Packard Bell 3191TV
 

I've been home from sea for three weeks. Until now, playing with anything TV related has been at the bottom of my list of things to do. Too many other things to catch up on around here, and on top of that, getting my daughter graduated from high school in a week from now.

Yesterday, I brought home a Packard Bell set. I don't have anything with the PB name, so I thought this would be interesting. The guy I got it from told me it's been moved around quite a bit since he's had it for the past 6 years, but he believes he got it from the original owner when he lived in California. He said it came from an elderly man's home that was like stepping into a time capsule.

The model is 3191TV and uses a 10BP4 that tested with great emissions and cutoff. The tube is an RCA... haven't dug around to find a date code yet (trying not to get too involved with this too fast). I don't know if PB was making their own tubes or not at that time.

The chassis on this set is quite busy!! Haven't looked at the bottom side yet, but the top side has a total of 30 tubes (not including the pic tube). Seems like a lot of tubes for a 10" b&w set. It's pretty dusty inside, but everything looks to be in good shape and looks complete.

Not only is this my first set with the Packard Bell name, but also this is the first set I've come across that has a channel 1 on the dial! I did not realize this until after I got it home. In the photo below, I removed the channel selector knob.

The cabinet isn't in the best of shape. There's lots of deep scratches all over it. The previous owner refinished it, but didn't really do a great job. Many of the scratches were simply varnished over. There's also several new deep scratches due to the moving around he's done since he's had it. It's still shiny looking... maybe even too shiny. I think it's still presentable as is, and will likely leave it that way. Due to so many deep scratches, I don't think there's a lot that i can do to improve it.

So far, I haven't found a listing for 3191TV with Sams. I hoped I'd find it in pencil on the back of the set... many guys used to make a note of the folder on the back of the set or chassis (and I salute all those TV guys from decades past for doing so)... but couldn't find anything.

Overall, I'm happy with the set. The cabinet lacks a bit, but having a good looking chassis with channel 1 and a CRT that test good makes me feel good about this find.

That's a very neat and "different" looking set. I like that front door.

Hey Charlie!
Maybe there's a Riders schematic for it...

Charlie:

You can find the schematic in Riders Volume 4.

Steve

Super cool find Charlie!

Thanks guys. I think this will be an interesting project.

Unfortunately, I do not have Riders Vol 4... but dammit I have Vol 14!

Today, I removed the chassis to clean it up a bit. There was a well preserved chassis under all that dust! It cleaned up pretty easily.

There are no lytics on top... they're all underneath. Check out that corner in the photo... there's five 40/450's on that bracket! Several other values spread out all over. There are a few areas that look like they might be a little tight, but overall everything is lined up pretty nicely. As long as I can remove that bracket with the 40's, I should be in good shape.

It appears only a few small caps have been changed at one time... there's a few black beauties in there. Everything else looks original. None of the caps look stressed... no heat-bumps or melted wax that I can find.

On the top, I found that one of the 5U4's had a burned out heater. If that's what retired this set, it's should be likely that a slow soft start with the variac will put a little light on the screen. Still, I will be making a list and heading to the store.

The only bad thing I've found is the stem of the horz hold is broken off... right at the point where the threads travel. That's not cool. Maybe, with a little luck, I can use some epoxy to glue a stem onto what's left. I've seen JB Weld sustain a car engine in the air... maybe it will be helpful here. If that doesn't work, I'll have to replace the coil. :tears:

you may be able to salvage the slug by removing it clipping the excess theading then use some thin brass tubing to sleave on a new threaded rod on the stub. Or maybe just find another slug with a good threaded rod. like you may find on an old IF can

Hi Charlie, that is a really cool set, the chassis looks like a unique PB design.

The open 5U4 was probably caused by a shorted cap overloading it.

Sure a lotta 'lytics under there! Chassis looks carefully designed, even all the tube sockets are identified so you don't have to just go off of the chart.

BTW how's the Bendix coming along?

Nuttin on the Bendix. Won't start on it till after my daughter walks acoss the stage come this Thursday.

I think I counted 13 or 14 lytics under the chassis. I suppose it just seens like a lot being they're all individual.

Very cool set. I bet the 'lytics go fast since you don't have to stuff multiple caps into one tube.