Magnavox Home Theater

[Kalamazoo-DJ]

This thing is definitely the heaviest TV I have dealt with, but I need to ID the approx year/model it was just like that one that "burst into flames" by that freaky DJ turntable scratcher in Detroit a few months back.

[zenithfan1]

Looks like a '66/7 to me, I forget which chassis it has. Can you take a good pic of the control panel/stereo face? I or someone else could narrow it down better.

[Jeffhs]

Both pictures are much too dark. Even with my monitor brightness set to maximum, I can't make out much of the second one and can only get a hazy idea at best of what the console looks like from the first shot. Seems as if you took those pics in a darkened room and your camera flash didn't go off when it should have.

[DaveWM]

thats going to be sweet.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Both pictures are much too dark. Even with my monitor brightness set to maximum, I can't make out much of the second one and can only get a hazy idea at best of what the console looks like from the first shot..

Does this help?
jr

[Kalamazoo-DJ]

OR I just took these good work JR I have to admit that looks better

[DaveWM]

I am so glad to see a nice on of those saved, and not end up in the hands of some doof ball wannabe DJ again.

[freakaftr8]

Thats probably going to be a 1967 model with a 25GP22. U919 tube chassis or U920 or something close to that. I have that same exact set! But had to use a 66 chassis from a donor combo wit a 23EGP22. .Good picture after countless hours of fine tuning. Watch the flyback! I would replace the can lytics then adjust HOT 195 or so ma.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

Does this help?
jr

It sure does. Actually, after reading your reply to my post, I did some retouching of the original pictures using Picasa image-editing software, and, after all was said and done, came up with two usable photos. The console looks like fine furniture (which was one of Magnavox's hallmarks from the '50s through the '70s--something today's Philips-Magnavox, et al. black-plastic cube sets, and certainly their HD flat-panels, don't have ) that has been well-preserved; no scratches or any other blemishes that I can see from the pictures. This is a combo anyone would have been proud to display in their living room in the late '60s, and the cabinet design and style would fit in with any similar room decor.

I would hang on to this set, as they don't make them like that anymore.

Have you tried powering up the set through a Variac or a 100-watt bulb in series with the line cord? If so, how is the picture? If this console is from 1967 and still on its original CRT, I'd be surprised if it still had the brightness it had when it was new, unless the set was very seldom used by its former owners. I would say this TV has been through at least one CRT in the last 43 years, unless there is a brightener on the original; if so, the tube may not last much longer and will eventually have to be replaced. A CRT brightener is a temporary, stopgap measure that may extend the life of the tube five months or, if you are very lucky, a year. I have never heard of a CRT with a brightener that was still making a viewable picture more than one year after the brightener was installed.

If this console is one with the Magnavox Micromatic record changer, hi-fi stereo amplifier and AM/FM radio, as I suspect it is, be prepared to hear great hi-fidelity sound from both sources, as well as from the television. In addition to fine-furniture cabinets, Magnavox was also known for high fidelity sound systems in its three-way entertainment centers, one of the best of which was their stereo theater console from 1967. This model had a 25" color TV, stereo amplifier with AM/FM stereo radio, and a feature known as "Total Remote Control" which controlled nearly everything in the set, including the reject function of the record changer.

[Kalamazoo-DJ]

Thanks Jeff, actually its weight is unbelievable and a 4 man job to lift to move to any distance, no joke it is much heavier than the Maggie roundie I show below. I was looking inside for Jimmy Hoffa and his cement shoes. It doesnt have a brightener on it now and I have not attempted a power up on any of its components as of yet.
I was thinking it was more 70's but guess not

[DaveWM]

if it has not been powered up, I suggest the standard procedure, remove the HOT and the VOT, use a metered variac, bring it up slow and feel the caps, watch the current as you ramp up.

If all goes well *all tubes lite up, caps cool, current ok, then you can try a VOT and HOT install and power up.

The only thing is I would check the HOT cathode current. You may need to find the jumper location, install a nice analog current meter, and try a ramp up againg watching the current on the HOT, if it goes over 300ma stop.

If the horz osc is not working properly you can end up smoking something in the HV, no fun.

I know its a pita but better to do it right the 1st time than get hasty and end up with a mess that could have been avoided.

[holmesuser01]

Great save, there. Those were some fine sets in their day.

I've replaced many flybacks in mid-60's Maggie sets.

When I had my shop, and one of these big sets would be brought in for service by the customer, I would give the owner 24 hours to come and get it after my estimate was given, or to come back and pick up the repaired set. I didnt have room for one of these to just sit there.

I DID have a roundie system like this one time. I used it in the shop for its radio and phono. The flyback was shot, and the owner didnt pick it up. I eventually sold it to a guy that wanted it for the TV, so I installed a new flyback. Even in the late '70's these were some of the hardest to find flybacks out there, at least for me.

[Kalamazoo-DJ]

Hopefully this one is ok, i might have to chase down that crazy clown who torched his and then claimed it did it on its own and offer him a can of beer for the flyback

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Kalamazoo-DJ

...actually its weight is unbelievable and a 4 man job to lift to move to any distance, no joke it is much heavier than the Maggie roundie I show below. I was looking inside for Jimmy Hoffa and his cement shoes. It doesnt have a brightener on it now and I have not attempted a power up on any of its components as of yet.

If this console is so heavy it takes four strong men to move it, how on earth did a TV serviceman move it far enough away from the wall to take off the back for tube replacerment, etc.? It seems to me any TV shop probably had to send at least four men out on any service call on one of these--three or all four just to move the set, and one to make the actual repairs.

Heaven help them if they ever had to take the set to the shop. However, I would think that if a set this big and heavy required shop service on the TV, radio or stereo chassis, the chassis itself would be removed from the cabinet and transported to the repair shop, leaving the cabinet in the owner's home; the shop would likely have a test fixture so that they could power the set, or any part of it, outside the cabinet for testing to confirm the problem, etc.

If your set isn't yet using a CRT brightener, the tube is truly amazing -- unless the TV itself wasn't used much by its former owners. I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams or worst nightmares a 43-year-old CRT producing a like-new picture. Most of these sets have probably, even likely, had the tube replaced at least once if the owners kept the TVs that long. Many of these large entertainment centers were junked or otherwise retired from active service by the 1970s, or when the owners downsized for a move to an apartment or a smaller house, so it is very likely your set still has its original CRT -- unless the former owner liked the stereo, the way the TV worked, the looks of the cabinet, etc. so much that he/she decided to keep it through at least two picture tube replacements. These sets cost enough when new (on the order of $500 or more) to be worth one new CRT during their lifetime; not like today's so-called "BPC" sets, even those with well-known former American TV makers' names on them, which aren't worth repairing (let alone having the tube replaced) after the warranty expires.

[DaveWM]

two words for everyone...

"moving men" a brand of furniture coaster.

great invention, they come in two type, a felt bottom one for hard surface floors and a slick plastic bottom one for carpet. Make even the heaviest TV a one man affair to move around.

where they dont work so well is the TV's with the built in wheels. Those are ok untill the wheels start to mess up, then they are a PITA.