My other hobby

[94capl99]

So I have posted this in other forums, but I thought I'd post this here.. This is my other hobby.. It's actually a dangerous hobby, because I'm dealing with very high voltages (about 35kV in this TV for example), but I love it. Perhaps it is THIS that has "knocked" sense into me. ;) (I say that because I HAVE been zapped a CRT before, not fun and still have the mark on my arm to prove it).
-----------------------------
This TV is so cool. It has it's quirks because the CRT is a little tired, but I've been able to get a seriously nice picture out of it. It also has a brand new flyback transformer installed, as the original died.. I chose an ASTI Magnetics flyback, but have an HR Diemen as a spare (The HR is of much higher quality, but it took a seriously long time to ship).


The TV year is unknown, as the only IC on it just says "ENGINEERING SAMPLE", which makes me believe this TV wasn't actually in production, and googling the model number yields no results, other than my own posts.


The TV was found in a thrift store in Pasco County Florida. It looks SO mint, minus one, just ONE scratch at the top center.. Otherwise this TV is scratch, dent, all free of defects. The woodgrain is in PERFECT condition.. I did have to make some modifications to the drive circuits on the TV though, namely replacing resistors with different values, due to the slightly tired CRT, but the screen looks seriously good now.


When I found it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0347.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0348.jpg


First power up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0352.jpg
Notice the blooming of the yellow, and the seemingly mis-aligned chroma on the left side of the yellow shirt.. This was a combination of the tired CRT and misaligned chroma delay.


It had another problem though, when warmed up, it'd start making arcing sounds and the picture tube would flash. When I cleaned it, I found this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0403.jpg


The flyback was literally cracking apart. No good, this is a fire hazard. This needs to be taken care of.


So I removed the flyback:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0423.jpg


New flyback arrives and installed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0462.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0463.jpg


This is the initial powerup. I was getting ready to leave to work so all I did was adjust focus and G2, thats all.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0471.jpg


Kinda iffy colors, but whatever, it worked, and no arcing or flashing. Awesome!


I get home, and continue my adjusting, which took approximately 2 weeks to finally get right, as I don't have any tools to do this, but the TV DOES have a service switch, which collapses the vertical to make it a lot easier.


After total adjustments to the drive circuitry, and chroma delay. Source was Beauty and the Best LaserDisc.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/colors-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/colors2.jpg
With these shots, you couldn't even tell the CRT is tired, everything looks nice.


Oh, and convergence?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0495.jpg


And NTSC color bars.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0491.jpg
Perhaps a little saturated, but looks FANTASTIC.


Sega Genesis as a source:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0515.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0529.jpg
(Yes, that's still SEGA. That's the Genesis port of Mario Bros).


Beauty shots of the pristine condition this TV in.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/_IGP6897.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/_IGP6902.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/IMG_0624.jpg


Sorry for all these pictures, but I was SO very happy with the results.


Now videos!


Before when the flyback was arcing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VU97yfXScE


After everything was all done to the TV.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b9_12DTosA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBk5Z2-LFZc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UfkNbuiGqQ
(When I mention it just started clearing up, it was doing it on it's own for a while, but it wasn't AS perfect until after I made some adjustments to the chroma side.)

[94capl99]

Now I got another old TV.. This ones just a piece of crap, but I was surprised it fixed itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY60CpSXlog

[firebird_1995]

I've got a zenith big screen circa 1994 that burned up the flux capacitor in the swing set (or something). I ordered a new fly back and a board repair kit that's supposed to heal it. Just never got around to it. The picture on the new technology tvs makes it hard to spend time fixing an old one. But I can't bring myself to get rid of it. Too many Christmases and Thanksgivings at grandma and grandpa's ....

Edit: Jesus I have to stop ambian posting... what a dumbass

[spikester7878]

thats pretty cool.

[95ImpySS]

Good stuff. Where'd you learn to fix this stuff? I've done a fair share of electronic's repair. Not many people know how to diagnose and repair electronics these days. Its always toss it out and buy a new one.

[94capl99]

I learned to fix stuff all by myself when I was a kid. I would take stuff apart and put it back together just to learn how it work and even modified things

[SexyTransAm]

dude thats wild i had the same tv set as a kid for my first tv. cool stuff!

[95ImpySS]

I learned to fix stuff all by myself when I was a kid. I would take stuff apart and put it back together just to learn how it work and even modified things

You and me both. Good stuff.

[96LT1355Z28]

dude thats wild i had the same tv set as a kid for my first tv. cool stuff!

X2 or one that looked very similar. Crazy how nice it still is our went to the dump shortly after our family got our first VCR!

[popo8]

WHen I was a kid, I took things apart and went and did something else........

[94capl99]

Still doing what I love.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/electricdesk.jpg

Doing work for a computer company (of which I can't disclose due to an NDA), and checking signals from a video card to a TV, making sure they are up to spec.

And yes, this oscilloscope can prove very useful on cars! I used it to help my friend pinpoint an ignition problem on his truck, of which turned out to be a bad distributor.. (For distributors, you need to use an induction coil: http://www.aaatesters.com/img-fluke-rpm90-inductive_pickup-09110-02_356.jpg )