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Old 18th Nov 2017, 8:50 pm   #83
matspar
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK.
Posts: 230
Default Re: And the next one! a GEC BT2147

A month on and the restoration of the classic Gec BT2147 continues!

I went to visit John W last weekend to talk and play with old tellies, and to collect the newly rebuilt Bakelite bitch.

I'd originally taken the set to John, along with a Pye VT2 to see if he had a suitable frame transformer, which had gone o/c while I was working on it. Once the Pye was working I ended up leaving the GEC with John as by then the time was getting on.
It was ran up on the bench and worked beautifully. John has done a truly fantastic and high class job on the chassis, replacing the o/c frame transformer and rebuilding the pot panel which had been in a dreadful state. Many of the original resistors and most of the caps were also replaced, and with the help of a suitable tuner the GEC was gradually brought back to life!

This was beyond all my expectations and I'll forever be in John (and interlace's) debt for the time and attention that has been lavished on the old bakelite bitch.

I'm very impressed by this set with its flat faced 9" aluminised 6505A crt. The test card looks truly superb, focus and normal broadcast looks equally as impressive. I can't stop watching it! Probably the best 405 line picture I've seen, helped by a really good tube, which was the one saving grace with this one. It was a real wreck 3 months ago.

Yesterday I managed to salvage the original rubber mask. This was in a sorry old state and was a nightmare to separate from the tube face when I first dismantled the set. It was horribly distorted and cracked, almost gooey in places.

I'd resigned myself to the fact that I'd probably end up recreating a new mask of sorts, so with nothing to lose I immersed it in a bowl of boiling water with the plate glass. It softened up considerably and I was able to pull it all back into shape. Most of the original paint washed of in the process and the mask looked dirty, so I carefully cut the glass out with a scalpel to clean it properly. It stayed in one piece so I dried it off and trimmed the rear circular mount which removed a lot of the distortion.

I was then able to lightly rub it down and glue a lot of the cracks together using superglue and activator. I then sprayed it with 3 coats of pale cream acrylic and it came out quite well. Today I have refitted it to the front of the tube. I will attach the implosion screen to the front and carefully tape its edges around the mask to pull it all into square. I (think) it will all look acceptable when it's back in its box.

That will be a job for another day.....

Matt.
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Last edited by matspar; 18th Nov 2017 at 9:08 pm.
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