1958 RCA Delux 14"

[Jonathan]

I was the lucky winner of http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

I honestly never realized how big it actually was, it's definately 14". It came in a big box. I unpacked this baby, noticing the missing back cover and a good amount of missing tubes. The chassis has a lot of rust, as well as the inner cabinet. It also has no power transformer, so it's a live chassis set. It was an 18 ohm resistor in series with the filament string. It looks pretty complete, but the the yolk was falling apart. I think I could possibly get this going. The chassis number is KCS109A, which is Sams 392-3.Anyone have the RCA service data?

Also, the CRT has this black coating which is flaking and crumbling off the back of the CRT. Is this the aquadag? And what model number do you guys think it is since the back cover was missing?

Thanks.

Jonathan

[Eric H]

Jonathan, that is a 17" set, something like a Model 17-PD-8096 http://www.vintagetvsets.com/58rca.htm

The black stuff is the Aquadag.

[andy]

...

[Jonathan]

Thanks guys. I e-mailed the seller asking him if he still has the back cover. The auction said the TV does not work, but how does he know? I asked him that as well.

Also, what can I do with the cabinet? The inside is all rusted and the outside has rust spots. Can I get it sand blasted and possibly repaint it? It's a really nice set actually and hate to see it exist as a rust bucket.

Thanks,

Jonathan

[Whirled One]

Originally Posted by andy

I've restored two of those. They aren't bad when working, but the circuit board is a big pain to work on.

Yeah, I'll second that. This is the same model as the 17" RCA mentioned in one of those "worst-TVs-to-work-on" threads a while back. These sets can be a *major* pain to take apart. They are rather *cute* though..! Especially the "Deluxe" versions (like yours) with the two-tone paint jobs and brass-colored trim.

Yeah, the black stuff flaking off the CRT is probably the aquadag.

[Eric H]

I would try to get the CRT tested before doing any serious work.
This uses a 110˚ small neck tube and they don't seem to hold up well.

[Jonathan]

Eric H,

Yeah, it does have a small neck. Are the CRTs hard to come by? Can I also have the cabinet refished? mine is a rust bucket.

One more thing, on your site you had a phone on the table you had some of your TVs on. Was it a Western Electric? And do you know of any forums for Western Electric phones?

Thanks.

Jonathan.

[andy]

...

[bgadow]

I don't see why the cabinet couldn't be redone. I wouldn't sandblast the whole outside; if you have some extreme pitting you could do spots but otherwise you may be able to sand it out. Speaking as someone in the auto body business-for enough $$$ you could have the nicest RCA out there, any 2-tone combo you want!

[Sandy G]

Another thing you might wanna consider is painting the inside w/this stuff called Duro-Extend. It's majickal stuff, bonds w/the rust & stops it cold. Looks like milk, smells worse than Sh!te, & is kinda purplish when it dries. You WON'T have to worry about the inside of yr cabinet rusting anymore, though.-Sandy G.

[Eric H]

Yes, you can paint it, that's what I had to do to this one: http://www.vintagetvsets.com/hotpoint.htm

I stripped it to bare metal because it had been painted with house paint and a brush, your set can probably be lightly sanded and de rusted with Metal Prep.

You probably don't need to undercoat it as Sandy suggested unless you are going to use it in the bathtub LOL

I had two with bad CRTs, I had one rebuilt inexpensively by someone who unfortunantly, no longer does them. I found a NOS tube for the other one.

The following is from the ETF Site, don't know if he still has any or not but I bought a tube from him with no problems.

I'm thinking yours is possibly a 17CDP4?


For sale - TV cathode ray tubes.
New unused in original mfg. cartons:

8YP4 - Raytheon 3 - 16DP4 - RCA 2 - 17CP4 - Sheldon
14EP4 - RCA 16LP4 - RCA 17TP4 - RCA
16AP4 - Sheldon 16YP4 - Sheldon 2 - 19DP4 - Sheldon

Rebuilt unused in orgininal rebuilders cartons:

14WP4 - Raytheon 19AFP4 - Sheldon 21AVP4 - Vanguard
16KP4 - Sterling 19AFP4 - Sterling 23CSP4 - Vanguard
16LP4 - Sheldon 19AVP4 - Raytheon 2 - 21ESP4 - Starlight
16WP4 - VMC 19AVP4 - Vanguard 21FBP4 - Vanguard
17BP4 - Vanguard 2 - 19AYP4 - Vanguard 21FPP4 - Sterling
17BJP4 - Raytheon 19CDP4 - Sheldon 21MP4 - Vanguard
17CP4 - Vanguard 19CKP4 - Vanguard 21XP4 - Vanguard
17CDP4 - Sheldon 19VDZP4 - Zenith color 23EP4 - Vanguard
17DQP4 - Sterling 19YP4 - Sterling 23JP4 - Raytheon
17GP4 - VMC 19YP4 - Sheldon 24AP4 - Sheldon
17GP4 - Sterling 20CP4 - Sterling 24CP4 - VMC
17QP4 - Sterling 20CP4B - Century 24CP4 - Sterling
19AFP4 - Raytheon 21AVP4 - Sterling

Price is a function of number and volume purchased. Bids accepted on entire new or rebuilt lots. I also have some early flyback transformers, power transformers, other coils, TV tubes (1500), early 300 to 75 antenna matching transformers & a warehouse full of parts. Contact Bob Castiglione 518-332-1514 after 9 pm EST or weekends. (3/26/05)

[Jonathan]

Eric H,

Yes, 17CDP4. I finally got the sams so I'll do a capacitor order shortly. I'll try contacting him soon about a replacement, just to have one.

Thanks.

Jonathan

[Jonathan]

Ahh welp, I think I should bring this old thread back to life. After getting frustrated and nowhere with my CTC9 chassis (video amp heater still won't light up, tube is good but for the life of me I can't find the fault, but power and sound work) I decided to do some work on the chassis. My chassis is the KCS109C. I recapped the back of the chasses as well as installing new electrolyrics and 1N4007 diodes in place of those large and stinky selenium rectifiers. Without the large selenium recifiers and elecrolytics it looks kind of empty. And you guys are right, the board is a major pain to work on, and I do mean major. It looks like it was honestly a junk set, because almost every tube was missing from the board except the audio amp, but everything else looks intact. There seem to be radial leaded black beauties as well as paper capacitors on the PCB. Are they radial leaded black beauties? Also there are the brown and maroon colored mica capacitors, the exact same ones found in my CTC9 chassis. Also, the yoke fell apart, the glue holding the part which makes it fit snugly over the neck seperated from the coil part. That is going to be a challenge to try to fix. The tube shields on the PCB are rusted, but the PCB, wires, chassis, etc all seem to be in decent condition. I can test the chassis for power and sound out of the cabinet, but to test the picture I'll have to put it back in the cabinet. Not only that, the insulating paper that insulates the chassis from the cabinet is brittle. I'm going to try that paint Whirled One suggested. Then I'm going to try to use some sort of varnish or something on the inside to insulate the inside of the cabinet from the live chassis. I plan on using a matching transformer which does a good job in isolating the antenna connection, but I want to try to get some original parts, if I could get them from a junk set or something. If anyone has commends and suggestions, please offer.

Thanks again.

Jonathan

[Big Dave]

The easiest way to fix the hot chassis problem is to rewire the switch so it goes to the power supply instead of ground. I did an article on my website on the various ways to do it. The key is where the switch is wired. If one of the prongs on the cord goes straight to ground, polarize that prong. Then, pray your outlets are wired properly. Your print will tell you which modification you will need to do. It's not historically correct, but your set will be safe and it'll keep your isolation transformer freed up.

www.geocities.com/evilfurnaceman

[Chad Hauris]

Dave, although it is always good to use a polarized plug so that the neutral wire connects to the chassis of a "hot" chassis device, I have to take issue with this kind of suggestion that the chassis is then safe to touch as the neutral wire can still have voltage on it and give you a shock and the set might end up being plugged into an outlet where the terminals are backwards. For safety's sake the set should have all of its orginal safety devices such as cabinet to chassis isolation capacitors and antenna isolation networks installed and in working order. The sams should show how the antenna isolation network is wired up.