Groovy CTC-15 - Videokarma.org TV - Video

Charlie · #1 01-18-2005, 08:01 PM

Here's a cool CTC15 I brought home today from the old TV shop. Model 14G896MV. Has some really groovy looking wood over the speakers.

I found this set in the warehouse he has across the street. I looked thru there once before, but, it's even darker than the attic where I usually dig thru. This morning, I bought one of those flourescent lanterns so I could go looking. I'm going thru this place pretty good this week because he is selling the property and I will be helping him take stuff out for the trash man. Looks like it will take us at least a few days to clean it out. There are a few more roundies... but not sure of their condition yet. Some of the sets in here are stacked 3 high! I did, however, notice that one of the roundies had an RCA Colorama CRT in it, so, I bettin it had been replaced and it's probably good. Seems I saw it's date code of 1971. There's a Truetone roundie that looks like it has potential (RCA clone). I'll know more as the week continues on those sets.

Okay... back to this one. The cabinet of this set was in far better condition than most of the sets I've brought home from this place. It had other consoles on top and on all four sides, so, it seems that it kept most of the dirt off of it. It's a little dirty, but overall, the cabinet is in pretty good shape and should clean up nicely. There are a few scratchs and nicks that can be touched up... but nothing too serious.

Other that dirt, the chassis looks pretty good. No rust and it should clean up nicely. The 21FJP is a GE dated 1966, so, it's been replaced. Checked it on the tester and shows good on all three guns! The glue under the safety glass has turned to Jello, so, it will pop right off. I'll get that cleaned up and re-installed.

Seems that 95% of the RCA sets I find here have drippy flybacks (like my last ctc15), and this one is no exception. Got some burn marks on it, so, looks like that's what retired this one. I'll call Moyer's tomorrow and order another. I was really pleased with the flyback they sent me last time.

Because of the fancy looking tuner, I thought this set might have remote or power tuning. Nope... just a plain old tuner. No UHF, either.

Looks like I found my next project! (as if i didn't already have enough before bringing this one home)

Charlie · #2 01-18-2005, 08:04 PM

It's missing the door that goes over the color picture controls. Anyone got one of those to donate?

Charlie · #3 01-18-2005, 08:05 PM

Close up of the speaker covers...

Charlie · #4 01-18-2005, 08:07 PM

The inside... a little dirty... but will look better later

Charlie · #5 01-18-2005, 08:10 PM

Oh yeah... and I found another 21FJP in a trashed looking CTC15... tested great, so, grabbed it too. Seems I noticed that most of the color sets there are either 15's or 16's.

reeferman · #6 01-18-2005, 10:12 PM

RCA aftermarket had 2 versions of replacement CRT's. The "Colorama" was a rebuilt. The "Hi-Lite" was new, "The glass, the gun, the works!" as advertised by RCA. Cut my teeth on 15's & 16's. I can just smell the dust. Looking at the convergence board makes me want to see if I can find my diddle sticks. Best of luck.

***Eric H*** · #7 01-18-2005, 11:00 PM

Man Charlie you are just haulin home some treasure! Congrats, that's a nice looking set

#8 01-19-2005, 04:24 AM

I like that toob as well, Usually I don't like the horizontal consoles as much. I like the compact models and uprights, but that one has good style and I dig the speaker grills.

mbates14 · #9 01-19-2005, 08:46 AM

Yea, thats a nice looking set! looks to me, there is a dosen more to go through!

My grandmas 50th anniversary color from RCA looks similar to that, but its a rectangle tube, with folding wood doors. still plays perfect today, tube has been replaced. looks very similar.

mbates14 · #10 01-19-2005, 08:49 AM

id like to have that B&W roundie I see over to the extream right. That would be nice to have.

Charlie · #11 01-19-2005, 11:23 AM

Last night, I jerked the HV tubes and brought it up on the variac. I never made it past 85 volts because i could feel, hear, and smell one of the lytic cans getting hot. I was still able to tune in audio pretty good, so, looks like this cool-cat will be coming back to life!

Just got off the phone with Moyer's... ordered a new flyback. I was in luck... got the last Thoradson they had on the shelf for this model.

I had examined the old flyback a little closer last night. It looks like it had some serious issues. Melted wax, burn marks, corroded wire going to the 3A3.

Did a quick clean-up job of the cabinet. It's looking much better. I will go over it again later paying more attention to detail.

Charlie · #12 01-19-2005, 12:53 PM

Does anyone happen to know the name of this model? Model number listed on the back is 14G896MV.

Charlie · #13 01-26-2005, 02:40 AM

Tonight I decided to pull the chassis from this RCA. The flyback was toast, so I swapped it out with a good one I pulled from another chassis. Underneath, I found a terminal strip that nearly fell apart. Looked like it got baked from a nearby 10 watt resistor. Had to replaced all the wires that became brittle, replaced the terminal strip, and repositioned the resistor to the side of the strip instead of directly underneath it. Changed most of the lytics... still got one can left to go.

Was quite late, so, I decided to go ahead and plug it all in to see how things were. Got high voltage and a picture on the screen, but the raster only fills about half of it. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a full raster because I did change the 50@150 on the verticle board. In the past, I've always found most verticle height problems are corrected when changing this particular lytic. Oh well... I at least have something so far. The horizontal doesn't lock... it seems to be off just a tad.

As far as color... not doing good there yet. Two of the tubes on the color board wont light up... a demodulator and the osc. Tried changing them, but still wont light. Maybe the sockets just need some spray in them. I'll dig around for that later.

Although I haven't hooked up the meters to check it, it seems the flyback is running nice and cool. At least that much is good.

At least I've got it running and nothing's smokin yet. Still got plenty of work to do on it... not to mention need to take off the safety glass so I can clean out all of the old crap that held it in place at one time.

Stay tuned.

Chad Hauris · #14 01-26-2005, 06:24 AM

By name do you mean like the "Grenoble" or the "Harlequin", etc...I'll look in my RCA field service guide and see if I can find it.

kc8adu · #15 01-26-2005, 07:22 AM

dont pitch the old flybacks.
i have had good luck fixing them.
and the tubes not lit are likely the ground points to the chassis.
common problem
i resolder all of them to be sure.