Predicta Pedestal restoration
 

I was recently contacted by a nearby collector about repairing some of his TVs.
We decided the first would be a Predicta Pedestal that he amazingly found out in the trash around 20 years ago!
He'd been searching for someone to repair it for ages and was so happy to find someone local.

It's easily one of the nicest Predictas I've ever seen. Just a few scuffs I expect will buff out.
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It's also all original which unfortunately means it has a very weak 12EAP4.
As is, it produces a horizontal line and occasionally some height when the vertical hold is adjusted.

We decided to proceed with a full restoration and see what kind of image it can produce with the old CRT.
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First I had to figure out how to take it apart.
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I'd done a few Holidays and Tandems before and always had trouble with the HV lead. This one was especially stubborn until I discovered it can easily be tapped out with a nail set from below :)
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The flyback appears to be in good condition.
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Success!
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I see very little evidence of repairs. Even the original thermistor and filament dropper are here.
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I wasted no time i pulling the main board out and fully recapped it including new couplates.
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I also replaced the flaky power switch with a NOS one.
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I did a full recap below too including replacing the filament dropped with some new power resistors.

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Tested all the tubes and only the 12DQ6 and two 3BZ6 tubes were weak.
Ready for a power up test!
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Grr - still no vertical! After a bunch of troubleshooting I discovered adjusting the vertical linearity brought the vert oscillator to life.
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Unfortunately horizontal hold is non-existant.
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A bunch more troubleshooting lad me to a mistake in one of my new couplates. Luckily, a little jumper wire took care of that!
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Finally I could assess the picture tube properly. It takes a while to warm up, not that bright and a little bury but is watchable in dim lighting.
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Linearity and centering are pretty good.
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Next came the cosmetics. GoJo plus Howard's Restore a Finish on the wood and Novus #2 on the plastic.
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Now I'm waiting on the owner to make a decision about replacing the picture tube. I have a 21FAP4 or we might salvage one from his Predicta Holiday.

Good work on a very example of that classic set. Actually, my first Predicta, a mahogany Holiday, was seconds from being dropped deep into a garbage pit at a local landfill around 1982. Luckily a friend saved it before that and I got it. It was in a good shape and the original CRT was still very good. Sold that one years ago.

Nice work, Bob. It cleaned up really really well. I'm surprised at how good the screen geometry is, assuming you didn't tinker with it much.

Have you made any more attempts at restoring your Princess to working order?

Thanks. I only adjusted the vertical height and linearity controls. I do not touch the centering or horizontal linearity magnet in the CRT housing. I expect I will if I swap out the CRT though.

No, I have not done any more work on my Princess but will one of these days.

Nice job! Set really looks and performs nice. Where do you get your Novus #2? I'd like to give it a try on the plastic CRT rear case on my Predicta Tandem!

George

Lots of places sell it. Some I've picked up at swap meets, some I ordered online but I don't remember where.

I got mine off eBay. Get 3,2, and 1 together, even though 1 is basically just an anti-fingerprint solution. Finishing with Meguiars plastic polish gives a final glassy glaze IMO.

The owner dropped by tonight with two more Predictas! A dark brown Debutante he wants restored and a blonde Holiday. The Holiday is missing it's legs and back, but has a good 21FDP4 and he'd like to swap it out with the Pedestal.

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Very nice RCA Silverama 21FDP4 :)
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Boy that old CRT sure is filthy!
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I cleaned out the equally filthy plastic housing while I had it opened.
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Success!
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Much better :) Now you can easily watch the set in a well lit room. I'm calling this one done!
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Beautiful work!! :-)

So's Hoss. Nice work!

George