Anybody remember my RCA Victor 6T74?

[fujifrontier]

wow... just wow

[Bill Cahill]

I'm stupid....
Now that we have established that, I called John Folsome tonight.
Somehow, with all the careful checking I did, I still had the windings reversed on the vert. osc. transformer.
He now has vert. working....
Now, the hv isn't arcing. Two days ago, it was arcing very loudly...
Does this set hate me??
Bill Cahill

[Bill Cahill]

Some people have asked, so please see my new Avatar. This, folks, is my latest best friend added to my list of best friends.
This is Mike. He is a Chow mix with some Collie.
He is a very gentle, loving, kind dog, who is also well behaved..
John Folsom met him yesterday, and, ended up falling in love with him. Not hard considering hwo good Mike is.......

Now, on the tv.
John has given me alot of help on the last stumbling areas of the set, and, it looks like with some additional mods., the set will soon play again.
Unfortunately, this includes disconnecting the cathode from the filament of the orig. 6W4 damper socket, and, changing tube to a 6AU4. My new old stock 3,000 volt filament transformer failed, and, was arcing, and, blowing fuses.
Thank you very much for your help John. I look forward to getting it back playing soon.
Bill Cahill

[Bill Cahill]

Now my concern is whether to use it, or, not. I'm afraid it isn't going to be reliable now.. Any opinions??
Bill Cahill

[RetroHacker]

I'd trust it. I mean, it's half new parts at this point. It should be fine. Use it, enjoy it. I mean, what's the point in spending time and effort fixing something if you're not going to use it once it works? (Well, besides the fact that fixing things is fun). If you're just going to let it sit and never turn it on, then it might as well be broken like it was when you found it.

And, you probably have the circuit memorized at this point anyway. It will be easy to fix should something break. It should last for a good long time, and in the meantime, keep your eyes open for spare parts or parts chassis.

Use it!

-Ian

[Bill Cahill]

John Folsom reports in e mails to me he has neatenned up connections by me, someone else, and, company.
Mistakes were made by all, especially me.
He had problems with it also.
Couple nights ago it went with a bang, and, flamed out two resistors.
My 3KV insulation, new old stock fil. transformer for damper failed. It was arcing internally.
He showed me pictures of it playing last night. I don't like the coarseness of the picture, however.
It still has other issues, as well.
He's going to align it today.
Still think something else is wrong.
Anyway, it's progress. Thanks, John.
Bill Cahill

[Bill Cahill]

Here is the latest. Here is a picture of the set playing at John's house last night.


Bill Cahill

[Sandy G]

Long hard road, Bill, but I'd say its been worth it...

[Tony V]

I'm happy for ya Bill! Cool Beans!
-Tony

[Bill Cahill]

Well, I bit the bullet, and, stripped, and, lightly sanded the entire top portion of upper moding all the way around, which had extensive dammage. Just put on the first coat of stain on top edge of cabinet. I used special walnut. That got the depth of color correct. Now, when it dries , I'll rub in deep mahoganny to get the color correct.
When dried, and, I am satisfied, I will start putiing on the lacquer...
I may also do the outside edges of the doors, which also have extensive dammage. The case had a deep dent on the right front corner of the molding. I was able to do a decent repair on that . I need, however, to pick up some colorable patching compound filler to fill in a gouge gap.....

I have almost decided to also re finnish the top front portion of the large molding on bottom front. The front also is dammaged, but not deeply enough to re do it.
Besides, the decal there is mint, and, I want to save that.

I made a simple base on heavy castors for it yesterday, and, have put it above that. It's now 4" above the floor.
However, I wish to get a wider board. It's not wide enough, and, cabinet likes to teeter, which is not acceptable. I have it safe now, but, I still need a better board.

I will be using lacquer on it as the final finnish, as the original finnish was...
It will take time, but, it will look nicer.
Bill Cahill

[Bill Cahill]

Well, this next week I hope to get the tv done. I just finnished doing the finnishing on top edges of cabinet. Still working on the doors, and, want to work on top section of bottom front molding. Doing some repairs to dammage UPS did shipping repaired chassis back.
Will be soon trying it on bench, and, doing final adjustments, etc.. Then, I'll put set back in its' cabinet, and do final mechanical adjustments..
I will post pictures when done....
Bill Cahill