Amptech Systems?

[TheNixer]

Hello all! I figure some of you have dealt with Amptech in the past and I'm hoping you can boost my confidence in them. I figure John from Amptech may even be a regular poster here. I sent off a 24A12 (my personal dream t.v. that Bandersen very graciously helped me get) to be restored in November. I had some trouble getting them to respond to e-mails and calls during the delivery process but John did return my phone call then.

I checked up on the process several months later and they said they suffered a computer crash (understandable) and were snowed in (I'm from Ohio so I completely understand that) and that he did a complete break down of his work bench during December (ok). They hadn't been able to get to the set in January. I told John I'd check back. I really just wanted an estimate at this point. When I originally sent the tv they told me it was slow for them but when I got the return call in November I was told there were several sets in front of mine. I guess that happens.

I went back to their site last week and noticed it had been redone and there was no longer a phone number to call directly, just an e-mail address. There used to be several ways to get in touch. I emailed them last Tuesday for an update on my 24A12 and still haven't heard anything.

I don't feel like I'll never see the set again but I do wonder why I still haven't heard one thing from them concerning it in 6 months. I mean, not even an estimate or any notion they've looked at it yet. Is this typical?

[bandersen]

Ugh, what a pain

I've never dealt with Amptech, but was hoping to pickup one of their reproduction 630TS backs someday. I really hope they get their act together and contact you.

[Findm-Keepm]

If all else fails, the WHOIS data for the website lists a phone number. That has to remain current or domain name control can be taken or lost.

Cheers,

[TheNixer]

Thanks for the reply guys! I'm not sure when the change happened but they do have all their contact information back on the main page. My goal wasn't to discourage anyone from being their customer, by the way. We're all human! I just wondered if there was a pattern there and what I might expect down the road from them. Unfortunately I've had a few discreet PM's that suggest this behavior is more normal for Amptec than abnormal.

[jeyurkon]

I haven't dealt with John either. I think any vintage TV restorer will have difficulty meeting schedules as a part of the nature of the business. Beyond that, I hope you can get your questions answered.

You can see John's recent postings in the Early Color Television forum and see what he's currently doing. Guess I sympathise with both of you.

John

[TheNixer]

Originally Posted by jeyurkon

I think any vintage TV restorer will have difficulty meeting schedules as a part of the nature of the business.

John

I'll be the first to admit I know nothing about the business of restoring an old TV set and admire those who do. That was part of the question I had. Time involved didn't concern me much (although I really had no idea how long it would take). I guess I thought it might take a few months for them to say "okay this looks like it will cost x amount of dollars to fix."

Originally Posted by Big Dave

We're working on it right now.

Thanks Dave, I appreciate the response. I can certainly see why you would want to give an accurate quote. I give quotes in my line of work as well and there's nothing worse than a bad quote! I want to continue to make clear my only worry was in lack of information concerning the restore - not the restore itself. I just wanted the guys here to set me straight in my thinking that 6 months was or was not a long time to go without any real information on the restore process. I'm certainly glad to have your update and will be more than happy to be able to post video and pictures of a restored Admiral 24A12 thanks to Amptech.

[Steve McVoy]

His phone number is in his classified ad on our site:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/class...epair_services

[Big Dave]

Since I'm involved with Amptech, I'll chime in. We're working on it right now. We take our restorations in the order we recieve them. Every set we get in gets our personal attention. The Admiral is on the bench right now. John is in the process of trying to reform the electrolytic caps, a time consuming process. We base our estimates on many things, such as number of caps. We try to give the most accurate estimates.

Yes, you will see your set again, and it will work better than when it was new. We don't rush restorations. It will be worth the wait. I'll have John chime in here as well.

[zenithfan1]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

John is in the process of trying to reform the electrolytic caps, a time consuming process.

Why not just replace or restuff them?

[jeyurkon]

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

Why not just replace or restuff them?

Although we're probably in the minority, there are a number of us who prefer to stick with the old ones that test good. I seem to remember Amtech explaining their rationale for this on their site, but I can no longer find it.

The advice from the ETF on restoring set seems to follow a similar philosophy where they replace all the paper caps, but leave the electrolytics alone if they are o.k.

John

[Big Dave]

You can also contact me through my site as well.

[zenithfan1]

Any time I've tried it, one goes bad and I end up replacing it later. For instance, two nights ago I pulled out my restored '61 blue Zenith 19" tabletop with original filters and after about an hour the vertical started stretching and then lost lock. A section of a cap that tested good last year went bad and now I have to pull it apart again. Thank you Zenith engineers for the "service saver" panel, at least I don't have to take the whole thing apart again.