Well, I am having a lot of luck this week. I added yet another tv to my collection this will be my second tv with vacuum tubes in it. This is a 1971 Ford Philco color hybrid tube/transistor tv. It has 18 tubes in it and 10 transistors in total. Looks to be a pretty low hour set, barely any cataracts on the screen. A bit dusty but not too bad. Cabinet had no scratches but damage on the lower right hand corner of the cabinet. I have no idea for sure how long it has been since this was powered on and used but I am guessing 20 years. I picked it up for free in the blistering 100 degree heat today in a house that was being cleaned out for sale by a family.

Basically this woman's grandparents never threw away anything, the house was built in 1925 and was NEVER remodeled after the 50s.

Anyways the chassis number is 20QT74. Model is G703OUYA I believe, not 100% sure about the model because the stamp of the model was blurry.

I have not bothered to attempt to turn it on at all yet, as it is highly likely capacitors are bad if I had to guess. I may open it up later tonight and take a look inside.

https://imgur.com/a/HeDCoxn

I've got a similar table model with cart and the, I guess optional, tuning eye tube tuning indicator. I don't run mine much because the flyback likes to run hot.

These have the same brown paper labels the old 30s Philco radios had.
If your CRT is original Philco then it will get RCA looking cataracts that somehow respond to the Zenith guitar string cataract removal procedure...One of only 3 RCA looking cataracts I've ever seen respond well to the guitar string method.

The statement that this Philco TV belonged to someone who never threw out anything reminds me of my late grandmother (my father's mother). She never threw anything away either, if she could help it. She had a 1951 GE 16" TV and a 1948 Sears Silvertone radio-phono (not to mention other relics of the 1950s and earlier) for years, until she moved to our house (long story and OT) in 1972. The reason she kept all this antique stuff was because she lived through the Great Depression, during which, I am told (I'm 66 and hadn't been born yet at the time), people kept everything they could as long as the stuff worked or could be repaired. My grandmother finally replaced her GE 16" 1951 console with a color TV in, IIRC, 1969, but until then, as I said, she kept her GE set as long as it worked.

I had never seen anything like it before in my life. The VHF tuner's channel knob had the letters "UHF" printed on it between channels 5 and 6, and the tuner itself had two RF amplifier tubes, great for use in fringe areas miles away from the nearest TV station. This wouldn't have been necessary where my grandmother lived until 1972, as the area was suburban Cleveland which received all three [at that time] Cleveland television stations, and an outdoor antenna wasn't necessary either, at least in that area, as the set pulled in great pictures with just a pair of "Spico" rabbit ears.

The TV also had a focus control on the front panel, behind the trap door between the volume control and the channel selector, but I don't remember ever seeing that control being adjusted, even at the end, when the set was replaced.

I inherited that GE TV when my grandmother got her color set, but the GE set stayed in our basement for years (again, long story and OT). The set worked well for the next two years, until my dad and I moved (once again[!], long story), but before then, I remember sitting downstairs in our basement with the TV on, enjoying a program. This wouldn't have been anything to write home about, except when a commercial came on and I reached around behind the TV. I'll never forget it. I was greeted by a large spark near the junction of the power cord and the interlock plug; obviously, the insulation was crumbling at that spot (and likely elsewhere on the cord as well, as those old cords were insulated with material which eventually deteriorated).

BTW, today's AC line cords, for televisions and for everything else, thankfully, are now made of material which will not crumble under normal circumstances. To this day I am amazed the crumbling insulation on the interlock cord of my grandmother's TV did not cause a fire when the cord eventually put a dead short across the AC line. The only thing I remember seeing was a huge spark, but somehow the cord still worked after that.

I didn't take any chances, of course; I immediately replaced the crumbling old cord with a cheater cord, which allowed me to use the TV until I moved. The set was rather unceremoniously put out for the trash at that time, along with every other old TV I had except two; one was a color set which eventually quit in '73, the other was a Sharp 12-inch b&w portable, which also gave up at the same time.

An interesting side note: When my dad and I were getting our house ready for my grandmother to move into, we were throwing out old TVs from the basement right and left. I couldn't help wondering what our neighbors must have thought, seeing all those old televisions being carried out our front door; looking back on it, it wouldn't have surprised me if our neighbors thought we had been running a TV repair shop in the basement at the time.

The Philco hybrids were a very good set unlike the rest of the line
at the time. Awesom pix with an updated CRT. Reliable too !

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Welp, an update on this tv, after going through the capacitors and inspecting the tv and getting it turned on. The 6KD6 Horizontal output in the tv started arcing like crazy within seconds of power being applied. I quickly turned the tv off. I am guessing that tube is bad. And of course naturally it is the most expensive to replace tube in the set I later discovered when searching ebay. Also the thermistor attached to the degaussing coil is burnt looking and had no continuity which explains why the degaussing coil was disconnected from the tv by someone at some point.

I think the CRT would be more expensive to replace.

Give me an idea of what you think a good used 6KD6 is worth and if no one else steps up to the plate I will look at my bins. I'd much rather help out a fellow member than go for a profit. I'm also an Audiokarma subscriber so we can do the business thing there and stay with the rules.

Give me an idea of what you think a good used 6KD6 is worth and if no one else steps up to the plate I will look at my bins. I'd much rather help out a fellow member than go for a profit. I'm also an Audiokarma subscriber so we can do the business thing there and stay with the rules.

Thanks for the offer! I actually went ahead and ordered and got a brand new NOS RCA 6KD6 tube on ebay for $35ish dollars including shipping. I replaced the old dodgy looking one in the tv and sure enough the new one works fine! Funny that I guessed the 6KD6 was bad even before I turned the tv on and was right just by visually looking at it. Anywho, now there is arcing in that metal box where the flyback is. Luckily flyback still looks fine but the arcing appeared to be happening where the HV rect. tube is hanging from upside down in its socket. So it may be a bad HV rect. tube now. I already ordered and got a replacement for it just in case so hopefully that is all it needs. I managed to get to the point where the CRT high pitch whine could be heard, CRT filament lit up but no light or picture on the tube, solid state sound was heard loud and clear. Then that was when HV rect. tube or something really close to it was arcing and I quickly turned off the tv.

It scared the heck out of me lol.

The 3A3 has a habit of dropping the filament into the plate over time when they're running upside down, this will take out a flyback in short order.

The 3A3 has a habit of dropping the filament into the plate over time when they're running upside down, this will take out a flyback in short order.

Wasn’t that the way most RCAs mounted it after the CTC-15?

RCA & Magnavox were notorious for this, the 3A3 was a fast heating rectifier while the 3CU3 was a heater cathode. More than once I've dropped the heater in the 3A3 with the RCA flop top cage cover, not a problem if caught right away... wrecked a few flybacks and 6LQ6's this way

RCA & Magnavox were notorious for this, the 3A3 was a fast heating rectifier while the 3CU3 was a heater cathode. More than once I've dropped the heater in the 3A3 with the RCA flop top cage cover, not a problem if caught right away... wrecked a few flybacks and 6LQ6's this way

What were Magnavox and RCA's design engineers thinking? Mounting the HV rectifier socket so that the tube would be hanging upside down is a one-way ticket to disaster in that the flyback, not to mention the horizontal output tube, will be destroyed if the 3A3 shorts for any reason. I don't know if this was eventually corrected; however, given the problems it can cause, I would hope it would have been, sooner rather than later. After all, it costs a lot less to replace a 3A3 or 3CU3 tube than to replace the flyback.

“What were Magnavox and RCA's design engineers thinking? ”

The datasheet for the 3A3 does indeed allow any mounting position for the tube:

https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/049/3/3A3A.pdf

https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/135/3/3A3C.pdf

jr

The HV rectifier tube in the tv is a 3DC3. Not sure if it has the same issue with a filament falling out. After safely discharging the CRT and disconnecting the HV rect tube from its socket, I found out where the short was!

It appears that there was arcing from a bit of exposed copper wire leading to the tip of the HV rect tube. It seemed to perhaps be bypassing the corroded metal clip in the plastic nipple cap that goes over the tip of the tube.

Here are some photos.

https://imgur.com/a/wMMNkQ0

Any ideas or suggestions of how to handle this safely to stop the arcing?

Clean it with rubbing alcohol or goof off, file or scrape off any remaining carbonization of the material, apply some silicone over the arc point and let it cure.

Clean it with rubbing alcohol or goof off, file or scrape off any remaining carbonization of the material, apply some silicone over the arc point and let it cure.

It sounds like a good plan. I also am getting a product called "Super Corona Dope" apparantly it is a product meant for very high voltage stuff like what I am working with.

Ok well, I cleaned up the connector, the plastic nipple cup for the HV tube, applied the corona dope generously ect. But still having the same issue of arcing in the HV metal box. To be fair I did not directly witness it, only saw the flashing coming out from the translucent plastic tube holder for the HV rect tube 3DC3 which hangs upside down weirdly.

Flyback physically looks fine but I am starting to wonder if the damper and/or the hv rect tube are bad as well. I read the damper tube if bad can actually kill the horizontal output tube too. The first tube that was arcing internally was the horizonal output tube which i replaced with a NOS one and that issue had went away which is when this new issue has started.

Any overt signs to look for with a bad damper or HV rect. It is just weird to me why it is arcing still. Would it be worth getting a known good damper and HV rect. tube and swapping just to see what happens?

The arcing seems to happen within seconds of the tv being turned on. All tubes do glow.

Apparently you cleaned and insulated to cap connector, but didn't do anything around the base of the tube? If that's correct, do an inspection of the base for problems.

Take the whole thing apart. Clean the cup, socket, wires with 91% alky.
Look for pin holes & carbon traces on the cup. Check the filament
winding also. It is at full HV potential & a common place to arc.
Last be sure the HV is in spec. If it runs high it will start arcing
soon again & cause other headaches.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Take the whole thing apart. Clean the cup, socket, wires with 91% alky.
Look for pin holes & carbon traces on the cup. Check the filament
winding also. It is at full HV potential & a common place to arc.
Last be sure the HV is in spec. If it runs high it will start arcing
soon again & cause other headaches.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

I think the arcing is actually happening where the wires go into the plastic tube socket as shown in a screen shot of the issue occurring. Any tips on how to open it up? The plastic base is riveted onto the metal cage and the top cover of the plastic socket might be glued in. Not sure how to get it off.

Also what in the heck is this bare copper wire that is dangling from the side of the HV box?

https://imgur.com/a/aD58QCV

Wire looks like its to dress the wire bundle, yoke wires ?
Top cap should pop off.
Cup would need to be drilled off. Do last if needed.
Try removing the cover & running it in a blacked out room to see arc.
Set has a focus divider, white block behind the cage. Those can
crack & arc.

Zeno

Wire looks like its to dress the wire bundle, yoke wires ?
Top cap should pop off.
Cup would need to be drilled off. Do last if needed.
Try removing the cover & running it in a blacked out room to see arc.
Set has a focus divider, white block behind the cage. Those can
crack & arc.

Zeno

I removed the top plastic cap to see the pins where the red and white wires go. First I hear the high pitched CRT whine seconds after powering it on. Then the arcing starts. The arcing is still happening and clearly is jumping between the red and wires across the pins they connect to. Also there appears to be a second spark happening right after the first bright one which is seen flying off bottom part of the metal chassis (near the HV metal box perhaps)

https://imgur.com/a/UgnZ2GO

There is clearly brown greasy looking crud on the socket.
See if you can clean it up with a swab & 91% alky. Be sure to discharge HV first but the divider probably bleeds it off anyhows.
You may want to search e-bay for a NOS HV cup.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

There is clearly brown greasy looking crud on the socket.
See if you can clean it up with a swab & 91% alky. Be sure to discharge HV first but the divider probably bleeds it off anyhows.
You may want to search e-bay for a NOS HV cup.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Will do. Any advice about the metal rivets? Is it avoidable to drill them off or is that they only way if I need to replace the HV cup?

Will do. Any advice about the metal rivets? Is it avoidable to drill them off or is that they only way if I need to replace the HV cup?

The cup looks like you can easily get away cleaning it. Even if he worst cup I encountered in a 13" Zenith color that had arced through the cup I was able to clean it with goof off drill out the carbon in the hole the arcing made them fill the hole with sensor safe silicone and it's held up for years.

There's several ways to remove rivits such as drilling, grinding the heads off with a Dremel (good for cases where you want to temporarily remove a rivited item), cutting the shaft of the rivit if the item it's securing is gone and it's loose in it's hole.
I'd leave the socket attached for cleaning.

The cup looks like you can easily get away cleaning it. Even if he worst cup I encountered in a 13" Zenith color that had arced through the cup I was able to clean it with goof off drill out the carbon in the hole the arcing made them fill the hole with sensor safe silicone and it's held up for years.

There's several ways to remove rivits such as drilling, grinding the heads off with a Dremel (good for cases where you want to temporarily remove a rivited item), cutting the shaft of the rivit if the item it's securing is gone and it's loose in it's hole.
I'd leave the socket attached for cleaning.

On a side note, does anyone have the schematic for this tv? I have one schematic of it but it is from an old magazine and the resolution of the scan is not so good. I can barely read most if any of the schematic. I am going to do a recap of all the electrolytics while I am working on this tv after I fix the primary issue it has. I am sure the caps are leaky given the age of the tv.

A bit of an update. I tried using iso to clean up the gunk on the HV cup for the tube and also used a generous amount of super corona dope. I am still having the arcing issue however. I am not sure if this is because of a grounding issue, the voltage being too high, a bad CRT, flyback, transformer, or if there is still some hole somewhere? I am honestly stumped right now.

A bit of an update. I tried using iso to clean up the gunk on the HV cup for the tube and also used a generous amount of super corona dope. I am still having the arcing issue however. I am not sure if this is because of a grounding issue, the voltage being too high, a bad CRT, flyback, transformer, or if there is still some hole somewhere? I am honestly stumped right now.

Well you can get an HV probe/meter and check the HV to rule that out. If the fly isn't getting hot and you have enough HV and deflection then its probably OK.

CRT grounding can be checked by eye and by resistance.

You can investigate the source of the sound further by getting a few feet of insulative plastic or rubber hose sticking one end in your ear and probing around for the loudest arcing sound with the other end like how a doctor would use a stethoscope.

Lastly don't put corona dope on something that you haven't gotten completely spotless. Dirt can be conductive, stains in the plastic can be carbon tracking, and carbon tracking must be completely removed before corona dope or silicone is laid down (even if it means taking a Dremel to the plastic and grinding it away) or else the arcing will just penetrate the thin layer of dope and resume it's normal carbon track.
When Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol fails I next use GoofOff to clean off residual dirt....That stuff will slowly melt the outermost layer of plastic or rubber so if GoofOff don't get it clean it's Dremel time.

While I was cleaning the tube sockets in the tv, I noticed a rattling sound from the horizontal output tube and noticed a loose piece of metal or filament was loose and rolling around. I attached a photo of it.

This is pretty frustrating because this horizontal output tube was purchased recently by me to replace the bad horizontal output tube the tv had with it.. The horizontal tube was not originally making a rattling sound nor had any loose bits in it when I had put it into the tv a month ago.

What could have happened? Could it have been vibrations or just bad luck? The tv was sitting on an old hardwood floor and vibrations travel easily through the floor when one walks around the house.

I am guessing this means the tube is bad or is unsafe to use now and I should get yet another replacement?

It looks like a little metal "tab" instead of a filament though.

https://imgur.com/a/ChYo70o

I can't really tell what it is. If you think it's metal then it probably is a danger. If it looks like glass or mica wafer (insulator materials) I usually keep running the tube...A chunck of insulator won't hurt anything, but a conductor can short things.

A bit of a minor update but it is good news in regards to the CRT. I recently acquired my first CRT tester. It is a Sencore CR 161. From what I have heard online, Sencore is a trustworthy brand. After reading the instructions and manual, I quickly learned how to use the tester.

I tested the Ford Philco tv's picture tube at the normal 6.3 volts and all three color gun's emissions were GOOD! Also no shorts in the CRT were detected by the tester which rules out the CRT being the cause of the arcing I had been seeing in the HV cup area.

So it appears that I have a picture tube that is in great shape and with plenty of life left.

That's good. I would check other tubes of known working and non-working status to make sure the tester is telling you the truth. I've bought sets at the ETF where someone tested the tube good and it was very bad and tubes where they tested the tube bad and it was good.
It probably is good, but testers can lie to you so get a feel of it on multiple tubes of known performance to be completely sure, and get a better feel for your new tester.

I finally got around to taking the whole chassis and tuner out of the tv. Cleaned up the wooden cabinet. Checked all the diodes on the tv, all diodes tested good. I am now recapping all the capacitors that are known to be bad. Mostly the bad ones were small low value electrolytic ones on the pcb board. A bit annoying to get into the tight spaces on the board. I much prefer working with point to point wiring.

Flyback seems to test ok based on measured ohm values via a multimeter and comparing to the schematic. Will be cleaning up the high voltage cup more thoroughly this time to make sure no carbon tracing happens, if necessary a Dremel will be used.

Replacing a burnt out 6.3Volt incandescent bulb that illuminates the tuner.





In summary:
Flyback good, capacitors that tested bad are being recapped to rule those out, diodes all tested good, CRT is in great shape, and cleaning the HV cup again in hopes of stopping the arcing that keeps happening within seconds of powering on the tv.

Replacing a burnt out 6.3Volt incandescent bulb that illuminates the tuner.

Also, I now have a NOS vintage RCA high voltage probe, so I can now test what actual voltage is coming to the CRT. A bit nervous using this as I have never done so before.

Question:
Is it possible that the sole/original cause of the arcing was a bad doubler or tripler? There is a white box on the back of the high voltage cage that is believe is a doubler or tripler. Also perhaps the voltage is set too high on the potentiometer that sets it?

A theory I had was that as the emissions performance from the old Horizontal tube had declined, the knob that upped the voltage output was turned up to compensate...until the horizontal tube finally had failed and went to air. Now with the new horizontal tube in it the voltage is too high at current setting.

https://imgur.com/a/Wqq1s8l

Most likely the box is a focus divider. They can arc. Its a like 300 meg resistor
that drops the HV to abt 6 HV for focus.
Never trust testers 100%. Most common mistake they make is it can
read bad but still be a good pix.
With HV probe just be sure you have a solid ground & touch the probe
right to the button. Sometimes when you lift the rubber you will get
an arc & hissing. Not to worry.

Zeno

If it uses a 6BK4 shunt regulator tube then turning the HV up actually reduces load/strain on the H output tube...A 6BK4 acts like a CRT but essentially conducts harder when the CRT goes dark to try and keep the load relatively constant.

Pulse regulator tubes 6HV5 work the opposite way... Instead of loading down the flyback output they modulate the bias of the output tube so the input sent to the flyback matches the power level it needs to maintain stable output.

Both circuits monitor the B+ Boost line as boost voltage is a good indicator of the load demands on the flyback/the sweep width and HV level...So if you hold boost constant you should get constant HV and deflection levels.

Any idea what type of diode this is? I am having trouble identifying it. I have to replace it because the leads are too short to solder it back in safely.

https://imgur.com/a/nCO9EfE

Looks like a silicone diode. If it's one of the power supply rectifier diodes that are fed 60Hz from the transformer then you really only need to know 2 specifications of the original to replace it with a modern part. Those specifications are PIV (peak inverse voltage) and current rating, and make sure the new part has those numbers as high or higher.
For power supply rectifiers I stock 2 types that can handle everything....1N4007 (1A, 1KV PIV) and a 1N51?? that's rated for 3A 1KV PIV....The higher current part is pretty much never necessary, but anything over .75A I try to use it for so I'm not running the 1A part too close to it's rating.

In convergence and detector diode applications switching time, junction drop, and capacitance become more important.

Boost and focus/HV applications are pretty much the same as B+ rects but with faster switching time requirements.

Looks like a silicone diode. If it's one of the power supply rectifier diodes that are fed 60Hz from the transformer then you really only need to know 2 specifications of the original to replace it with a modern part. Those specifications are PIV (peak inverse voltage) and current rating, and make sure the new part has those numbers as high or higher.
For power supply rectifiers I stock 2 types that can handle everything....1N4007 (1A, 1KV PIV) and a 1N51?? that's rated for 3A 1KV PIV....The higher current part is pretty much never necessary, but anything over .75A I try to use it for so I'm not running the 1A part too close to it's rating.

In convergence and detector diode applications switching time, junction drop, and capacitance become more important.

Boost and focus/HV applications are pretty much the same as B+ rects but with faster switching time requirements.

Thanks! I will probably just replace it with a 1N4007 then if that will safely work as I have a whole bunch of those in my parts box.

Well I feel pretty dumb lol, this whole time I was recapping the Ford Philco chassis and looking at it forever and hours and hours and kept wondering why there was a crusty looking "wire fuse" connected to the circuit breaker....I failed to look for what it was in the schematic. It turns out that it is a posistor which looks to have failed long before I ever got this tv. The thermistor that is connected to the degaussing coil looked melty and I believe had failed already before (The degaussing coil was removed from the chassis in the tv before I even opened it up for the first time after getting it last year). Luckily when I had ordered the replacement thermistor for the ford philco tv it also came in the same package with a replacement posistor for the ford philco. I was looking all over the chassis assuming the posistor would still have been physically intact but apparently all that is left are the lead wires that went to the disc of it.

Perhaps this may be the primary cause of my HV rectifier cup arcing....

I have a few more minor things to do and will be putting this chassis back in soon to test to see if the HV cup arcing issue is resolved. All tubes have been tested and ruled out as causing any issues, no leaks or shorts. I have an Eicco 667 tubes tester which I recently got and use for testing tubes and have gotten consistent believable results from it, when testing both known good NOS tubes as well as likely tired used ones.

Check your degaus. Most sets back then used a thermistor & glowbar.
The thermistor falls apart & the DGS keeps running. All the TV current flows through the coil & globar & you get melt down. On MOST sets you can jump out
the thermistor to test the rest of the set. Newer sets use a different scheme &
some old ones used a relay.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Update: Replaced the thermistor connected to the degausser coil plug which goes into the chassis, also replaced the posistor that is connected to one of the terminals of the circuit breaker. Double checked all connections and put it all back together to turn it on for a test for the first time in many many months. Fully recapped all electrolytics as well and checked polarity and connections.

This time the arcing is NOT happening in the HV cup socket like before but INSTEAD it is happening at the bottom of the HV cage inside towards the underside of the flyback...the arcing was much more intense and bright too....scared the beejezus outta me and I of course immediately turned the set off in an instant when this started. Like before sound circuit which is solid state works fine, the lightbulb i put in to replace burnt one on tuner lights up fine and looks great...so i guess that is an accomplishment?, and there was not apparant signs of trouble elsewhere which leads me to suspect the flyback is arcing due to an internal short (i tested the primary winding from cap for HV rect tube at one point to the other being the horizontal output tube's cap. and ohms were within range per schematic.) Will be testing other windings now for signs of trouble. Perhaps the flyback is exposed and having HV leaking through it in a blind spot in the HV cage that I could not see? I will admit I there was a spot on the flyback on the underside that I can not see when doing visual inspections. Flyback is not hardened indicating it was not heavily used. And it looks ok on most of what I could see in the past...but I am getting suspicious now...

On the positive side...I can either seal it up if that is the case or...I also have a NOS thordarson replacement flyback ready to go! lol

I'd try to stop the arcing first. Generally shorting does not cause arcing as it usually loads the flyback and luggs down the voltage. Case in point I have a Panasonic hybrid that had an oil filled cap on the flyback short and it didn't make any HV or arcing, and the H output tube was redplating like mad despite having plenty of drive from the osc.

Arcing is normally either the result of failing insulation, conductive dirt bypassing insulation, or excessive HV.

Just remembering, maybe this can be useful: when I restored my Telefunken B&W TV years ago, I'm unable to stop arcing from any point from HV cable. Even with original cable apparently clear, it arced. Subbing it from a dead donor modern flyback cured it.

Update: I finally made the decision to replace both the old flyback and hv tube cup socket. I successfully installed the NOS thordarson flyback and verified ohm values and it definitely looks better made than the old one and better insulated. I am keeping the old flyback though and will be putting electrical grade silicon all over it to insulate it and will have it available in the future to try using again if needed. I am installing the nos socket for the HV rect. tube tonight and once all that is done will be testing this tv yet again and hoping that solves the issue.

It is clear to me where the arcing had happened this time and it basically punched a hole through the rubber insulation around where the three wire winding is at as the two wires leave the stick it is wrapped around. Insulation basically failed there. The new one appears to use what may be fiberglass or...asbestos maybe instead of rubbed to insulate those two wires coming up from the three coil winding under the tire.

Will upload photos tonight when I am able to.

Old flyback removed vs new flyback before installation

https://imgur.com/a/NxeYmOE

Keep in m ind for arcing EVERYTHING is at 25 KV above ground.
Tube, socket, filament winding, HV lead & any small parts at the socket.
So they can arc anywheres.

Keep in m ind for arcing EVERYTHING is at 25 KV above ground.
Tube, socket, filament winding, HV lead & any small parts at the socket.
So they can arc anywheres.

Yeah which is pretty annoying lol. I also noticed that the old HV rect. tube socket has loose pins/posts on it which makes me wonder about connection issues. Anyways I am replacing that too soon to rule it out.

Photos of the new old stock flyback installed! It looks much beefier and more insulated than the original. Also noticed that it uses what looks like asbestos fabric to insulate the three wire winding that leaves to go up to the tube socket instead of the rubber the old one used.

I extended the old short wires with new wire so I had plenty of slack to work with. I finished up by adding extra insulation via heat shrink tubing. Installed a 1N5408 silicon diode rated at 3 amps and 1000Volts just because I wanted to for peace of mind.

How do you test a Focus divider btw? I have not tested it yet.

https://imgur.com/a/4rVeii9

One more question: In regards to the three winding wire loop under the rubber tire of the flyback transformer; does it have polarity and if so how do I know which is which in regards where to where each one for each of the two posts of the HV rect. tube socket the old one was at? The schematic does not show any polarity for the two wire leaving the three wire winding so I am assuming it does not matter which of the two posts they go to as long as each goes to the ones that the old flyback went to.

I circled the part of the schematic where that winding is at. I see no indicators differentiating either end of the winding.

https://imgur.com/a/CDJ7p21

No polarity on that.

Thanks, I just wanted to be sure before I turned it on again. Now the arcing problem suddenly went away after putting in the new HV cup socket and flyback transformer. The new problem is the 6CG3 damper tube started rapidly redplating within just 10-20 seconds of me turning the tv on to test it and I then quickly turned the tv off as soon as I saw this.

No other tubes were showing red-plating or any other signs of trouble. No other symptoms present, I heard the high pitched frequency which sounded normal as all the tube filaments including the CRT glowed. I am pretty sure the horizontal drive is working and just am unsure what is causing there to be so much current suddenly going through the damper now.

I read online that sometimes the yoke can be shorted and cause it. I already replaced all the electrolytics and was careful to make sure they were put in correctly so I highly doubt that was the issue.

Test for dividers is inspection for cracks, bulges, heat etc.
Beyond that the focus voltage needs 6KV +- from it. Third wire is
ground or nearly so.

Zeno

If it started red plating as soon as you replaced the flyback, then the flyback replacement caused it...the more wires you swap at once the more likely a screw up is, also once in a while part subs aren't as functional in circuit as Sam's thinks.

I looked over all the connections and sure enough one of the wire going to the flyback from the chassis was on post X when it should have been on post 9. I am not entirely surprised that I made the mistake though since I was probably tired when I was working on it. All the other wires though are as they should be. I did another inspection of the whole chassis to look for any other potential issues. I noticed the socket where the thermistor and degaussing coil plug into the chassis is VERY loose and questionable. The pins were basically floating up and down and had way too much give making a possible connection issue where one or two of the four pins may not have been making good contact if any at all.

I was not always turning the tv on with the degausser plugged in (usually not) The last time I know I didn't because I did not want the degausser to be a potential issue at this time. Aside from that I saw no apparent connection issues, but I find it concerning how Ford Philco had sloppily wound wires onto posts and how easily bent many posts also were. It is not a surprise to me that this tv has numerous electrical problem despite being low hours for its age.

I corrected the wiring mistake I made on the flyback and will be conducting another test soon to observe cautiously for any other signs of trouble. Any recommendations on where to set horizontal bias control or any of the other controls for initial setup? Service mode vs normal? ect. I have a HV probe to check HV but a bit nervous about doing it and getting zapped. Can I use the oldschool RCA HV probe I have with a standard multimeter safely?

Good/Better news: Circuit breaker had tripped for the low voltage circuit protection I realized when I tried turning the tv on again, which mean the breaker did its job correctly! I reset it and after testing the tv again I for the first time ever was able to get as as far as seeing ANYTHING on the screen including vertical deflection with no trouble. Solid state audio circuit still working fine as well. However a few moments after vertical deflection was achieved the CRT seemed VERY bright almost like HV was way too high, and elecricity was going all over the inside of the CRT and (possibly outside and arcing over to one of the terminals of the focus divider before a surge of electricity or current made it way from the flyback to the 6KD6 horizonal output tube tip which was very visible and a bright brief glow happened before going back to looking normal. Nonetheless I quickly turned the tv off as soon as I heard the audible arcing. I was stunned at how bright the CRT was, I knew it was good on emissions and lowish hour but that was the brightest CRT in a hybrid or full tube set I have encountered so far.

My possible suspects of this issue are: The HV anode was somehow not on firmly enough, carbon tracing around the HV anode due to dirt or dust? Bad Focus divider? Yoke seems to be ok. I did not smell or see anything that was suggesting any shorts. I did not screw in the chasses to the wooden cabinet as I had grown tired of doing that only to have to take it out over and over so the focus divider may have been too close to the CRT aquadag and encourage an arc that way?

While I am not out of the woods yet with this tv's troubles, I am able to run the tv to the point now where I get visible static on the tv, sounds of static, a raster line and then vertical deflection! A good morale boost for me considering how much I have had to fight this tv.

Pics of this issue and situation: https://imgur.com/a/2ccF0ux

A few things. Did you connect the CRT day grounding to the chassis? In most sets there's either cabinet provisions to do that whe the chassis is bolted in or a separate wire....If the chassis is out and you don't run your own wire the CRT day ground can arc to the chassis and or yoke.

If your HV isn't too high (measure it to confirm) it could be your screens (G2) are too high...I've seen those set ridiculously high by previous owner morons before.

Issue resolved, It appears the aquadag of the CRT was not making good contact with chasiss which is ground. Also set horizontal bias to roughly mid position. TV is now working with no apparent arcing, sound is solid state on this tv and functions as it should, tuning also seems ok although I kind of dislike AFT this tv has, there is a way to disable it which I may end up doing.

There seems to be some sort of issue with the color not syncing up, is it almost like it is out of phase. Barber poll pattern of colors. Also need to adjust vertical linearity and horizontal size a bit.

I had the tv on for an hour when I was testing it and seeing what controls were responsive. Tint and color killer all seem to do little to nothing. Color intensity works but only makes the barber poll pattern of colors become more intense.

https://imgur.com/a/KUJj5Fy

If the chroma osc is not in sync and the set is barber-poling then tint won't do anything noticable.

Color killer is basically a unimportant nicety....It suppresses color in snow when no signal is applied. It used to mute color on monochrome shows improving the viewing experience by sensing the absence of color burst, but since the 80s or 90s virtually all TV stations and signal sources run the color burst constantly even if the show is monochrome...So in essence unless the color killer is preventing a color show from displaying color it's the appendix circuit of the TV.

There should be a color osc/AFC adjustment procedure in Sam's...Follow it and your tint should work and good color should be achievable.

Update: I am still having the same issue with the color being out of sync and causing a barber poll pattern. I measured the base of Q95 Burst Amp Transistor in circuit with an oscilloscope. Should be 7V along with a certain waveform pattern but is measuring way higher like closer to 45v or so and the waveform also dose not match up. I am beginning to wonder if the transistor is leaky or some other transistor or IC is causing issues.

https://imgur.com/a/3nX50qh

Posting a schematic would help. Since you changed the flyback, there's a possibility you have a wrong/bad connection for a burst gate pulse from the flyback causing your lack of color sync.

Here are some photos of the schematic, I have used my oscilloscope to check various points, so far I have concluded the burst amp transistor is ok as well as the 3.58mhz oscillator IC based on the waveforms I got. I am suspecting a bad or out of tolerance crystal at this point and already ordered a replacement one of the appropriate case size and power rating. We will see if that resolves this color being out of sync.

https://imgur.com/a/ZgjkHZm

If the oscillator is running but won't sync, I suspect the crystal is OK and something else is wrong. It appears that D98 (or D96, hard to read) (between R124 and the IC) is a varactor diode used to control the oscillator frequency. I would check it out.

Have you checked the diode? I'd like to know if my guess was wrong or not.

Diode will be checked next, crystal replaced and issue persists albeit not as severe. I am thinking this could be simply a matter of adjusting the 3.58mhz oscillator inductor.

Diode will be checked next, crystal replaced and issue persists albeit not as severe. I am thinking this could be simply a matter of adjusting the 3.58mhz oscillator inductor.

You mean you haven't tried adjusting it yet?

Does the service info give an adjustment procedure? It looks to me like there is a tuned output transformer that may or may not have much effect on the oscillator frequency depending on wha the internal IC output circuit is. Is that coil mentioned in the procedure?

You mean you haven't tried adjusting it yet?

I later ended up trying to adjust it but to no avail, all it seems to change is whether or not the rainbow barber polls pattern is in motion or not. I will be revisiting this project soon as I had to put a lot of things on hiatus last year but will be going on a marathon of sorts later this summer and I am aiming to get the Ford Philco color sync issue resolved hopefully soon.

Does the service info give an adjustment procedure? It looks to me like there is a tuned output transformer that may or may not have much effect on the oscillator frequency depending on wha the internal IC output circuit is. Is that coil mentioned in the procedure?

From what I have been able to deduce there is a varactor that is controlling and automatically adjusting the oscillator frequency in parallel with the oscillator itself.

Well... I am pretty confused. I tried powering on the tv and for some reason the crt won't show a raster...sound works, tuning works, but no static or snow on screen no signs of life on screen. all tube filaments light up including crt filament, no sounds of flyback coil whine anymore....no sounds of HV even going to crt anode either...checked all tubes ...tubes are a ok including HV rect. Checked G2 controls, crt bias, birghtness contrast ect...nothing.. last powered on last winter before i had to move all my tvs a thousand miles via uhaul due to moving and tv sat in storage in climate controlled facility up until being moved into my home a month ago. So now instead of being sooo close and only having the color sync issue...now the CRT is not seeming to get ANY HV as far as i can see through anode and no coil whine from flyback despite flyback being a NOS one that i installed myself and worked just fine before....what happened? grrr

Check if H osc are working, and ASAP, since the HOTube don't resist if are not receiving the waveform. Or, the flyback opened, or fuses in series with HOT.

Check if H osc are working, and ASAP, since the HOTube don't resist if are not receiving the waveform. Or, the flyback opened, or fuses in series with HOT.

6LB8 is in charge of being the Horiz. osc. and horiz afc in this set. Emissions were fine as far as i could tell no leaks or shorts either. I will check the flyback next. No burning smells, arcing sounds, sparks, or flames apparent.

Check the G2 resistor for the horiz output tube itself?

The set got moved. Dont remember on yours but the hoz hold
is usually on the back. Be sure it didnt get smashed in. Common
to happen.

Zeno:smoke:

6LB8 is in charge of being the Horiz. osc. and horiz afc in this set. Emissions were fine as far as i could tell no leaks or shorts either. I will check the flyback next. No burning smells, arcing sounds, sparks, or flames apparent.

Don't just check the horizontal oscillator tube, check the horizontal oscillator circuit with an oscilloscope or DMM. If you have a scope verify waveform/amplitude, if you don't have a scope check the grid voltage on the horizontal output tube and compare it to the voltage listed in the Sam's. You should have significant negative voltage there normally, but if the osc isn't oscillating then the voltage will get close to Zero or even go positive both of which are bad.