Need a 17VBDP22 CRT for a Zenith

[colorfixer]

Since CRT rebuilding is a dying art, time may be of essence. I'd take advantage of the $89 rebuild before VDC decides to stop doing rebuilds.

I wonder if VDC does Sony tubes?

[zenith2134]

Haven't thought of that. But, other than us collectors and maybe (just maybe) pro/broadcast monitors, who is still rebuilding CRTs? Certainly not worth it for the average consumer anymore. Used to be profitable when the chassis would outlast 2 or 3 crt's. Now....well.... VDC may very well stop rebuilding soon, good point.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by zenith2134

Haven't thought of that. But, other than us collectors and maybe (just maybe) pro/broadcast monitors, who is still rebuilding CRTs? Certainly not worth it for the average consumer anymore. Used to be profitable when the chassis would outlast 2 or 3 crt's. Now....well.... VDC may very well stop rebuilding soon, good point.

Yes, that's a good point. I think new/rebuilt CRT's are a thing of the past and have been for years as far as consumer equipment goes. The local parts house used to have a bunch of old CRT's. Many of which they priced as low as $20 and still could not sell them. They moved the CRT inventory to their gulf coast location and they all got destroyed during Katrina. The owner told me that it got to the point where the only CRT customers he had were the hospitals for use in their in-room TV's.

A friend of mine who fixed TV's during the '70's told me that the shop that he worked for bought rebuilt 23" CRT's for $35 each and the shop charged $200 for a CRT replacement in a console color TV. Back then, people didn't blink an eye because a new console cost at least $500. Now, a new CRT is likely to cost the repair man 2 or 3 times what a new TV would cost. I had a nice 36" Toshiba console with a dead red gun. I priced a new CRT and, IIRC, it was over $1K. The fact is that companies don't want consumers repairing their sets. They want them to buy new TV's. That's why repair parts are often unavailable or priced out of sight.

[bgadow]

It would be great if VDC would rebuild roundies but I seem to recall somebody checked and they will not. Still some industrial/military/commerical crt uses that will be around for awhile, but that number will dwindle.

A common way crts were originally packed was with a sort of 'egg crate' made to go around the neck. There is an old thread on here which includes a good drawing of what is needed.

It's tempting to have a 23v tube rebuilt, just to have on hand should I ever need it, but that will have to wait for a little fatter wallet.

[wb2mep]

I ordered a 25VAMP22 from VDC two years ago, for about the same price. It came out just under $100 with shipping. Interestingly, they didn't want the dud tube back, so they may be trying to clear out their inventory of older TV CRTs. Normally you would send your dud tube back in the same box your rebuilt one came in.

Their packaging was fairly simple. The box was sized to match the screen dimensions. A single sheet of bubble wrap on the bottom of the box, and styrofoam inserts in the corners to lock the front of the tube in place. Then they used a cardboard insert the size of the box with a cutout for the neck of the tube that kept it from flopping around in the box. And they shipped by FedEx. The CRT arrived intact, the box undamaged, but the styrofoam corner inserts were broken, and the bubble wrap in the bottom of the box was flattened.
Mike

[andy]

000

[sampson159]

i was in proctorville ohio yesterday.a repairman retired and had things to sale.looked for that tube and he may have it.there were a couple of 17v s but the labels were worn.they are in a barn!you have to walk a rope bridge approx 150 feet to get there.does that tube have a metal mask?if so,he has it.i picked up a 21axp22 that he saved.it checked excellent after we cleaned the pins.if your has the metal masking,let me know and i will retieve it for you next trip.

[bgadow]

Good find, Sampson! I figured there must be some good stuff hiding around those parts. If he still has some stuff when we make our yearly trek in the spring, well, I'll have to check it out! We always hit that little flea market in Proctorville.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by sampson159

i was in proctorville ohio yesterday.a repairman retired and had things to sale.looked for that tube and he may have it.there were a couple of 17v s but the labels were worn.they are in a barn!you have to walk a rope bridge approx 150 feet to get there.does that tube have a metal mask?if so,he has it.i picked up a 21axp22 that he saved.it checked excellent after we cleaned the pins.if your has the metal masking,let me know and i will retieve it for you next trip.

That sounds like it could very well be the tube I need. Mine has an inline gun and the neck is smaller than the older delta gun tubes. Anyway, thanks for finding that tube and we'll work everything out once you get the tube. BTW, I don't suppose he'd have an RCA 119834 flyback or a Thordarson FLY312 flyback for an RCA CTC38. I've been trying to find one of those for what seems like forever.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by andy

That's not a bad price. It's about what a CRT should cost, considering what a whole TV costs. When did manufacturers start charging more for a CRT than the whole set is worth?

I've been fooling with TV's since around '90 and new CRT's have always been more expensive than the whole TV. The reason for that is the manufacturers don't want people repairing their sets. The best way around that is to price the parts out of sight or simply make parts unavailable. One of my older TV repair friends told me that the first shop he worked for could buy rebuilt 25 inch CRT's for $35 each. He said they later went up to $50. That was back in the '70's when most customers would pay $200-$250 for a CRT replacement. My, how times have changed!