[Retired]

Hi,

I was so full of enthusiasm for today and looking forward to getting everything set up ready to make a start on the chassis until Bronwyn told me Furball had suffered a wound to his head so that scuppered my best laid plans.

Furball was taken to the vets this morning and we have finally brought him home; he has been bitten but is now patched up and although we are £100 lighter in the pocket don’t begrudge paying as we love him to bits and he is so adorable.

Thank you Jeffrey for all the information and suggestions; I liked the idea of making a stand to safely hold the CRT whilst I work on the chassis and have now made one as can be seen in the pictures; whilst I was designing the stand I thought why not include a speaker mount rather than have the speaker loose on the bench; the stand looks a simple affair but took a bit of thinking about; I used offcuts of timber and utilized some of the rubbish plywood I had to hand; I enjoyed myself for a couple of hours running my machines and the stand cost me nothing for materials; it is screwed together and through drilled to accept four 8mm dia nuts and bolts to securely locate the CRT; the speaker is secured with a pair of machine screws and nuts. Also Jeffrey I’ll heed your advice about not bothering to test the valves. Thank you for the raster link.

Thanks Steve for the link to your website which looks very interesting and I’ll have a more in depth look at it a bit later also I think your suggestion of using a mirror is very useful and I’ll try this out. Yes Steve I actually have two Variacs and I also have a 100W test lamp and an isolation transformer; I’ll take your advice when I’m ready to power up after sorting out the LOPT by using the Variac; I like the gentle approach rather than just switch on and wait for the smoke and bangs. Thanks for the offer of help.

The offer of the LOPT is very kind of you Danny and I hope I don’t have to accept but it is good news to know one is readily available; I’ll know shortly if mine is working when I test it for continuity. It looks rough but I’m assured by other members these LOPT’s are quite robust.

You’ve certainly given me a list to work through John and again I would like to also thank you for taking the time and trouble to compile it because by adding it to the thread it will be very useful to other novices as well as me; I’ll print off all the information and refer to it once I start the restoration. I’m very surprised to hear that a TV chassis isn’t really so difficult to repair but of course I have yet to try it out for myself; I had got the idea into my head that I was in for some serious grief especially given the look of the chassis. I still hope to add plenty of notes as work progresses then it will make a good reference for other novices.

Thanks Dom; yes you kindly brought the scart cable and thank you for the link which I’ll have a look at. I’ll look forward to receiving the connectors but there is no hurry as I still have plenty to do. I’ll keep in touch by email anyway as normal.

I’ve not even yet started work on the chassis but already am getting a feel for what is involved just by reading all the information kindly given to me so far; for someone used to TV chassis restoration this information will probably be taken for granted but for me it is all brand new and I can’t thank you all enough for supplying it.
What I’ve learned so far is to relax and enjoy this project; make a stand to secure the CRT and also use a mirror to view the screen. Don’t bother to check the valves. Completely restore the LOPT and make a new insulated housing for it. Ensure the chassis is electrically safe and when I do get round to applying power do so using a Variac bringing up the voltage slowly possibly over a couple of hours but keep it under observation. I’ll also do the usual checks of the mains lead plug and fuse and I noticed the on/off switch had a nice firm click when I tried it earlier today. I won’t over clean but I have already used the airline to gently remove most of the debris and accumulated dirt. I’ll wait until power up then only change one component at a time then applying power after each to watch progress; I’m not scared but I will be careful around the high voltage areas and I’ll be extra careful of the very thin connecting wire at the LOPT.

I’ve been retired now for ten years and still can’t seem to get a day where I have total peace and can work uninterrupted either in the workshop or garage; every day something prevents this from dire weather; Jehovah Witnesses whom I’ve been polite to; insulted and been rude to them and told them I’m not interested so two more new ones turn up the week after and a continual steam of unwanted visitors who think because we have a large detached bungalow we owe them something for nothing. If I have a rare warm day allowing me to work in the garage with the doors wide open then I’m on stage to be interrupted by every passer by; tree surgeons drive me mad. I’m not anti-social and like a natter but not with double glazing salesmen or any of the other cowboys wanting to attack our property. I couldn’t even speak to my friend Mike Phelan when he rang this afternoon as we were just setting off to collect Furball. I find it hard to settle. Yes I’m moaning but I do get fed up with not being allowed peace to concentrate on the job in hand and this can be dangerous if I’m using one of my machines in the garage.

In order to concentrate on this chassis I’ll do the work in the workshop which is hidden out of the way at the rear of the bungalow and I’ll work in comfort with the heating on. I think I’ve suffered enough during the cabinet rebuild.

We are pleased to have Furball back home and I’ve included a picture of him for the cat lovers. Furball is just gorgeous.

My plan for tomorrow is to set everything up in the workshop so hopefully I will be putting all the suggestions and information into practice very shortly.

Kind regards, Col.