RCA XL-100 Help
 

Hello all. I have a quick one for ya that im sure someone will know right off. I have an early 80's ('82) RCA XL-100 that i got out of my grandfathers basement last year and have been using since. It works very well concidering its long history (my grandfather used it everyday till he passed away in '93, and it was stored in my grandmothers basement in '94.) Only one problem that is annoying enough to ask what may be the cause, ive attatched pictures. On a high contrast picture there is a white outline on the right hand side of the object. Text, cartoons, snowboarders against the snow (really hard to watch). Lemme know what you all think it is. I wouldnt be fixing it myself, i actually have a '78 Sylvania portable 13" set that it replaced that needs a little work done on it, and i was gonna drop them both off at a TV repair shop on my way to work. Id rather pay to have them fixed then throw them out and buy a new set, seeing as other then little quirks they work great.


Thanks
Keith

If there is a "peak picture" or sharpness control on this set, turn it down. This may help out. if not there are probably some caps or a leaky diode on the vid board.

If they move when you turn the fine tuning control with the AFT or AFC off you will need an alignement

One other thing.. XL-100's were modular sets, and you can cure a million ills by unplugging the modules and plugging them back in. Something to try.

John

Thanks so far guys. I turned off the AFT (same knob as the brightness) and de-tuned the picture and got the pic at the bottom of the post. Still got the lines, they dont really seem to change. I get other lines, but the white outline stays the same. Tomorrow ill look behind the set for the sharpness, thow (maybe its just me) it seems like thats just masking the problem. (is it?) If i do open this thing up what board/module should i be looking at? Also if i cant get this fixed by unplugging/plugging stuff back in any guestimate how long it would take a compitent electronic tech to fix her up?

I have never seen one doing what yours is doing. It boggles the mind. Sharpness or "video peaking" controls increase the visible sharpness by boosting the high frequencies. It's like turning up the treble on your stereo. The artifact it causes is a white line around the right side of everything. The setting boils down to how much white line you can stand. That said, I have never seen a white line as big as yours. Maybe someone here will have a video module.

Good Luck,

John

John,

That makes me feel somewhat better about the situaion then, i thought maybe i was being overly picky about the picture. Do you think adjustment of the sharpness would help? or is it too far out of whack? do you think a re-cap of the video module would fix it? I can do that as long as im not messing with high voltages. Or am i better off switching the whole thing out?

Sorry for the zillion questions i tend to pick the brains of people who are smarter than me :D

Thanks again
Keith

Try reseating the modules, try adjusting the sharpness. I really don't know what it would cost to have someone fix it, I would think that the toughest part would be finding someone to do it. Techs tend to be wary of older sets because they think they wont stay fixed, and they'll be expected to fix it for free as an ongoing thing. If you have a TV shop local, though it might be easier now. Theres not many repairable sets coming through the doors.

Most of my TV experience is with tube sets, but I did once own an XL-100, and I did have to change some small electrolytics in it. I would try recapping the video before I threw it away. There are people on this board who know these sets inside out, Im hoping someone will jump in here. When they were new, you were just supposed to replace modules. If someone has the offending module cheap it's still probably the best way. If not, they can be serviced like any other set.

John

I don't think you'll find any modules on a 1982 XL100. I'm pretty sure they went to a single main board by then. The sharpness control was often located around the back of the set. If it's dirty, it could got to maximum sharpness even though the control is still centered.

ok. i adjusted the peaking control, and it did make a bit of difference, but the lines are still there, just not as bad. I opened the case, and as Andy suggested, its all one board. I attatched pictures, maybe it will help, i dunno. Any other ideas as to where to look? The pic of the screen is with the peaking as low as it would go.

Im a Mechanic by trade, and im the same way to some extent with 80's model cars, seems once a customer finds a good tech, they milk you for all your worth, thinking one problem is related to another. I cant tell you times ive heard "ever since you did this...this stopped working". Ever since, that exact day?, "well no...it was a month after but still YOU DID SOMETHING". I can sympathise with your cause. I actually have a few TV's that ive been waiting to get fixed. This RCA, my Sylvania in my bedroom, and another smaller RCA portable from '84. They all work, they just have small issues, and i got all 3 for free either in trade, or from friends who didnt want them. So if i find a good Tech ill be sure to let him know i got some projects for him, and i wont expect him to keep the sets alive forever for free.

That big capacitor on the back of the chassis (power supply filter cap) has gone bad on several of these types of sets I have seen. The bending lines looks like a cap problem to me. I have used a modern cap(s) (can't remember how many caps are in that can) and a terminal strip to replace the can cap, caution though as there is about 140 volts DC on the cap, and even if the cap is weak can still hold a dangerous charge...also watch out as the chassis and cap can is "hot"...the chassis is not isolated from the power line (no matter which way the plug is plugged in)
It might be best if you are not much experienced to have a more experienced tech work on it

The bending was caused by intentionally mis-tuning the TV to see if it was an alignment problem.

Yeah, the TV operates fine aside from the white shadow, i just mis-tuned it per Jordan's suggestion that the alignment may be off, but it made no difference. I tried the peaking controll and that did make a difference however the lines are still there. contrast and brightness have no affect either. Any other ideas?

Keith

I'd say it's broken!

I doubt it's a serious problem, but subtle video defects like that can be very difficult to track down. It might take more time to fix than it would be worth, but if you're attached to the set you can have it looked at.

seems like too much high frequency response in the video section. I would find that section on the main board and start checking components (caps, resistors, etc)