BRC 1500 with different identity

[bionicmerlin]

This 1500 has got different war paint to the normal versions .

Does anyone know anything about this Granada version.
Was it a rental set that escaped. Or was it available to buy. .
I can’t see a date anywhere. I’m guessing it’s a late version.
The CRT is a Tento. Made in USSR ..
the set looks it great shape after giving it a bit of a clean inside and out. The frame output transformer had been churning our a fair amount of wax . It tests ok for now. The valve below has been replaced, probably due to it taking most of the wax deposit..the flex has been cut off.
I will power it up I. due course Andy

[bionicmerlin]

Few more pics .
The label on the back is damaged but I can just make out it says property of Granada and associated company’s Andy

[slidertogrid]

A nice looking set! The cabinet looks very similar if not the same as the Marconi version of the same vintage. Last of the ones with a mechanical tuner before the very last 1500s that were varicap. Granada did dispose of ex rental mono sets in the early 80's via the usual places , Carters in Ilkeston being one of the biggest ex Granada outlets or you could buy a direct load where you just took pot luck as to what you got, and while most were colour there were a few black and white sets included so I suppose this set could have been sold off as an ex rental, unless it was one that 'escaped' as a few rental sets did...
ISTR the frame transformers did sweat a bit and were often loose having cracked the soldering a common cause of intermittent frame collapse until the user gave it a clout!

[bionicmerlin]

Thanks Slider.thats some good information there. Apparently the previous owner was quite well off and his son in law didn’t think he would buy a second hand set. Infact he didn’t think he would even rent one I did explain in the old days sets were not that reliable and people rented because of the back up service.
I do have one of the sets by the way with the Varicap tuners.
Anyway I did power the set up tonight and got a good raster and the sound hiss. Set was left on for about 15 mins. I tried to tune in with my rf source. (Tested before hand) nothing at all.still just raster and hiss.
What’s to best way to proceed. Test with a working tuner out of another set. I assume they are compatible. If it’s not the tuner test the voltage round the transistors. Any help appreciated Andy

[Restoration73]

Check R12 (19k HT dropper) on the tuner board. Voltage at tuner end about 33V.
I tend to see varicap tuners ELC1043 etc replace rather than repair.
Comprehensive guide in Television ;

https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Pra...UK-1976-07.pdf

[marceljack]

An important source of drift in the early varicap tuners was the 33V stabiliizer TAA550 (Philips).
Replacing it with a ZTK33 (ITT Intermetall) generally brought a significant improvement.

[slidertogrid]

Check the mech is moving the bar as often the plastic breaks up meaning the mechanics jam and don't tune. If the cams are broken the simplest way to repair is to remove the springs and fit them between the knob and the front of the tuner. That will restore operation.
There is a repair method that replaces the broken parts with washers which is more along the lines of how it was made originally, details on the vrat forum I believe. I picked up the tip about moving the springs from a member here I think, and it does work saving sourcing the parts.

The other problem is the rotor earthing springs within the electronic part of the tuner the grease goes dry and the spring contacts tarnish causing intermittent or no operation. This is easy to repair unsolder the springs, (I do them one at a time) one of them has black 'tape' covering part of the spring, leave that in place. clean the spring contacts carefully clean the part of the rotor where the spring contact 'runs'. I use a cotton bud and isopropyl be careful not to catch the vanes. Then slightly re-tension the springs refit and solder back in. You need a reasonable size iron to do this I use a Wella gun.

It's always worth cleaning the springs before going deeper as it is a job that will need doing in any case and it may be a quick fix. I haven't had much if any trouble with the tuner failing otherwise if I have it's long forgotten!

If the tuner is electrically dud I think I may have a spare (without a mech) this design of tuner was used extensively by Thorn / BRC, from mono portables to colour sets but may have differed electrically I am not sure. I think my spare came from a 1591 portable.
Rich

[HamishBoxer]

I worked at Granada 1979----1986 and could that be a replacement crt? We used to resolder no end of those tuner bars.

[Welsh Anorak]

That blue label is the usual late Granada identification. It's likely that this set was one given away as collecting a mono rental was deemed uneconomic for the company. The yellow CRT label is an in-house replacement and the tripler is a Granada part.
I don't think it will have come via a disposal house as that usually had a white 251 sticker on the side. It's possible though unlikely it was bought new.
It's a slightly modified version of the late 20" Marconi as said above - that one had a different control panel.
Don't go looking for the ELC tuner - this is the good old mechanical tuner with its known - though easily fixed - problems. Varicap versions had a black door on the back hiding the tuning controls.

[slidertogrid]

Originally Posted by bionicmerlin

Apparently the previous owner was quite well off and his son in law didn’t think he would buy a second hand set. In fact he didn’t think he would even rent one

I don't know if Granada sold sets new would it have had "property of Granada rentals" on the label if it had been a sales model? It would have been new in '69/70 I think just as the "Colour boom" was starting so maybe it was replaced by a colour set fairly quickly.
The fact that it has had a tube replacement doesn't necessarily indicate a high hours set, some of the Mazda Goldstar tubes had a short life, even the later Mullard 20 and 24 inch tubes sometimes failed prematurely with poor focus at the edges.
I replaced loads as an apprentice as the place I worked were keeping the old hybrid mono sets going into the early 80s as they decided Black and white was on the way out and they didn't want to invest in new sets they were right because within a couple of years '83/84 most had been changed over to colour. by that time a lot of the sets were well over 12 years old and were well, pretty clapped!

[bionicmerlin]

Thank you all for the info. Some interesting stuff there. I will passsome of that on to the previous owner who like me was interested in any history related to this set.
The tuner does move the bar but maybe not as much as it should and yes some of the knobs don’t work so it will require work. And I will check the grease problem as I have had that before and resistor mentioned.
Thank you all again Andy

[Nuvistor]

I think the 1500 was the last large screen mono to be produced in the UK. We had some when we couldn’t get the ones from Pye, ITT etc.
They worked but I wasn’t really happy with the CRT’s in them, the rest of the set was OK and easy to fix.

[19Seventy7]

Don’t forget the 1600/1615 series. I think they were built from 1979-1984, in 20” and 24” variations.

I have the 3850 which uses a similar cabinet to this 1500, there’s a recent thread on it.

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=193180

[Nuvistor]

Yes forgot about the 1600 series but I never saw them, we stocked no large screen mono sets after about 1978/9.

[bionicmerlin]

Well things are happening. Sort of.
By moving the tuner bar back and forward a few times it works. I guess it’s the problem with the grease In the Turner , also 3 out of the 4 buttons don’t work so I will have to reposition the springs as mentioned But at least I got a picture sort of.
I can only get the frame and sync to lock for a short period of time even that is tricky to set.
When it looses lock both the frame and sync go . Turning the brightness or contrast seems to agitate the problem.
R44 has been upgraded in the past and tests spot on.
C79 (V3b cathode bypass) tests ok but is bulging and getting warm. . It’s 160MF can I replace it with a 220MF .
Any other help would be great Andy

[Welsh Anorak]

Yes, you can use a 220uF.
For the sync problem check the 47k resistor again as some replacements do drift when warm.

[bionicmerlin]

Glyn
Thanks for the info on the cap.
You were correct with the 47K resistor .i changed that and that’s sorted out the problem. There’s bound to be a few bits to do but I think I will get the tuner sorted next and see how it goes Andy

[Richard_FM]

I've heard some rental companies would sometimes offer customers the chance to buy a set that had been on hire for a long time. Often this seemed to happen when it was an older set that parts were getting hard to find & they didn't want to service it any more.

[bionicmerlin]

Richard. I do know that was the case with some small independent rental companies. I was lead to believe some of the bigger company’s would not let you buy the set . In fact they would scrap the set hoping you would continue renting with a new one . As was mentioned earlier sometimes the sold off in bulk. Andy

[Richard_FM]

Originally Posted by bionicmerlin

Richard. I do know that was the case with some small independent rental companies. I was lead to believe some of the bigger company’s would not let you buy the set . In fact they would scrap the set hoping you would continue renting with a new one . As was mentioned earlier sometimes the sold off in bulk. Andy

Yes some of the bigger companies would prefer for customers to keep renting, so would offer a newer set.

We've mentioned a few times about trade only disposal sales through specialist companies.

Towards the end of rental business companies often had ex-rental sets for sale in the showrooms. My Uncle bough at least 2 sets for my Grandad this way, as he wasn't too fussed about having a new set as lot as it worked.