Exploding GE Color TVs, 1960s

It is me again.
Well now I see I should have ask a different question. The Exploding TV thing is side tracking my real question I have.

I was trying to be directed to to a source of information regarding early 60s GE color TVs via a Sams or other factory data for study and thought this would be a good place to start.

As Far as the exploding GE TV goes, I don't know if it really happened or not and don't matter one way or the other as this is not that important to my work.

However, thats right, I am working on building a Steve Mark TPU unit as discussed in one of the posts here.

The GE color TV part is only about 5% of what I am working on.

I was just trying to find some information on early GE color TVs for further study is all.

Thanks,
Newton

[Eric H]

Newton, I'm sorry your post got so sidetracked, I was assuming you were asking if a malfuctioning TV could explode in such a manner to which I still say no, however if this is siome type of theoretical Quantum Physics experiment then who knows.

I have some schematics of early- mid 60's color sets, don't know if any are GE but they are all pretty similar.

If you PM me your address I would be happy to send you a couple.

Eric

[jmdocs]

Checking the Proquest database (which *does* carry the Chicago Tribune, as well as the NY Times, Wash Post, LA Times, Atlanta Journal-Chronicle, Chicago Defender...) absolutely nothing on any related keywords about color televisions exploding. Closest thing: January 27, 1970 Chicago Tribune: "122 Color Television Models Criticized in Safety Report," attached. Though it uses the term "explosion" it actually is just talking about sets catching fire, which I think we all can agree is possible. All the other articles with these keywords were either irrelevant or were talking about the explosion in color television (which in Chicago seemed to be happening every few years...)

Jeff Martin
Chicago, IL

Eric, thanks for your offer.

I think the early 60s color GE model set I am looking for information on is the one (s) that uses convergence coils instead of permanent magnets.
I don't know just which GE color model that is.

It is thought by some, that these coils were the source of the "problem" with the GE color TVs.

It is not just the coils themselves or the connected devices to the coils, but the arrangement of those coils that were / are, thought to be critical to the nature of the "problem"

It is this coil arrangement, yoke arrangement, CRT and the connected devices that I have an interest in.

I hope some one knows which model(s) this is and could let me know.

Regards,

Newton

[Carmine]

Hmm, that 1970 article does list GE sets as more prone to catch fire than many other popular brands. (No data was submitted on Japanese manufacturers)

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Carmine

Hmm, that 1970 article does list GE sets as more prone to catch fire than many other popular brands. (No data was submitted on Japanese manufacturers)

Note: only certain models.

Also note that the reporting of TV set "fires" is historically extremely sloppy. It undoubtedly includes some cases of smoke but no fire due to operation of a circuit breaker or fuse, and some cases where the fire started in some other way, but the TV set was blamed because it was convenient. Still, the engineering evaluation of materials present to support combustion is valid, and I believe these kinds of things were addressed by UL with stricter criteria for materials and tests. I personally can recall upgrades of PC board materials and wire insulation temperature ratings, although the details are lost to memory since I did not work in product engineering.

All that said, I do not leave my 1967 Magnavox plugged in when not in use.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Newton

Eric, thanks for your offer.

I think the early 60s color GE model set I am looking for information on is the one (s) that uses convergence coils instead of permanent magnets.

Newton

All early 60's sets used convergence coils - you are seeking a distinction that doesn't exist. Really, there is no possibility of this event ever having happened; my advice is to either give up or be prepared for many years of a fruitless hobby chasing this urban legend.

[sampson159]

maybe "twilight zone" or "outer limits". dont think this really happened. make a good episode though. glad i didnt buy that ge roundie. potential atomic device,disguised as a television set. clever,very clever!

[TVtommy]

Y'all got my nerves tore up. Now I'm thinkin maybe I'll leave this vintage TV collectin' thing alone and go back to the safety of my day job at the dynomite factory

[jaymanaa]

I'm not even a TV guy, but I had to read the whole thing.

[electronjohn]

All I know is, when I was a kid, I could put my bare feet on the screen of our RCA roundie and see the bones in my toes.

Excuse me...I think I got something in my third eye. Need some eyedrops. Gotta wax my scales, too.

[blue_lateral]

[mr_fixer]

Hello Newton, I have a guess on how a imploding crt could generate magnetic fields way above the usual levels associated with normal tv operation. Of course my theory is about as scientific as discussions of the star ship Enterprize's warp drive. In a article of Popular Mechanics magazine Sept 2001 issue. They discussed how a Electro Magnetic Pulse EMP weapon would work. It requires a collapsing magnetic field, usually you have a coil of superconducting wire, that is energized, and then you have a small explosion which forces a copper tube to progressively short out the length of the coil which causes a induced pulse to emerge from the other end. It sounds far fetched but their illustration kinda looks like a long deflection coil. I know a deflection coil isn't a superconductor but maybe it was struck by lightning at the moment it happened. Just my 2 cents, Logan

[Einar72]

Ball lightning, that's the ticket! It purportedly does stuff like this. I remember an article about it, maybe in Popular Science, or the tongue-in-cheek Uncle Tom's Corner in Electronics Illustrated.

[thomash85715]

What does a slam on Heath Ledger have to do with jerking us all around for five pages of postings on what is obviously a huge jerk off tale? But the person who put up the frame from the movie with a light hearted joke about TVs blowing up gets high marks from me for disarming what otherwise could have been a positively explosive degeneration into homophobia.
The Vulcan aphorism applies here: "Wanting a thing to be so does not make it so." T'Pal's admonition to Archer referred to time travel; we might as well have been comparing notes on our recent trips to the week of the big bang for all the veracity this thing held from the get-go. Or as William Shatner told a shocked SNL viewing audience: Get A Life. --Tom H