General Electric Model 21T11
 

Found this on the local craigslist, seeing how anything vintage is a rarity around here, for $75 I couldn't turn this beauty down.. I went to go look at it, and the guy had already fired it up, and told me the set has been in the family since he was a kid, he even said he has pictures of him as kid with the set in the background.. Couldn't get no raster, though static sound of no station reception.. The guy said two months ago before he moved into the new house, it had a picture.. I was able to open the back and plug in a boombox cord that he had. Picture tube filament lights.. I didn't hear any high voltage, nor did I see any kind of glow coming from the HV cage. So I'm assuming it has something to do with that.. I didn't do any test on the picture tube or anything yet..

Me Likey !

That's quite a score! Cabinet looks complete, knobs, back looks new. That's a very dark version of bakelite. Should look beautiful when it's finsihed.

Good luck

That's black bakelite, refered to as "Ebony".

Well got to testing the picture tube.. Holds really well with the tester, and life test barley nudges....

Warranty card still attached to the wires...

Is there a fuse missing under the power transformer?

Answering my question: No there isn't.

That thing looks almost showroom (except for the chassis:)) Nice find!

Thanks guys.. Im not sure about the fuse, I'm working on getting a Sams photofact on this chassis.. I hooked it up to the DTV converter box, and was able to get audio, so I know the tuner has no issues.. I can tell there is no HV.. I wonder if the missing fuse would have anything to do with that...

At least they used a more expensive CRT for a replacement.

I think the missing fuse is used to change the line voltage. I dont think there was ever a fuse in both slots. Just one or the other.

Since it has 3AG fuses, look around. You might find more, and find one blown.

Congrats
 

I concure. The fuse was an easy way to select the tap for the line voltage available in the area at the time. That is a very rare find for this area in peticular. The only tubes you'll see lit in the cage is the Horizontal output and Damper. The HV rect is (A) very dim, (B) covered internaly by it's plate, shielded by the cage. You mite bake it now and then with the 5U4s' removed for (fillaments only) to keep the humidity out untill it gets gone over.
Did you see the other one?

The HV tube will not be lit at all with the B+ not present. Flyback transformer supplies its filament.

I concur the baking of the circuitry. Let it get warm with the 5U4's removed.

Hey Dave... I didn't see the other one, I looked and never could find it..

Well comes to find out some of the tubes are completely blown out, the Hor out, Damp and the Ver out are completely bad with white blown mark on the tubes.. I'm in the process of ordering tubes off Ebay and I noticed for instance I have a 6AX4GT that I need to replace, I did a search and come up with 6AX4, 6AX4GT, and 6AX4GTB is there a difference and does it matter?

That is a neat set. I had a 1952 17" GE that required very little work to get going. You're lucky those tubes were bad or else the HV would have fired up before it should have. That set is built like a tank . I think GE started using PC boards in '56 or so, very un-tank like.

That two-tap transformer is also a great feature, especially since everybody is running at 120+ these days.

SOMETHING bad happened if the damper, horizontal output, AND vertical output are all cracked. When the getter flash goes white, it usually means that air got into the tube.

Best of luck with them. Even with the new tubes, I wouldn't try running it without new capacitors.

The glass on one of them is broken.. Looks like it was something more physical..

That set uses dip soldering. Check the board in the HV compartment. I saw a few that were arc damaged.
PS, the tubes mentioned in an earlier post are different variations of the same tube. The GTA or GTB, being the latest version.

Looks like a "DeLuxe" chassis, and I really like the way the tube connections are brought to the top of the chassis for ease of voltage checks, etc. I've been looking at some GE schematics lately, and have found an appreciation of some of their circuit designs, and chassis layouts. I have only two Portacolors, and a small 11 inch B/W "Personal Portable" that needs a CRT. Think I'll look for an older GE to "play" with. :yes:
Happy for your find :banana:!! best of luck with it !

Replaced the horizontal out and the damper tube, got a raster now, a nice horizontal line, until my vertical out tube arrives.. Looks like this thing is going to run without any maintenance..

Dont run it with that line. You can easily burn a line in the phosphors. If you insist on running it, and I would, turn the brightness way down.

In your pictures, I can see a RMA banded Sprague on the width control. Those babies have not been made for 50 years and I can guarantee any surviving ones will be leaking.

I'd personally suggest you pull the chassis and check caps for leakage, as something roasted those tubes and you don't want to roast your new ones. My first suspect would be that the grid coupling capacitor to the vertical output is leaking and cause the output tube to pull too much current and that took out the damper and horiz output.

If any tube plates - rectifier, horiz output or vertical output, start to glow red, kill the power immediately and find out why.

Jas.

Ge 1954
 

I just had a GE 21C243 "delivered" :banana:
The CRT is a Sylvania 21ZP4 that tests pretty weak.
TVcollector, your chassis looks similar to mine.
Once I get it safe to power up, I will post in a new thread.
Attachment 174190Attachment 174191

Is that the model with the coffee can HV enclosure?:D

I grew up with a GE 21" LowBoy style set with a coffee can HV cage! When I was 3-4 years old, I would stand behind the TV and look through the holes in the back and watch them work. I also developed a liking for the smell of tube electronics making heat.

I have pictures of my set in the family album. I'll see about scanning them.

I'm anxious to see yours.. Looks like a console version..