New Project
- Thread starter dosxxpapa
- Start date
Help Support :
Our first family TV was a 1951 Capehart model 325-F. I think it had a 17" screen. Back then, Capehart was a high end brand and was noted particularly for sound quality.
The maple cabinet was too big to fit anywhere in my house, so I let the (non working) set go at the estate sale back in 2008. I already had a working 1950 Admiral bakelite 20x10 set that, even though smaller and less substantial, tends to be a very sought-after model, and truth be told, these early B&W sets are novelty items best suited for watching vintage programming.
The Capeharts have a beastly chassis that weighs a ton and even well-seasoned experts on the Antique Radios Forum have had aggravating experiences in reviving them. The CRT on your set is likely fine. I hope a re-cap is all that's required to bring that beauty back to life.
Best of luck!
The maple cabinet was too big to fit anywhere in my house, so I let the (non working) set go at the estate sale back in 2008. I already had a working 1950 Admiral bakelite 20x10 set that, even though smaller and less substantial, tends to be a very sought-after model, and truth be told, these early B&W sets are novelty items best suited for watching vintage programming.
The Capeharts have a beastly chassis that weighs a ton and even well-seasoned experts on the Antique Radios Forum have had aggravating experiences in reviving them. The CRT on your set is likely fine. I hope a re-cap is all that's required to bring that beauty back to life.
Best of luck!
TV
When I plugged it in for a test, TV tube came on and most of the tubes warmed up, good sign.
I think a good re-cap and all new tubes will bring her back to life again. This is also a 17 inch screen.
I have a guy that can get me my tubes for this, if he does not have them he can find them.
I was able to bring back to life my 1941 Crosley Radio. Works well.
Thanks
Joe
When I plugged it in for a test, TV tube came on and most of the tubes warmed up, good sign.
I think a good re-cap and all new tubes will bring her back to life again. This is also a 17 inch screen.
I have a guy that can get me my tubes for this, if he does not have them he can find them.
I was able to bring back to life my 1941 Crosley Radio. Works well.
Thanks
Joe
firedome
Well-known member
good source of tubes:
http://www.tubesandmore.com
TV tubes are v easy to find and cheap, but certain audio tubes can cost a fortune, thanks to the guitar crazies and audiophools.
http://www.tubesandmore.com
TV tubes are v easy to find and cheap, but certain audio tubes can cost a fortune, thanks to the guitar crazies and audiophools.
twintubdexter
Well-known member
The front of the cabinet is really beautiful. Ebay and the Internet (25 years old yesterday or so I heard) makes finding things like tubes so much easier today. Watching vintage programs on a television like that is just plain fun...good luck & enjoy!
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Unusual Capehart!
Your set should be 1952-54 or later, because that was the time frame for Capehart's big switch to that kind of molded plastic tube mask. However, most Capeharts of the era had a big escutcheon in the middle of the control panel, with the minor controls, like Horizontal, Vertical, etc. on it. Yours does not have that, which may point to a later year.
But there's something strange about that, too - 1954 was Capehart's last year for heavy involvement in furniture-grade cabinets. Beginning in 1955, they started pushing "consolettes" (boxy TVs sitting on wrought-iron or other spindly legs) and cut out pretty much everything with doors. They still made consoles, but much more ordinary ones than before. It seems pretty obvious to me that they were pushing for mainstream sales, with mainstream sales figures, concentrating more on mass than class.
Your TV is somewhere in the middle of all this - it is obviously fine furniture, not a "mass market" design at all.
I will keep researching, and hopefully we can come up with a year. If you have a model number anywhere on the set, it would help enormously.
Nice set, and nice project!
Your set should be 1952-54 or later, because that was the time frame for Capehart's big switch to that kind of molded plastic tube mask. However, most Capeharts of the era had a big escutcheon in the middle of the control panel, with the minor controls, like Horizontal, Vertical, etc. on it. Yours does not have that, which may point to a later year.
But there's something strange about that, too - 1954 was Capehart's last year for heavy involvement in furniture-grade cabinets. Beginning in 1955, they started pushing "consolettes" (boxy TVs sitting on wrought-iron or other spindly legs) and cut out pretty much everything with doors. They still made consoles, but much more ordinary ones than before. It seems pretty obvious to me that they were pushing for mainstream sales, with mainstream sales figures, concentrating more on mass than class.
Your TV is somewhere in the middle of all this - it is obviously fine furniture, not a "mass market" design at all.
I will keep researching, and hopefully we can come up with a year. If you have a model number anywhere on the set, it would help enormously.
Nice set, and nice project!
Don't assume that any of the tubes are bad.
The guy who recapped my Admiral is an electrical engineer and advised me that tubes rarely fail, and that he didn't replace any tubes on my set. That was almost ten years ago, and while I don't operate the set on a daily basis, the same tubes, the majority of which are original Admiral brand, are still doing their job.
The guy who recapped my Admiral is an electrical engineer and advised me that tubes rarely fail, and that he didn't replace any tubes on my set. That was almost ten years ago, and while I don't operate the set on a daily basis, the same tubes, the majority of which are original Admiral brand, are still doing their job.
Thanks
I will do a re-cap first, because I do have caps that are leaking. I did hook up the DVD to the TV and got a picture for a while, very snowy but you could seed the movie and hear the sound.
Not a bad buy for $50.00 dollars.
Joe
I will do a re-cap first, because I do have caps that are leaking. I did hook up the DVD to the TV and got a picture for a while, very snowy but you could seed the movie and hear the sound.
Not a bad buy for $50.00 dollars.
Joe
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Hi Joe:
I'm not finding anything for that number; it might be a chassis or service reference number.
If you find any other numbers as you service the set and bring it back up to good working order, be sure and let me know, okay? You have my email address, or you can private-message me through the AW system. I'll help any way I can.
Just be careful when you've got it back up and running - you don't want to tune in this!
I'm not finding anything for that number; it might be a chassis or service reference number.
If you find any other numbers as you service the set and bring it back up to good working order, be sure and let me know, okay? You have my email address, or you can private-message me through the AW system. I'll help any way I can.
Just be careful when you've got it back up and running - you don't want to tune in this!
Joe,
That's a nice set.
You're very lucky that a cap didn't really let go during your test. Almost any vintage electronics person would advise you to pull the horizontal output tube and then power up the set on a variac. Applying full voltage to something like this, usually blows rectifier tubes, damages power transformers, or at the very least smells/smokes up your house.
That's a nice set.
You're very lucky that a cap didn't really let go during your test. Almost any vintage electronics person would advise you to pull the horizontal output tube and then power up the set on a variac. Applying full voltage to something like this, usually blows rectifier tubes, damages power transformers, or at the very least smells/smokes up your house.
cfz2882
Well-known member
dating the TV
cool old tv and good that it mostly works.original tubes and larger capacitors will likely have date codes which you can date the set with:usually date codes will be 4 digit year/week:5325=1953/week 25.Sometimes numbers are ahead of the date code,something like 2355325.
cool old tv and good that it mostly works.original tubes and larger capacitors will likely have date codes which you can date the set with:usually date codes will be 4 digit year/week:5325=1953/week 25.Sometimes numbers are ahead of the date code,something like 2355325.
