I remember seeing one of the price lists, where the 21AXP22, was like $220 VS the 21CYP22, priced at $150. I don't think the conversion kit was any more than $10 or $15, at the time.
Maybe, the original went to air, that early.
The technician probably told them, it was a better way to go. :thmbsp:

Not sure what you mean "Maybe the original went to air, that early". The set was 17 years old at the time of the replacement. That was a tremendous life for the original tube.

Funny that the conversion kit was only $15. if that were now, would probably be $200.

Ditto on tube life. By the time I found my CTC-4, it had like 3 hang tags in it for CRT replacement. Amazingly, the last one was dates '73 or something like that.

I suspect he real reason it was changed is the insulator used for the metal tube had a very bad habit of breaking down and would start arcing at some very inconvenient time.

Just curious, were your folks smokers?

Tobacco soot + high voltage can really collect dust in a hurry (we've all seen what smokers sets look like inside!) so if they were that might account for the frequent problems.

I with you on that.. I'll probably plug in the set I just got from ebay that got totally destroyed during shipping.. Watch it go up in smoke.. Hell, I may even help it..

On my Wingate (ctc-5) there was a crack in the plastic, the arc from the metal cone shot up thru that to the dag on the plastic. I had a spare plastic shroud so I just replaced it, I did seal the orig with some silicone but never tried it out.

I have another ctc-5 (metal cabinet faux blonde finish IIRC) that has the special chassis, not the delux like the wingate has. I really need to get on that one and see if its ok. I got it from a local guy, mainly as a back up CRT, as he said he never had it going and was told it had a bad flyback, but I have heard that so many times and found that not to be the case. It looks OK so I am hopeful it will be fine.

Ahh HATE Yew...-Yosemite Sam, Esq. (grin)
And I second that, my Gramma had one of these!:D Congrats!

Not sure what you mean "Maybe the original went to air, that early". The set was 17 years old at the time of the replacement. That was a tremendous life for the original tube.

Funny that the conversion kit was only $15. if that were now, would probably be $200.
I was referring to the set with the AX to the CY conversion. It might've been a service contract replacement. Color CRT rebuilding, in the late 50's, wasn't as common as B/W rebuilding. Also, the mortality rate of rebuilding any metal coned CRT was poor and the prices reflected it. They were a lot more expensive, than they're all-glass counterparts.
The 24's, 27's and 30's, only had a six month warrantee. :sigh:

Just curious, were your folks smokers?

Tobacco soot + high voltage can really collect dust in a hurry (we've all seen what smokers sets look like inside!) so if they were that might account for the frequent problems.

My father smoked. Maybe that was the cause of the problem. Thankfully, I never picked up the habit.