Skip find TV projects - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

mark pirate · 15th Mar 2015, 11:38 am

Don't ask me why, but I took pity on these two discarded sets and thought that they are worth a quick restoration.

The first is a 12" Philips B&W portable (14TX1504), the second is a 16" GEC colour portable (C1650H). No remote control or AV inputs on these, so will need to be fed a signal via my modulator.
I guess they date to the late 70's to early 80's.

The Philips is absolutely filthy, it looks like it belonged to a 60 a day smoker who lived on fried food

Two of the knobs were broken off when it was dumped, but I did manage to find one of them which should be fixable. It has also lost the flap that covered the tuner thumbwheels.

The GEC is in pretty good shape, just in need of a good clean!
They have not been powered up yet, so I will be dragging these two on to the bench this afternoon to see if they can be bought back to life.

Mark

Ronnie63 · 15th Mar 2015, 11:49 am

Nice find and projects, must be 100's of these dumped on a daily basis! If you decide to crack open that GEC I would be keen to know the type tube it has?

Cheers Ronnie

mark pirate · 15th Mar 2015, 12:34 pm

Hi Ronnie, I will let you know when I open her up

I have decided to start with the Philips, as It needs cleaning before I even start on it!

Mark

Nickthedentist · 15th Mar 2015, 1:30 pm

Is the Philips not the same chassis as the found-on-the-beach one? https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=107328

I found one of these on a skip about 20 years ago while a student, got it going (DJ on series regulator transistor), then managed to trade it in for £10 against a lovely 1930s Ferguson wireless at the local junk shop. Result!

It worked very well, and was a step up from most 12" mono sets in that it had presets.

Nick.

Ronnie63 · 15th Mar 2015, 1:55 pm

Thanks Mark that would be great

Ronnie

mark pirate · 15th Mar 2015, 2:40 pm

Nick, no this is a different chassis to the beach find!

After dismantling the cabinet and scrubbing it clean, it was amazing to see how clean it was inside!
I gave it a quick check over and gave it the full goodness of the mains, I got a nice bright raster and plenty of sound.
The volume pot was very noisey and the tuner buttons were no better, so I slid out the board and dosed the pots with Servisol. The tuner board was removed an also given a good squirt.

I fired up the B&K and tested the CRT, which tests excellent. I don't think this set has seen much use. I also found a date code on the set, week 35 1980.

After my coffee break, I will put the back on and connect it up to a freeview box.
I have a feeling the picture should be very good.

Mark

mark pirate · 15th Mar 2015, 3:12 pm

As I thought, the picture is excellent

It is really bright and sharp, in fact I had real trouble taking a photo. It really does no justice to how good the picture really is.

Unfortunately the front half of the cabinet is deeply stained on top, even a good T-cut did not improve it. But at least it is nice and clean now.
I need to find some knobs for it, but otherwise it is now ready for use

I am now going to make a start on the GEC set, let's hope it turns out as well as the little Philips has.

Mark

Nickthedentist · 15th Mar 2015, 3:24 pm

Glad the Philips has turned out so nicely.

1980, eh? Quite early for that kind of tube presentation (i.e. edges masked by a rectangular moulding) for European sets.

Odd to see it has both a mains isolation transformer and an aerial isolator too. Anyone got a circuit?

And has anyone got a preset cover they can donate? These fell off rather too readily even when new.

As to the GEC, I bet that's something else in disguise. Hitachi maybe?

Nick.

Nickthedentist · 15th Mar 2015, 3:28 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

As to the GEC, I bet that's something else in disguise. Hitachi maybe?

My hunch was right: NP8CQ chassis apparently: http://www.eserviceinfo.com/chassis_...e/GEC_001.html

It was the view of the back panel that gave it away - very like the later CPT1471/3.

unitaudio · 15th Mar 2015, 3:34 pm

First telly I ever had was a Philips like that one except the front around the screen and the presets was matt black. Probably a slightly later example. Cost me a tenner. It was very good indeed and never any trouble.

I can't remember what I did with it, I must've sold it or swapped it. I certainly didn't break it up anyway, there was never anything wrong with it.

I suspect the G.E.C. would have been quite pricey when new despite the lack of remote. Looks like a nice telly.

Regards,
Paul

Welsh Anorak · 15th Mar 2015, 4:05 pm

Hi
Nick - the Philips looks a bit Eastern as it's made in Singapore. European sets tended to favour the 110-degree tube.
The Hitachi/GEC is a little bit newer and will undoubtedly give a good picture once the frame module's been sorted out.
Now it's time for me to look at the Toyota sewing machine Chrissi fished out of a skip earlier today - it's not just us who scavenge, you know!
Glyn

mark pirate · 15th Mar 2015, 4:10 pm

Quote:

As to the GEC, I bet that's something else in disguise. Hitachi maybe?

Yes, it is an Hitachi. And by the look of it, another low hours set

No sign of a date, but I would guess around 1980
I powered it up after a check over, and there was no life at all. A quick look at the plug showed the fuse was missing!
Fitting a fuse resulted in a nice bright raster and sound. I will test the CRT and reassemble and feed it a signal.

Mark

Ronnie63 · 15th Mar 2015, 4:19 pm

Nice work, thanks for the pic of the CRT label

Ronnie

paulsherwin · 15th Mar 2015, 5:51 pm

You could spray the stained white area with car paint - it often looks a lot better than you might expect.

mark pirate · 15th Mar 2015, 5:55 pm

I have finished the GEC. Apart from fitting a plug fuse and a thorough clean, no work was required. Even the volume pot was perfect!

I could not test the tube, as the plastic cover on the tube base would not come off easily, this has to come off to fit the B&K adaptor. So I did not tempt fate.

The set has a cracking picture and has cleaned up a treat, I will give it a good run this evening.
My next door neighbour gave me two video recorders and a huge box of tapes last week, so I will hook one up to the GEC and see what is on the tapes.
A lot of them were boxed up from a previous house move over 17 years ago!

I am glad I rescued these sets, they were certainly too good to go into landfill.
Both of these sets are around 35 years old, have never had any repair work and still perform like new

They were definitely worth spending a grim afternoon on.
I only wish I had more room to display them all....

Mark

FERNSEH · 15th Mar 2015, 6:06 pm

Hi Mark,
I used to sell those sets when they were new. Never had one returned for repair. Super reliable Hitachi chassis. Memories of the 80s.

DFWB.

mark pirate · 15th Mar 2015, 6:13 pm

Hi David,
I have two other Hitachi sets, both of which predate this one. They have also never seen any repairs.
It is such a shame that Hitachi is now just a brand name stuck on Vestel sets.
I don't collect colour sets as a rule, but this one deserved to be saved.

Mark

ben · 15th Mar 2015, 7:33 pm

The 21" Hitachi version of that set was popular here in Spain. I managed to save a few and sell them on to students, (remember this was pre-DSO) but that was about 14 years ago!

Nickthedentist · 15th Mar 2015, 7:55 pm

This sort, Ben?

http://s85.photobucket.com/user/gree...re510.jpg.html

FERNSEH · 15th Mar 2015, 8:29 pm

Hitachi are busy with much more profitable projects. The headquarters for Hitachi Rail is now established here in the UK.

They gave up making TVs for Europe in the mid noughties. All are sourced from Vestel now.

http://www.hitachi.co.uk/about/hitac...ties/rail.html

DFWB.

15th Mar 2015, 11:38 am	#1
mark pirate Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK Posts: 5,185	Skip find TV projects Don't ask me why, but I took pity on these two discarded sets and thought that they are worth a quick restoration. The first is a 12" Philips B&W portable (14TX1504), the second is a 16" GEC colour portable (C1650H). No remote control or AV inputs on these, so will need to be fed a signal via my modulator. I guess they date to the late 70's to early 80's. The Philips is absolutely filthy, it looks like it belonged to a 60 a day smoker who lived on fried food Two of the knobs were broken off when it was dumped, but I did manage to find one of them which should be fixable. It has also lost the flap that covered the tuner thumbwheels. The GEC is in pretty good shape, just in need of a good clean! They have not been powered up yet, so I will be dragging these two on to the bench this afternoon to see if they can be bought back to life. Mark Attached Thumbnails

15th Mar 2015, 11:49 am	#2
Ronnie63 Triode Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Dundee, UK. Posts: 37	Re: Skip find TV projects Nice find and projects, must be 100's of these dumped on a daily basis! If you decide to crack open that GEC I would be keen to know the type tube it has? Cheers Ronnie Last edited by Ronnie63; 15th Mar 2015 at 11:58 am.

15th Mar 2015, 12:34 pm	#3
mark pirate Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK Posts: 5,185	Re: Skip find TV projects Hi Ronnie, I will let you know when I open her up I have decided to start with the Philips, as It needs cleaning before I even start on it! Mark

15th Mar 2015, 1:30 pm	#4
Nickthedentist Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oxford, UK. Posts: 17,853	Re: Skip find TV projects Is the Philips not the same chassis as the found-on-the-beach one? https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=107328 I found one of these on a skip about 20 years ago while a student, got it going (DJ on series regulator transistor), then managed to trade it in for £10 against a lovely 1930s Ferguson wireless at the local junk shop. Result! It worked very well, and was a step up from most 12" mono sets in that it had presets. Nick.

15th Mar 2015, 1:55 pm	#5
Ronnie63 Triode Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Dundee, UK. Posts: 37	Re: Skip find TV projects Thanks Mark that would be great Ronnie

15th Mar 2015, 2:40 pm	#6
mark pirate Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK Posts: 5,185	Re: Skip find TV projects Nick, no this is a different chassis to the beach find! After dismantling the cabinet and scrubbing it clean, it was amazing to see how clean it was inside! I gave it a quick check over and gave it the full goodness of the mains, I got a nice bright raster and plenty of sound. The volume pot was very noisey and the tuner buttons were no better, so I slid out the board and dosed the pots with Servisol. The tuner board was removed an also given a good squirt. I fired up the B&K and tested the CRT, which tests excellent. I don't think this set has seen much use. I also found a date code on the set, week 35 1980. After my coffee break, I will put the back on and connect it up to a freeview box. I have a feeling the picture should be very good. Mark Attached Thumbnails

15th Mar 2015, 3:12 pm	#7
mark pirate Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK Posts: 5,185	Re: Skip find TV projects As I thought, the picture is excellent It is really bright and sharp, in fact I had real trouble taking a photo. It really does no justice to how good the picture really is. Unfortunately the front half of the cabinet is deeply stained on top, even a good T-cut did not improve it. But at least it is nice and clean now. I need to find some knobs for it, but otherwise it is now ready for use I am now going to make a start on the GEC set, let's hope it turns out as well as the little Philips has. Mark Attached Thumbnails

15th Mar 2015, 3:24 pm	#8
Nickthedentist Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oxford, UK. Posts: 17,853	Re: Skip find TV projects Glad the Philips has turned out so nicely. 1980, eh? Quite early for that kind of tube presentation (i.e. edges masked by a rectangular moulding) for European sets. Odd to see it has both a mains isolation transformer and an aerial isolator too. Anyone got a circuit? And has anyone got a preset cover they can donate? These fell off rather too readily even when new. As to the GEC, I bet that's something else in disguise. Hitachi maybe? Nick.

15th Mar 2015, 3:34 pm	#10
unitaudio Heptode Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Manchester, UK. Posts: 862	Re: Skip find TV projects First telly I ever had was a Philips like that one except the front around the screen and the presets was matt black. Probably a slightly later example. Cost me a tenner. It was very good indeed and never any trouble. I can't remember what I did with it, I must've sold it or swapped it. I certainly didn't break it up anyway, there was never anything wrong with it. I suspect the G.E.C. would have been quite pricey when new despite the lack of remote. Looks like a nice telly. Regards, Paul __________________ ...No, it's not supposed to pick up the World Service, it's not a radio!

15th Mar 2015, 4:05 pm	#11
Welsh Anorak Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: North Wales, UK. Posts: 6,924	Re: Skip find TV projects Hi Nick - the Philips looks a bit Eastern as it's made in Singapore. European sets tended to favour the 110-degree tube. The Hitachi/GEC is a little bit newer and will undoubtedly give a good picture once the frame module's been sorted out. Now it's time for me to look at the Toyota sewing machine Chrissi fished out of a skip earlier today - it's not just us who scavenge, you know! Glyn

15th Mar 2015, 4:19 pm	#13
Ronnie63 Triode Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Dundee, UK. Posts: 37	Re: Skip find TV projects Nice work, thanks for the pic of the CRT label Ronnie

15th Mar 2015, 5:51 pm	#14
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,957	Re: Skip find TV projects You could spray the stained white area with car paint - it often looks a lot better than you might expect.

15th Mar 2015, 5:55 pm	#15
mark pirate Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK Posts: 5,185	Re: Skip find TV projects I have finished the GEC. Apart from fitting a plug fuse and a thorough clean, no work was required. Even the volume pot was perfect! I could not test the tube, as the plastic cover on the tube base would not come off easily, this has to come off to fit the B&K adaptor. So I did not tempt fate. The set has a cracking picture and has cleaned up a treat, I will give it a good run this evening. My next door neighbour gave me two video recorders and a huge box of tapes last week, so I will hook one up to the GEC and see what is on the tapes. A lot of them were boxed up from a previous house move over 17 years ago! I am glad I rescued these sets, they were certainly too good to go into landfill. Both of these sets are around 35 years old, have never had any repair work and still perform like new They were definitely worth spending a grim afternoon on. I only wish I had more room to display them all.... Mark Attached Thumbnails

15th Mar 2015, 6:06 pm	#16
FERNSEH Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, UK. Posts: 7,444	Re: Skip find TV projects Hi Mark, I used to sell those sets when they were new. Never had one returned for repair. Super reliable Hitachi chassis. Memories of the 80s. DFWB.

15th Mar 2015, 6:13 pm	#17
mark pirate Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK Posts: 5,185	Re: Skip find TV projects Hi David, I have two other Hitachi sets, both of which predate this one. They have also never seen any repairs. It is such a shame that Hitachi is now just a brand name stuck on Vestel sets. I don't collect colour sets as a rule, but this one deserved to be saved. Mark

15th Mar 2015, 7:33 pm	#18
ben Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain / Wirral, UK Posts: 7,498	Re: Skip find TV projects The 21" Hitachi version of that set was popular here in Spain. I managed to save a few and sell them on to students, (remember this was pre-DSO) but that was about 14 years ago! __________________ Regards, Ben.

15th Mar 2015, 7:55 pm	#19
Nickthedentist Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oxford, UK. Posts: 17,853	Re: Skip find TV projects This sort, Ben? http://s85.photobucket.com/user/gree...re510.jpg.html

15th Mar 2015, 8:29 pm	#20
FERNSEH Dekatron Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, UK. Posts: 7,444	Re: Skip find TV projects Hitachi are busy with much more profitable projects. The headquarters for Hitachi Rail is now established here in the UK. They gave up making TVs for Europe in the mid noughties. All are sourced from Vestel now. http://www.hitachi.co.uk/about/hitac...ties/rail.html DFWB.