[Closed] One of the ugly sisters (Defiant TR949/T)

Hello Brian

You have done a superb job very quickly. Thanks for the link to the pots from Digikey which are a great solution for O/C sliders. I couldn't see a 2K on the list of available values from the Digikey site - did you source these somewhere else?

Cheers

Ian

Hi & thanks Ian.
There was no 2k pot in the Defiant but for the LV20/D18T (3k?), I would use a 5k if it was a variable resistor, not a pot and if it became too course a control, pad it out with a resistor from traveller to the grounded end instead of a short. Funny law but possibly better than all the control at one end. These pots are really very good. I used two of them to make a dual concentric control for my Marconiphone 709 and it worked very well.

Ok Trevor - I'll give it a go when I get back home. I have a Video Circuits tester so no "clean & Balance" but I suppose that's the same as a small re-activate. I'll try it on a spare 92A which I have.

I've not yet got round to tickling the CRT yet but in my researches, I have determined that the photo captioned Philco BT1480 which Peter Scott posted is in fact a BT1410 not a BT1480 which is a console. The R&TV servicing book info posted by Stan also describes the BT1840 as a radio/television console combination and the BT1410 as a table model. They evidently use the same chassis but with the sound O/P omitted as a separate radio chassis is used for audio.

I have found a supplier for the veneer required for the cabinet and will order some next week - then I'll have some fun!

I've given the CRT a little tickle and it has made some difference but not very much so I'll let working time do its job. Meanwhile, I will start on the cabinet. I have ordered some walnut veneer and made a veneering hammer - I have a decent glue-pot which I use when restoring pianolas so I've got the kit. Now to get the skills!

The cabinet needs veneering on all visible faces so it'll be quite a job. The front is veneered in 4 vertical pieces - the main part is booked or mirrored about the centre and there are darker strips down the sides and the sides are also in two pieces so I'll have my work cut out. I doubt if I can do as well as Colin and his Ekco (on the other site) but I'll give it a go. First off, removing the existing veneer and repairing a few bits of de-laminating ply.

Hi Brian,

Looking forward to your journey on the cabinet restoration I love walnut veneer. How is the chassis coming along?

I have some nice sheets off "Birds eye" veneer set aside for one day when I decide to build a cabinet for a homeless EKCO U245.

ps.

The hammer is excellent too

Chris

I have at last got round to veneering the cabinet. I first stripped off all the existing veneer - fortunately, the adhesive was starting to fail (as can be seen from the previous pictures) and it came off fairly easily using a 1" chisel and a lot of care! I bought 12 sheets of walnut veneer on the internet and, once the saga of the glue-pot was over, got down to it. The pictures show my progress and the cabinet is almost ready for finishing. The "book" veneering is basically not difficult but I have not yet found out how to prevent the joints opening as the veneer dries out - any ideas? The strips across the front (top & bottom) have not yet been darkened and I'm not sure how to do it. The two pictures posted earlier in the thread show a normal looking set and a super-glossy/black version. I hope mine looks like the former so I will not be using black gloss paint! I will probably use either wax or Danish oil and the gaps between the sheets of veneer will be filled using cabinet makers' wax.

Brian

That looks brilliant already. The finished set will look stunning.

Ian

Great work and the veneer is excellent. Still itching to know what that mystery rod is for! have you discovered it's purpose yet?

Rich.

It is still a mystery. It does have an effect on picture centering but when it is removed, it is still possible to center the picture with the normal screws. It really does seem to be unnecessary but no manufacturer installs something without reason.

Well, I've finished the cabinet and I'm quite pleased with the result as it is the first time I've done any serious veneering. I must add that the pictures are better than the real thing!
I will now concentrate on the chassis/CRT and see if I can get some bright pictures.

The speaker cloth is temporary until I can get something more suitable.

Hi Brian, Great Job! I will touch cabinet work one day!
If it were me, I'd keep the speaker grille.. One of my less seen sets has a 'SnakeSkin' effect speaker cloth!

Well Brian I thought it would be brilliant and it certainly is.

You must be very pleased.

What finish did you use?

Ian

very good.

I remember reading up how to do marquetry, is that a similar problem to not having a gap on veneer?

I have a special veneer cutting tool that cuts the veneers at an inclined angle so the join is an overlap not a vertical seam.

Chris

Hi Ian
Thankls for the nice words. For the finish, I decided that I would try Danish Oil. So I put just 2 coats on and rubbed down twice. I then used two applications of a dark wax paste, which I rubbed in thoroughly. I left it overnight then buffed the whole cabinet with a soft cloth.

The dark bits were also done with Danish Oil into which I mixed black pigment which I had bought for use with button polish and that seemed to work. If there is anything about which I'm not too happy, it would be the black bits. I didn't want a solid black so I think the way I did them was the only way I could. The grain is still visible.

The original speaker cloth was much lighter Jamie, so I would like to get some which is a bit lighter but I'm in no real hurry and thank you for the comments.!

A couple of posts have beaten me to my posting - I think I will get a veneer cutter Chris.

Michael - With marquetry, I would think that the problem is somewhat reduced due to the smaller pieces - I have never tried it so don't really know!

Thats an excellent result brian. cheers neil.

Thanks Neil.
I've done a bit more work on the chassis and the CR92A is horribly astigmatic - I believe this is a symptom of gassing - is it? I have tried my spare 92A and the emiossion is low on that but the focus is fine so I will go with the spare for now.

While messing with it the other day, a serious amount of line flashing began and the contrast went up and down so I monitored the signal at the CRT cathode and that was showing the same symptoms. I removed the LOP valve to see if it was the LOPT but the "flashing" continued. The HT waved up and down in sympathy so I fed the chassis from my bench PSU in case the metal rectifier was playing up (even though there was no smell!) - still the same. Suddenly the flashing stopped and the contrast stayed very low which meant I now had a permanent fault. As it was only vision which was effected, I started voltage measurements on the vision-only IF valve (V4) and noticed, while I was poking around (as one does) that a quarter-watt Erie-type looked as though it had been a bit hot but it wasn't now. It was R17, the screen decoupling resistor so I measured the screen volys and there weren't any (nor any anode volts). R17 was O/C so after replacement, the chassis was back to decent contrast. Interesting that there was enough vision IF floating around to give some sort of picture and lock both timebases. I suppose that the metal caps inside the ceramic tube had started to arc which caused the resistor to heat up. Eventually it gave up the ghost and made the fault much easier to find.

ASs an aside, I have just finished "restoring" a label which I found in bits in the bottom of a Pye 815 pre-war TV on which I was working. I have attached a couple of pics. The reason for mentioning it here is that it explains completely the reason that Defiant was born. Retail Price Maintenance as practiced by all the big manufacturers meant that the Co-Op were not allowed to sell radios and TVs because of the phrase "The sale or re-sale of this receiver may not be accompanied by any gift, bonus allowance or rebate." meant that their dividend broke this licence. So, being a defiant company, they decided to have their own sets maufactured (by Plessey mainly). I can imagine the board meeting where this was decided - "What shall we call our sets? - defiant by nature, Defiant by name.