Solid State Finds

[radiotvnut]

I remember those Action B&W sets. They were sold in the early to mid '90's for $29.99, I think. These were probably the last sets to use a rotary tuner.

[MarkWilson]

Does anyone remember how miserable those GE sets were? I had one as a kid and could never ever keep that thing working. Must've been in the shop 25 times...would last about a week then die again. Were those made by Thompson or was that before they bought GE?

[bgadow]

Those sets are GE, through and through. They hung around into the mid-80s I guess (this one is an 83) but were gone by the time Thomson came into the picture (along with all of the other 'real' GE stuff.)

[zenithfan1]

My buddy Jeff gave me his old set this weekend, it's a '98 32" KV-32S36 in good cosmetic shape. It has a crack in the bezel by the Sony badge but thats it. It does have some issues that I'll have to deal with, I don't know what they are yet, haven't had time to troubleshoot yet. All I know is the set has partial power{HV shuts down leaving other things powered ie. sound power to some of the CRT pins ect.} Set shuts down right away and the standby light blinks continuously. If I measure the HV and turn the set on, it will spike for a second and then it shuts off. I have to get the schematics on this one for sure! Usually I don't mess with the newer stuff but this has had a new picture tube and tuner put in recently and thought it would be worth saving.

[Chad Hauris]

It sounds like its going into AKB shutdown because of a weak picture tube. I have looked at several of these and do not like them!
You wouldn't think it would be doing this with a new CRT but the longevity on those things doesn't seem to be too long...

[radiotvnut]

I've seen several of these with weak tubes and the picture would blink on and off. On the tubes I tested, the green gun was always weak while the other two were good.

[zenithfan1]

It might be the tube again, he had it replaced under warranty a few years ago.
The problem is that a transformer blew up by his house causing the power to surge. He thinks this is what may have damaged it, but it did work after that but then died. At least this thing was free, just thought it was worth taking a look at before it goes to tv heaven. I'll try a few more things and if that don't work, it's gotta go! I have no room! Thanks for the input!

[andy]

AKB won't cause the HV to shutdown, it would just blank the picture.

[bgadow]

I think I made mention of this next one earlier in the thread. A friend asked if I wanted the tv in his garage. You shouldn't say no to that, right? I was very curious as to what it might be. The clues: it was his first color set, a console GE he bought from Schmick's TV in '76; Mr.Schmick replaced the crt before he died. The puzzle: Mr.Schmick wasn't a GE dealer, and he died in '77. So, my imagination went wild. Could it have been an Admiral (the main line he carried?) and maybe my friend said '76 when he meant to say '66? (seems odd that he would have waited that long to go color, as he had a good job) I remained hopeful, and tonight I found out. Well, I knew that Mr.Schmick also carried Sylvania. And, sure, there isn't much difference between GE & GTE, is there So, it is a '76 GT Matic. Mr.Schmick's successor replaced the crt in '87 with an Empire rebuild.

The set powers up but doesn't tune anything. Now the usual dilemma-this set can't stay, there is no room. I know there are some Sylvania fans out there-anybody want to take the ride out here to save it? I'm serious, it may just have weeks to live Space will only get tighter as Saturday I am going to get another pair of unknown sets that were free on craigslist.

[bgadow]

I thought this would happen-I decided to treat this "guest" properly and I brought it in from the cold shed to my warm tv room tonight. (my back did not thank me) I have to wonder what my neigbor must think. Anyway, I kinda wanted something to tinker with.

The tuner is very weak...actually, I haven't yet tuned in anything on VHF. (haven't tried a dvd player or anything) I can get only the strongest of the UHF stations, and then only with a very strong antenna. I cleaned the tuner, poked and prodded...dug out the Sams and gave it a once over, adjusted the agc. I pulled the IF module, which has no obvious problems. Then I got to remembering, and as dumb luck would have it, the lone Sylvania module I have is the very one! NOS Sylvania part. Swapped it in, no change at all. So I'm guessing it's something tuner related, I don't know. Any ideas? Chassis E41-1, Sams 1687-2. CRT tests good. An honest to goodness solid wood cabinet. (just a little bit of particle board down bottom) So I hate to junk it, but again, it is only a guest...there is no room at the inn! I won't invest much time in it, and no money, but will play with it just a little more. Would love to find a home for it.

[bgadow]

First, the Sylvania's days are numbered. Nobody seems to want it, I can't see putting any more time into it. Might just part it out this weekend

I continue to go on these wild goose chases, thanks to craigslist and freecycle. In recent weeks I had some promising prospects. First, a somewhat scatter-brained young woman advertised a couple free tv sets that had belonged to her grandmother. Because I was going to be near her house over the Easter weekend, I went for it. The fact that she didn't seem to know where she lived, and didn't have numbers on her house, did not help much. Lots of driving around netted a couple sets that I wouldn't otherwise have walked across the street for: an early 80s RCA console, dirty single-knob tuner, no color, weak crt. Cheap cabinet. The chassis got saved, the rest is now gone. The other set was an 86 Magnavox 19 incher. Clean and worked fine. At least these I can still find a home for, provided I give them away. It now resides with a family who lost everything in a fire. One of the reasons I drag this kind of stuff home.

This past week I went chasing after some sets a woman on freecycle contacted me about. She said that there were 2 stashed in her garage, and they had been there for some time. Also, if I wanted, there was a newer console I could have. So, I go out of my way to get there on time, and the first thing is to load up what I hope will be the least desirable of the trio, the console. Turns out to be a '90 Zenith 27 incher, one of those upright sets with a built-in stand. Very heavy and swivel base, so real fun to wrestle out to the truck. She then points around the corner to a set in the garage-okay, Bryan, don't be a choosy beggar-turns out to be a 10 year old 19" Sanyo. Darn. Well, there is still hope! About that third set? Oh, that. She remembered that some time back she had tossed it out! Said it was real heavy, too, and it was all she could do to drag it to the dumpster. Of course, it could have been anything, and probably not the holy grail, but still...

The first sunny day this week (today) I put the Zenith on the curb and it was gone by the time I got home. I should have the Sanyo gone very soon.

The funny thing is that every time I go all over heck and creation looking for sets, one shows up right under my nose. No exception this week. Today an elderly gentleman who I have known for years stopped by my office, asking if I still fool with old radios. He had once given me a set (late 60s Silvertone (Arvin) table model transistor) and now he had found another, a 60s Admiral AM-FM tube type, wood cabinet, made in Japan. Anywhere else I wouldn't have given a dollar for it but since it was him I paid $10. This prompted him to ask if I would be interested in the console radio/phono he had. Well, you gotta look, right? See, he is a widower who recently remarried. Cleaning out lots of stuff in the "spare" house. The radio turned out to be the stereotypical (pun sorta intended) hi-fi stereo, smallish tube-type Olympic. Pretty cheaply built, but works just fine. You almost have to pay me to take these things. But, again, this is a friend of mine, a nice fellow who took the time to think of me, and he got $35 for his hi-fi. But...he did throw something in to sweeten the deal. A TV, and while it still qualifies for the solid state thread here, it is the oldest TV I've drug home in a recent months. A Magnavox 19" "suitcase" portable, BW, 100% solid state. This must be pretty late, just before Philips took over-American made, click-stop UHF tuner. I had to try it; powered up with several problems, and before I could start adjusting smoke started drifting out. An electrolytic let loose, I suppose. Should be easy to fix up. Not exciting, but further proof that old TV sets can find you, if you let them!

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by bgadow

First, the Sylvania's days are numbered. Nobody seems to want it, I can't see putting any more time into it. Might just part it out this weekend

I continue to go on these wild goose chases, thanks to craigslist and freecycle. In recent weeks I had some promising prospects. First, a somewhat scatter-brained young woman advertised a couple free tv sets that had belonged to her grandmother. Because I was going to be near her house over the Easter weekend, I went for it. The fact that she didn't seem to know where she lived, and didn't have numbers on her house, did not help much. Lots of driving around netted a couple sets that I wouldn't otherwise have walked across the street for: an early 80s RCA console, dirty single-knob tuner, no color, weak crt. Cheap cabinet. The chassis got saved, the rest is now gone. The other set was an 86 Magnavox 19 incher. Clean and worked fine. At least these I can still find a home for, provided I give them away. It now resides with a family who lost everything in a fire. One of the reasons I drag this kind of stuff home.

This past week I went chasing after some sets a woman on freecycle contacted me about. She said that there were 2 stashed in her garage, and they had been there for some time. Also, if I wanted, there was a newer console I could have. So, I go out of my way to get there on time, and the first thing is to load up what I hope will be the least desirable of the trio, the console. Turns out to be a '90 Zenith 27 incher, one of those upright sets with a built-in stand. Very heavy and swivel base, so real fun to wrestle out to the truck. She then points around the corner to a set in the garage-okay, Bryan, don't be a choosy beggar-turns out to be a 10 year old 19" Sanyo. Darn. Well, there is still hope! About that third set? Oh, that. She remembered that some time back she had tossed it out! Said it was real heavy, too, and it was all she could do to drag it to the dumpster. Of course, it could have been anything, and probably not the holy grail, but still...

The first sunny day this week (today) I put the Zenith on the curb and it was gone by the time I got home. I should have the Sanyo gone very soon.

The funny thing is that every time I go all over heck and creation looking for sets, one shows up right under my nose. No exception this week. Today an elderly gentleman who I have known for years stopped by my office, asking if I still fool with old radios. He had once given me a set (late 60s Silvertone (Arvin) table model transistor) and now he had found another, a 60s Admiral AM-FM tube type, wood cabinet, made in Japan. Anywhere else I wouldn't have given a dollar for it but since it was him I paid $10. This prompted him to ask if I would be interested in the console radio/phono he had. Well, you gotta look, right? See, he is a widower who recently remarried. Cleaning out lots of stuff in the "spare" house. The radio turned out to be the stereotypical (pun sorta intended) hi-fi stereo, smallish tube-type Olympic. Pretty cheaply built, but works just fine. You almost have to pay me to take these things. But, again, this is a friend of mine, a nice fellow who took the time to think of me, and he got $35 for his hi-fi. But...he did throw something in to sweeten the deal. A TV, and while it still qualifies for the solid state thread here, it is the oldest TV I've drug home in a recent months. A Magnavox 19" "suitcase" portable, BW, 100% solid state. This must be pretty late, just before Philips took over-American made, click-stop UHF tuner. I had to try it; powered up with several problems, and before I could start adjusting smoke started drifting out. An electrolytic let loose, I suppose. Should be easy to fix up. Not exciting, but further proof that old TV sets can find you, if you let them!

Yes, I know what you mean. Every time I put a "free pick-up of old TV's" ad in the paper, I have to take what seems like 100 '80's and '90's sets before I get that one '70's or older set. Luckily, I've been finding homes for most of the newer stuff. I've still got two '80's console TV's and a cheaper '60's hot chassis tube Zenith console stereo that I need to find homes for. It seems no one wants console TV's anymore, even if they are remote. I told the associate pastor at my church that they needed to have another rummage sale so that I could load them up with stuff!

I've actually got an ad coming out tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday in the local paper for "feee pick-up of non-working or obsolete TV's and Stereo's. Who knows, I may score something decent. I try to limit running "wanted to buy" ad's because people around here see dollar signs when they see those type of ad's and get crazy with their prices. What's really annoying are the people that want to give you something over the phone and then want money when they see you in person.

[radiotvnut]

I picked up a '77 Wells-Gardner built Truetone console as a result of my "free TV pick-up" ad. The guy said it was a tube set; but, I knew that was not the case when I saw it was made in '77. What's strange is there is no mention of "Solid State" on the set and there's no "no user serviceable parts inside" warning near the interlock. I fired it up and I have sound but no HV. The cabinet is cheap particleboard. I'll play with it to see if I can fix it; but, it probably won't stay here as I don't have room.

I also got an '80 19" RCA XL-100. This set just needs the tuner cleaned and the usual adjustments. I have not opened it up; but, I think it has the single board chassis that is mounted on a metal frame that looks like a basket.

[zenith2134]

Cool Wells-Gardner...I never came across one of them. Solid state TVs are good sometimes, I don't turn em down usually. The RCA is probably a good set, my ctc97 is still looking great. I know these sets are too new for most of us, but compared to the RCA of today, these are unbelievable! Good finds, man.

[radiotvnut]

I opened up the RCA and it is a CTC97. A good tuner and control cleaning and adjustment was all it needed and it now has a very bright, sharp picture. The only problem I see is on a few stations, there are a few colored retrace lines at the top of the screen.

I have not done anything to the Truetone except check the CRT. It checked weak at first but cooking it at 8 volts for 15 minutes brought it back up. This set has probably not been fired up in years.