RCA CTC22 14" color portable
 

I brought this sad, neglected RCA CTC22 (model EM 417 W) tube color portable back from SC. Really, I don't know if this one will be worth trying to restore. It's missing some knobs, the antennas are missing, the cabinet is beat up, and the chassis is rusty. I have made no effort to power up this TV. If I find any major electronic issues (flyback, CRT, etc), I will likely part out this set.

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The crt was on the weak side in that set, but you should really make an effort to get it working. There was a portacolor setting next to that set that is in the same condition that I got working fairly easily. The rust causes the pots to whisker and internally short.

I was a bit bummed I couldn't fit that in the van but there was just no way.

At this point, small tube color sets are very rare so please make every effort to save it.

I'll try to save it if possible. I have not checked the CRT yet; but, it should bounce back with a bump from my B&K 470 CRT tester. I agree that these small screen portable color TV's are hard to find. In fact, this is the first '60's era portable RCA color TV that I've had. Years ago, I saw the older "RCA Victor" version at a second hand store and they wanted $20 for it. It was dead and I explained to the owner that I didn't pay over $10 for a non-functioning TV. He said he understood my positon; but, he paid someone $20 for that set, under the impression that it was supposed to have been working. He just wanted to get his $20 back and had my crystal ball been working, I would have bought it since it was a clean looking set.

At first, the CRT checked in the low end of the "GOOD" scale. After I cooked it at 8 volts, it came up a little more; so, this CRT is still usable. As far as power up, the set is dead and it appears that both the power switch and circuit breaker are defective from the moisture. When I get caught up, I'll tear into it and see what I can do; but, it's on the "back burner" for now.

I've been looking for one of these first RCA 14" colors for some time now and have had no success. They are scarce. Anyone have a nice one for sale??

There also appears to be a tube missing. (left socket, very top board). Is this a hot chassis?

From the looks of that melted bottom, maybe you should get it off the burner :)

I have the "old logo" version, in not much better shape. I didn't have to do much to get it to work-it is series string, and I think it might have had a cracked tube. One of the many sets I picked up from JCFitz awhile back. I'm not sure if I ever got the color running right on it.

I keep forgetting that I have a later version of this set up in the attic. I sure wish somebody would come by with a truck-I could load them up with hybrids!

...

The one I have has a like-new picture, one of the best pictures on any tube-type set I have seen. It came from an air-conditioned office where it probably spent all of its life.
This is a video I made...it was with my old VHS camcorder but it still shows how well it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD1ltbvAiqM

Apologies for the necro, but it appears the set mentioned in this thread made its way into my possession and since I am starting to restore it I figured I'd start posting my progress. The South Carolina TV shop radiotvnut mentioned in the OP was doing a final liquidation last summer and some friends and I made the trip down to grab as many TV sets and parts as we could before the building was sold. And when doing research about this CTC22 I dragged home as a last minute impulse buy, I realized it matched the exact description of the set in this thread. So I'm not sure if it was just forgotten, or somehow returned :saywhat: but in any case it's here now and I hope to be a good home for it.

It's rough. It's missing the UHF and volume knobs, and the antennas. There's also a nice cigarette burn right in the top of the cabinet...:smoke: But the biggest issue is the fact a lot of plastic is broken. One of the CRT mounts is shattered, every single stud for the tuner assembly is gone, and the plastic clamps holding the yoke and convergence assembl(ies) dissolved. Most everything is loose. I will need to figure out a good solution for securing everything...a surplus of zip ties and super glue would probably work, but I'd like to figure out more permanent solutions, especially inside a tube set that gets quite hot.

That being said, the electronics are workable. There's a lot of rust, but it has all the tubes (I found the missing one inside the cabinet) and there isn't any physical damage to the circuit boards. I was able to get the power switch to start working with some contact cleaner, but unfortunately the circuit breaker is shot. I think I have some spares somewhere but for now I jumped it out. Powered up with a 300 watt dim bulb, the horizontal output tube started arcing like crazy and eventually completely opened up. I suspect this tube shorted and tripped the circuit breaker, and was the reason it was retired in the first place. A new 24LQ6 and I had a raster! After another date with contact cleaner I was able to actually get static through the tuner as well as colored snow, implying that the front end and color demodulation are at least trying to work in some form!

With a signal, I found the front end has very little gain and there is little to no sync. I actually had to crank up my modulator to max power to get any picture at all. I spot checked a handful of carbon resistors on all the boards and most are out of tolerance, and I suspect that I will find weak tubes in the mix as well. The joys of a high hour tube set that spent years in the elements :withstpd:

I have the sync board pulled currently. I plan to pull each board individually and rebuild them, because at this point so many parts are bad it's not worth trying to paw through the rat's nest of wires on each board. IMO there is too much risk damaging the board or burning wire insulation. Call me crazy, but I love challenges like this! And people say the Predictas are bad. :D

Hopefully more to come soon. This will be a challenging set to restore and my experience with tube color is weak. But by the end of this I think I will have a much better understanding of them. I have another dozen or so (mostly 19" sets) from that TV shop to restore after this, so there's no shortage of learning material!

I cheated & got the jig cables for it ! Had them for most old
portables. One repair paid for them in time & grief.......
Usually most low level tubes are a little weak. Have a sleeve of 5GH8's
ready also. Too many tubes & not enuf space.
Next the hoz / vert, contrast assy, tin wiskers.
Most had toasted sockets in the IF strip. While there the 4.5 & 41.25 traps
need touching up.
Changed value on resistors in hoz osc.
After all that you have the low focus jug ( I called it no focus).
A light rejuve gave them snap again.
Funny thing is these & there 19" brothers could throw a fantastic pix
if you wanted to put in the time & tube $$ into it.
Unlike 40 yrs ago I would LOVE to do one again, if only I still had
the resources still :tears:

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !