Craigslist, FB or any pickup buys: Do you ask to test the CRT?
 

Typically, the seller of a vintage TV is someone unfamiliar with electronics - maybe a storage picker, or selling something out of a deceased parent's attic. They will usually say things like "I'm scared to plug it in" and "don't know if it works or not", or "I don't have a power cord", "we haven't plugged it in since the '70s", etc, etc. So do you ask to test the CRT, and if they say no, do you pass on that $50 1949 Motorola?

I'm of the attitude that in these days of pandemic it's just not practical or safe to ask to test, so you have to simply "roll the dice".

My past 4 vintage TV purchases have been that way - total gambles. 3 out of 4 CRTs tested ok - one was a dud.

On the other hand, If a seller wants a pretty penny for that rare - in great condition set - I would generally want to make a CRT test happen, or no deal.

What are your experiences/thoughts?

You have to take a chance when buying sets from a non-collector. I've had very few bad CRT's with the many vintage TV's I've bought and sold. I can only recall 2 electrostatics with poor CRT's. Never a dead one. If a common set looks really clean, it's worth the risk. It's also worth the risk if it's a little rough, but something rare. This is especially true if the price seems right for you.

I will usually ask, nobody has ever said no. One time I didn't ask was a Zenith portable that I later discovered had been dropped and the CRT necked. But I absolutely tested the Predicta and the tube Zenith color PAL set. Both tested great.

Ordinarily I test CRTs before buying whenever possible, with the exception of sets cheap enough that it is worth buying a new CRT or parting the set out is worth the purchase price.

I haven't been buying sets much this year... Mostly because I'm close to capacity in my storage space and the meets I sell at to make room are all cancelled. The only sets I bought this year were a cheap Motorola VT71 that a friend snagged for me while I was out of town, and 2 sets from that auction in Oregon. which I couldn't attend in person....

Having been rather lucky over the years with CRT karma, it changed. That's the gamble we take.

Within the last few years, picked up several sets at prices that preclude a CRT check. Two early 50's and very clean Westinghouse floor models had air-infiltrated and guns lit up purple when tested. One set was 16" with matching stand and went to live as a stage prop at a university, the other was an early photocell-equipped automatic brightness and 1953, the last year Westy's were made in Sunbury. This one was absolutely worth a new 21FP4, which I got from another VK'er, who got it from Moyers.

The latest was a beautiful RCA CTC16X Carlstadt, the original 21FJP22 presented as an easy cataract, so I waited to get it home. Plugging the tester onto the loose and cracked base, expecting an equally sleepy trio of cathodes, the green never came up.

The green heater was not lit and upon closer inspection the filament was totally gone. This explains why the set was sitting but it had a replacement flyback :)