What's the best way to store an old color TV ?

[kx250rider]

It's the opinion of several collectors with engineering background that the 15GP22 does well with a constant 3 volts applied while in storage. I believe in that, since my best CT-100 had a modification whereby when the power was off, a DPDT relay would swap the power from the TV to a small 3 volt filament transformer, which backfed the CRT filaments. Sadly, that's the set that was lost in the 1988 fire. But the tube was the best emission I've ever seen, and others have said they've been very successful at preserving 15GP22s that way.

Otherwise, definitely Variac stored TVs up once a year at least, and preferably every 6 months. If once a month, you can probably get away with firing them up directly (no Variac), but it's still wise to use a Variac, or at least connect through an AC ammeter, and watch to see that the current draw doesn't start climbing after the set is warmed up (leaking filters or other problems will start drawing more current).

Charles