1950s General Electric 21"
 

Anyone know the exact year and model? I couldn't figure anything out with what's there. Also, how do you get the front glass off to clean behind it? Cabinet is steel in black.

My brother had a GE set identical to that. Bought it brand new around '55 give or take a year. Don't know the model#, but it had an unusual feature: The chassis and CRT were mounted as a unit to a plywood base and the cabinet shell and glass just lifted offa that. I remember watching 'Key Largo' with Edward G. Robinson on it.

Service manual says 56 so your right on. Now I remember, some of these were built that way. No wonder I couldn't figure it out and that explains why it look the way it does in there and the reason it has a wood bottom. I'll try to remove the shell today.

Remove a nut and washer inside at top right corner on crt and 4 screws on bottom, then the outer body and front slide forward away from screen. Was able to clean everything. Everything seems in order except for replacing the old speaker which is deteriorated. Not sure where to find a replacement yet. Can I safely test this unit or will I need a variac?

You could use the "dim bulb" set up to safely test it. https://hackaday.com/2022/11/13/powe...m-bulb-tester/

I've got one that's a year older than yours with a series string chassis.

You could dim bulb it, but most likely there's not going to be much activity. By the look of the transformer and tube shields it's been in a wet shed for along time. Most of the caps in this set are wax paper. If it were me I'd rather even jumper in some new caps before powering up. At least in the horizontal osc / output, boost filter, vertical osc / output and bring the electrlytics up slow on a dim bulb.

The set was possibly in a flood, underwater, by the looks of it. The speaker and everything else.

I'll look into replacing some caps before I do anything else. Wasn't in a flood. It was in storage up to the point where it was left outside in an old pickup bed. I found 4 different sets left out like this. Ones actually working. The other 3 need going through.

There's so many sets around for free, or next to free. All you have to do is look for them! You might have to go out of state for good items.
Pull the CRT's and other usable parts and st-can the rest.

That GE is a rare model so, good luck on restoring. It generates interest from anyone *bored* with the most common GE's, me included.

A transformer-powered, dip-soldered chassis with no PC boards. 1956 for sure! Most 21" models from 57-58 year had a U1 and U2 chassis with power tuning and first generation of GE printed circuit boards.

I have a 21" Motorola 1959 built in a similar manner but its series-heater, top and side panels that slip into or screwed onto a frame.

It was a common set where a lot of GE products were sold. I ran into quite a few of them, helping out in a second hand TV store.
One of the technicians I used to work with always said, "I'm can't see why GE is still making TV sets. They don't have that big of a share of the market." :scratch2:

:sigh:Locally, GE appliance dealers did TV and audio (as a sideline) or alternative to RCA. Unfortunately, most of the uber-cheap sets I saw were 57-later GE, in fact I thought this set was using a 17" CRT-based series heater chassis. The channel knob really threw me off until I looked at all the pictures. It was not unusual to find a cheap-model metal-cabinet TV in a farm dump, most had bullet holes:sigh:

I've got it cleaned up and ready to recap. Really interested in seeing this one run again. Is there a cap kit or restoration kit available or will I have to hunt each piece down individually?

Parts list in the schematic and DigiKey? Not exactly clear on what you’re asking. The only “kit” for restoring vintage TVs I’ve seen is an eBay seller who puts together vacuum tube sets for different Predicta models.

Yeah, I just thought it would be nice if they had a collection of caps, etc. For individual sets. I'll have to make note of the ones in there and get replacements. IF I can tell what the values are.

I would never trust any "Kits" found on eBay as a source of parts for any vintage project, always best to build them yourself from the SAMS list and dirctly from Mouser or DigiKey, there are WAY too many counterfeit parts out there, and going through a disto like Mouser or DigiKey, you are assured to get REAL genuine parts.

Sounds good. I'll go through one of them then.

Talking about complete sets of replacement NOS vacuum tubes and not caps, resistors, parts etc.

Another great source for caps and resistors is Dave at just radios. He ships out of Ontario Canada so it might take a bit longer to get if you're in the USA but he specializes in parts rated for tube gear and has the parts you need.

https://www.justradios.com/

Before you go to do a recap I'd pull the rectifier tube and check the transformer voltages and test for shorts considering how much outdoor time it's had.

Thanks. Does it need to be plugged in? Probably a dumb question, lol

Yes if you are going to assess voltage out of the secondary but you can check continuity of the primary and secondary coils using an ohmmeter and pulling the rectifier tube makes that easier as well

But make sure it's UNplugged when checking continuity.

Which one is the rectifier?

It's the 5U4, the big tube in front of the (very rusty) power transformer..... :thmbsp:

got a WEEE bit of rust there, dont we? :P

Ty. I'll check this week and post what I find.

Pulled the 5U4 only to realize I have no idea what I'm doing lol. I hate to ask but I need to know what setting to put my meter on and exactly where to put the leads. Also need to know what reading I should get. I'm not well educated on tvs especially anything before 1970. After 40 years, I'm still learning. :(

The 5U4 is a Beefed up 5Y3 tube, and the pins you want to check for continuity (and thus you'll use your continuity setting on your DMM, and or your resistance setting) is pins 2 and 8 of the tube which are your heater pins, if you have no continuity between pins 2 and 8 on the 5U4 tube then the tube is bad.

Ah OK, ty. I'll check it tomorrow:)

No Problem, If you can get your hands on a RCA Receiving Tube Manual (which can be downloaded off the Internet for free as a PDF Document) that will tell you the pinout of pretty much every single type of tube made from the 1940s-1970s.)

I have a couple of copies of the RCA Receiving Tube Manual on my computer (two different years) but I don't know if I can upload them on here on not because of how big the files are.

Hi Members.for large file transfers,I like to use mediafire dot com. Free 10 gig storage.after you upload the file,just send the link to the file to the recipients. Easy. RonL

I think I got it. Rc 30 1975 172 pages at 37 mb. Assuming nc is the blank areas or no pins, I've labeled 2 and 8 and seems to check out. Got fluctuating numbers meaning good. :) 👍

https://iili.io/Hg8ciOX.jpg

Are you trying to test the tube or the TV chassis transformer? Generally, I pull the 5U4 and power up the TV. All the tube filaments should glow. Then, if you have a meter that can handle 1,000 volts AC, carefully place the probes into the 5U4 socket holes for pins 4 and 6. You should get something between 600 and 800 volts AC.

Ok I'll do that and see what happens.

Ok, pulled 5u4, put probes in 4 and 6, plugged in. All tube lit and got 630-636 on meter.

Cool. Sounds like you have a good power transformer.

Yeah :)
What's the next thing to do?

With that much moisture, restuffing or changing the electrolytic filter caps. I doubt the old ones would be worth attempting to reform, especially if you want to use the set for any length of time.

It would also be nice to know if the CRT was good too. I guess you don't have a CRT tester though?

Unfortunately I don't. Wish I did. Only thing I can tell you is the back of it lit up. Probably doesn't mean much. I tested it yesterday and it started to smell so I'm gonna start changing the caps.