restoring old tv's

[Phil Nelson]

We know that a resistor's value is critical in some circuits, but not so important in others. I once found a radio where a guy had replaced a 27K resistor with a 27-ohm resistor. Seems like a real boner -- 1/1000th the specified value! -- but replacing the resistor didn't change performance noticeably.

If a TV's design seems "on the edge," I'd feel like being more aggressive with resistors. My DuMont RA-103 seems so stable, I doubt a nuclear blast could make the picture bounce. On the other hand, when my restored Predicta had a relapse and I pulled the main PC board, I replaced just about resistor on it, saying "I never want to pull this danged board again!"

In the radio world, some boatanchor collectors get a kick out of stripping the chassis to bare metal, replating it, and going from there -- installing all new components except proprietary parts like coils & tuning capacitor. You could do this with a TV, as Hugo Holden did, but I call that remanufacturing rather than restoration. It seems more of a stunt, something you'd do once and then say, "Never again!" By the time you're finished, much of your original TV is parts in a junkbox, and you're watching something different.

Phil Nelson