Says it's a Curtis Mathes

[jstout66]

but the picture is a Sony. Just checking out the vintage tv listings and see this. Why is it in Vintage anyway? Anyway I always share the eBay "newbies" errors...... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=3638

[geespot]

I just got a response back, she says its a Curtis Mathes. My parents have a 32" Sony that looks exactly like that. I believe it says Trinitron above the screen on the left side.

[jstout66]

I'll e-mail her the question "Why is a Sony pictured for a Curtis Mathes Listing?" You can see the Sony emblem under the screen, and the trintron logo as well. She is either confused, or trying to "pull a fast one". She would get more money if it is a Sony.

[rca2000]

If you have, or are going to purchase a sony tv,27"to 36", made from around 1990- now, there is something you should be aware of-- and this MUST be addresed, to prevent a BIG repair bill.

I have worked on many of these, and they are a good set, with a GREAT crt. but, they have one serious weakness.

In the modern Sony tv's, the power supply is a switch-mode type,WITHOUT CURRENT LIMITING. This means, that if there is a short on the main b+ line, the 135 volt source, THAT THE SHORT WILL DESTROY SEVERAL PARTS IN THE POWER SUPPLY, LEADING TO A REPAIR, ON THE AVERAGE OF $200.00, OR MORE.

What the problem ,and weakness in these sets is stems from a habit of developing bad connections on the horizontal driver transformer. At first, this causes intermittent high voltage, and raster, but if allowed to continue, AT ALL, it WILL stress the horizontal output, and kill it. Then, because of the lack of current limiting shutdown features in the power supply, the short WILL BLOW THE TWO SWITCHING TRANSISTORS IN THE SUPPLY, AND A RESISTOR FEEDING THEM, OR ,IN THE NEWER SETS, THE HYBRID IC SWITCHING REGULATOR, CAUSING THE NEED FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF ALL OF THESE ITEMS.

The cure, is to open the set, and solder ALL of the connections on the driver transformer( the small transformer, that feeds the base of the horiz. output), and the connections between the base and the secondary of the driver transformer. DO NOT , REPEAT, NOT USE GENERIC REPLACEMENT PARTS, FOR THE POWER SUPPLY TRANSISTORS, OR THE HORIZ. OUT. THEY WILL NOT LAST!! I know this, from much personal experience!!

[kc8adu]

shhhhh.dont give away everything!
those sets keep me busy!
along with thompson crap

Originally posted by rca2000
If you have, or are going to purchase a sony tv,27"to 36", made from around 1990- now, there is something you should be aware of-- and this MUST be addresed, to prevent a BIG repair bill.

I have worked on many of these, and they are a good set, with a GREAT crt. but, they have one serious weakness.

In the modern Sony tv's, the power supply is a switch-mode type,WITHOUT CURRENT LIMITING. This means, that if there is a short on the main b+ line, the 135 volt source, THAT THE SHORT WILL DESTROY SEVERAL PARTS IN THE POWER SUPPLY, LEADING TO A REPAIR, ON THE AVERAGE OF $200.00, OR MORE.

What the problem ,and weakness in these sets is stems from a habit of developing bad connections on the horizontal driver transformer. At first, this causes intermittent high voltage, and raster, but if allowed to continue, AT ALL, it WILL stress the horizontal output, and kill it. Then, because of the lack of current limiting shutdown features in the power supply, the short WILL BLOW THE TWO SWITCHING TRANSISTORS IN THE SUPPLY, AND A RESISTOR FEEDING THEM, OR ,IN THE NEWER SETS, THE HYBRID IC SWITCHING REGULATOR, CAUSING THE NEED FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF ALL OF THESE ITEMS.

The cure, is to open the set, and solder ALL of the connections on the driver transformer( the small transformer, that feeds the base of the horiz. output), and the connections between the base and the secondary of the driver transformer. DO NOT , REPEAT, NOT USE GENERIC REPLACEMENT PARTS, FOR THE POWER SUPPLY TRANSISTORS, OR THE HORIZ. OUT. THEY WILL NOT LAST!! I know this, from much personal experience!!

[Eric H]

my 1990 KV27XBR10 developed that problem after about 2 years.
Fortunantly it didn't blow any parts and I was able to fix it myself (after a couple tries) I didn't know then exactly where the problem was and it took a while to find the bad connection.

This same set got water from a plant spilled in it a few years ago, missed everything important and only got the video section wet.
Dried out that board and it' was fine again.

This set has been outstanding overall, no blown parts and it has many thousands of hours on it.

[Jeffhs]

Originally posted by kc8adu
shhhhh.dont give away everything!
those sets keep me busy!
along with thompson crap

I don't know why everyone is so quick to lump all Thomson-made RCA and GE TVs into the "crap" category. I have a Thomson-built RCA which I bought in 1999 and, with the single exception of having had the RF input port to the tuner repaired twice after it snapped off the tuner PC board, it's been working like a champ (very nice picture, clear sound, etc.) ever since on Comcast digital cable. I intend to keep my set awhile, as I just purchased a three-year service contract for it.


I do not believe RCA and GE TVs are "crap", even if they are built by Thomson. As you are no doubt aware, RCA pioneered television, monochrome and color, more than five decades ago, and those old sets were built to last. RCA knew what it was doing in the '50s and they know what they are doing now. Just because RCA sold out to Thomson in the nineties or late eighties does not necessarily mean sets with the RCA logo on them are nothing but trouble.

I don't doubt that defective RCA and GE TV sets, as well as other makes, keep you in business, but please, don't put the Thomson-built sets down. They are good sets (as are Zenith, Panasonic, et al.) when they are working as they should, but they eventually break down just like any other make. RCA would have been forced out of the television business years ago if their sets were "crap" and nothing but trouble.

[kc8adu]

most of the thomson sets perform ok but are not reliable.
tuner on board troubles still keep me busy.and those dammed gemstar modules that are a real troublemaker.
and 90-present zeniths esp projection are pure unadulterated junk.the new ones are goldstar so maybe they will at least last a few years without crt death.zenith had been circling the drain since about 90 due to bad crt's that they could not or didnt care to improve.otoh you mentioned panasonic.
i get those in but are usually 8 years old + and just a few bad caps or solder joints.yes rca used to mean something in the old days but the last really good one was the ctc169.

[rca2000]

Those Rca sets with tuner-on-board(ctc175, 176, 177, 184,185,186,187,188,189,195,197,203) do have a built-in problem, of needing the tuner shield repaired in a few years, after they are new, along with a few other solder-related problems(especially the horiz. driver transformer area),A weak flyback in the ctc195 and 97, and the new ones Do lose the Gemstar module fairly often. BUT, they DO have a good CRT,( unlike Zenith), and produce a VERY good picture( also unlike zenith). I personally like them, not just because I have fixed hundereds of them in the last ten years, but I think they are a good set, aside from the aformentioned problems. as for the ctc 169, it is my favorite RCA chassis, since the old ones, (ctc-40,47,48,etc), and I own a 27" ctc 169 thatr I use in my room daily.

[kc8adu]

yes the ctc 17x 18x 19x are decent performers once rebuilt.
the only way i found to fix tob problems properly is to preheat the whole tuner frame with hot air and resolder with a 100w iron and 4%silver solder.never had one come back for tuner/eeprom trouble.if the customer dont use the gemstar i remove it as a preemptive strike.at least the single ribbon type.
unfortunately alot of these sets have been butchered by idiots that think because they own a soldering iron they iz a teeevee expert .
those sets are best used for spare flys and the tubes for high end zeniths that are worth a tube.
and yes you can remove the bonded yoke to put the a68 rca tube in a zenith.looks better than new.

[andy]

I've put a few RCA CRTs in Zeniths, but was never able to get very good convergence. Were you able to solve that problem?