How about that? Montgomery Wards made some good stuff.

[MRX37]

I found this 19" Montgomery Wards TV on the curb tonight. It was made back in 1987, model# JSJ12638. Apart from a dark picture which I expected from a 21 year old TV, it had shrinking vertical.

I opened it up, and I got the most pleasant surprise ever. The flyback and power caps are on a separate board! This meant that I could remove the board that I wanted to work on without having to worry about the flyback! I have NEVER seen this setup before, and I wish other manufacturers did the same thing.

Even better, the various sections of the PCB were CLEARLY labeled! Finding the vertical section was a piece of cake. There were a few lytic caps in that section. One of them, a 100uf @35 volts tested at only 69uf. I replaced that and BINGO! No more vertical issue.

A slight adjustment on the flyback brought the brightness up, and now I have the TV playing.

Ya know... It's almost like Wards designed this TV to be easily fixed... Who'd a thunk it? Now if only other manufacturers had done the same thing...