I've replaced all the caps...

[andy]

...

[rcaman]

superglue. used to hate it. never had any luck with it then i found a cure for the dreaded super glue wont hold a dam thing syndrome . just add some baking soda on top of the super glue. just like magic sets up like concrete and you can even build it up. just add more superglue and baking soda. it works great. steve

Wow, never heard of the baking soda trick....from my model building experience I know that there are nowadays many different types of super glues....some are much thicker than the original watery flavor....you can speed up the drying time by spraying an accelerant made for this. Hell, there's even stuff out there that will release super glue bonds and get your fingers unstuck!

Check out most any well stocked local hobby shop and you'll be amazed at what's available.

Anthony

[RetroHacker]

Originally Posted by heathkit tv

Hell, there's even stuff out there that will release super glue bonds and get your fingers unstuck!

Amazing stuff that - it's called acetone. Commonly referred to as nail polish remover. Also sold in tiny bottles at hundreds of percent markup as super glue dissolver. <grin>

-Ian

Back on the topic, I was showing my wife the glow of the tubes in the dark and she noticed the eye tube was glowing green and moving in response to a wavering signal, as it should. I hadn't walked around to see it working because I didn't want to be moving around the live chassis.

I'm having a hard time believing I pulled this off with what little knowledge I have. We'll see when I get a picture. Next thing I'll try is sound, something I have a little experience with at least.

I love those Magic Eye tubes. Didja know that they were invented by Dr. Dumont of Dumont television fame? The money he earned from selling the patent was what he used to found Dumont laboratories.

Anthony

I didn't know DuMont invented them. That must be why they still used them in my TV. Is the variable tuner a unique feature of the DuMont sets? I don't remember any other set being like the one I grew up with, they all had click dials.

I once owned a Dynaco FM-3 tuner that had a variant on the eye. From what I've read on the Dynaco Doctor forum these tubes are impossible to find. I wonder if the version the DuMont uses could be adopted to use, although the eye on the Dynaco IIRC is a horizontal mounted tube, and the eye on the DuMont is at the top.

I'm just glad mine still works. Even the side mounted dial lightbulbs still work. I'll be surprised if the picture tube is bad. My guess is a cap blew at some point and the grandchildren just figured it would be cheaper to buy grandma a new color TV, it was around 1985 after all.

[dewickt]

The eye that it uses is only about $3 at AES, just bought one for a radio craftsman tuner, my Stromberg uses one, purdy green.

The Dynaco version is impossible to find, probably because the Dynaco used it, the one my TV uses is fairly common, so $3 is about right. Its kinda funny that some tubes can be so cheap, but try to find a NOS 300b or 2A3 or EL34 or any other tube used in high-end audio. You'll pay through the nose.

At one time those Magic Eyes were fairly common, usually on the more expensive radios and TVs. I remember them on some 60's TVs although I doubt they were used any later than that except in more unusual applications such as Heathkit's condensor tester.

Anthony

[peverett]

Our radio club just had a presentation on eye tubes and the following was presented.

1. Allen B. Dumont did invent this tube and sold the patent to RCA for $30000(a lot of money in the 1930s). He used this to start Allen B. Dumont labratories.

2. Zenith and Sylvania developed the 6T5 eye tube to use instead of the RCA 6E5/6U5. It turned out that this tube violated the RCA owned patents, so RCA sued. Zenith and Sylvania agreed to stop producing the 6T5 and use the RCA tubes instead. The 6T5 was used only for about a year and is very hard to find now.

3. Philco refused to buy any eye tube using patents owned by RCA. There are no Philco radios with eye tubes.

4. An octal version of the eye tube was developed during WWII and was very common and cheap at the end of the war. This is why so many capacitor checkers, etc. use them.

5. Eye tubes were not used much in radios after WWII.

[Chad Hauris]

Most of the postwar sets using a tuning eye use the type with a band of light or a semicircle shaped pattern...these are 9-pin tubes like EM84. A lot of reel to reel's use the line type of indicator tube, too. Many old reel-to-reels used a 6E5 too which got little wear, so if you come across and old reel to reel you can borrow the 6E5 from it for a radio.

[Bill Cahill]

Note of info. To discharge hv, the proper way is a insulated screwdriver and jumper wire. Use blade of screwdriver for going to hv point. Connect jumper from blade of screwdriver to hv cage. You will hear a snap, or slight pop. Do this twice, as sometimes, they re-charge. Also, if there are hv caps accross plates of 2 hv rectifiers, and I think there is one, Dscharge that, as well. Variac won't stop hv from working. Just have to have voltage high enough for those circuits to work. Usually, a minimuim of about 100 volts ac in order for those circuits to work. You need a tube tester, mutual conductance preforred, to check tubes. Usually obtainable on e-bay for not alot of money.

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Bill Cahill

You will hear a snap, or slight pop. Do this twice, as sometimes, they re-charge.

This is very true. I usually do this several times. Sometimes I wait 5 minutes and discharge it again. I will do it again before putting everything back together... and generally will find a small amount to discharge at the anode button. This small amount is not a lot and likely won't hurt you. However, it could be enough to startle you and your first reaction would be to pull your hand out really fast... possibly causing you to hit something and damage it.