neat magnavox

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by rob Cashin

This morning when i powered it on, i got sound but no picture until i shut it off and lightly tapped the cap on the neck, where it was spliced. I saw in another post on here that another mag owner had the same issue (thanks for the tip). over all so far, its been a good 30 bucks

I just addressed this common issue in another thread, but I'm not sure if it's the one you saw. Actually, it applies to most all 40-60 C.R.T.s with the plastic plug and socket. What happens is the glue (epoxy?) that holds the plug steady on the end of the tube hardens to the point of being brittle from age and the heating and cooling process of the set's use. Once the bond is broken, the weight of the wiring, perhaps a brightener, and aspects of servicing like simply taking the back cover off and replacing it cause the often marginally soldered conductors (that protrude from inside the glass electron gun and into the hollow pin array) to become intermittently open connections. So, you tap on, or otherwise move the plug and socket and have a temporary fix.

For the record, you don't need to turn the set off to do what you are doing. You are just creating more guesswork and by doing that you will likely be powering the set off and on a lot more which is way more of a strain on all components than one might realize. If nothing else, you can run it with the back off and take a roll of electrical tape and with the aid of a helper have someone press on the loose plug and visually ensure that the heater is glowing inside the electron gun (it's not when it stops working). When you establish this, then you can firmly secure the plastic plug to the glass of the gun with the electrical tape.

The correct fix is to heat the pins of the plug until solder flows into them and fills them. Then you can get some of the epoxy resin that they make these days that has a sort of syringe tip and get as much as you can inside the void between the glass and the plastic plug with the pins protruding. Frankly, electrical integrity is the key here as far as the tube working properly. The importance of steadying the plastic is so that you don't eventually have the small wires inside break which would be a whole new thread.

I hope this helps...