[TV MAN]

Well, first off, this may or may not turn into a restoration until I can find all the needed parts. I honestly bought it 1. because the chassis was not moused, 2. I took a chance on the transformers, and 3. I kinda like the old Fishers. Worst case, it becomes parts or sits on a shelf until my estate sale 

Now, the task at hand: Bring this back to life! You can see from the pictures, it came missing all the tubes (it was described that way), and knobs. The seller did a very good job packing it, so it arrived intact, unlike a couple others that didn't fare as well. I could have spent way more money and bought something that included tubes, knobs and cabinet. But, most likely I'd still have to replace a bunch of tubes and do the recap, etc. The front panel isn't too bad, a few light scratched and dings that wouldn't be seen in a cabinet, no rust and it looks original, so no failed resto attempts. Dial cord is intact and power switch works.  

   

At a minimum, I have something to start with. I had enough tubes on hand to to populate most of it, but was short the tuning eye, one IF tube and a pair of outputs. I did find a sub for the IF tube,  but only had one pair of bulbs for the output and had to borrow those from my instrument amp. I knew it had been plugged in by the seller and saw the dial lights on, so I knew there was some life in there, but no idea how much, or if the output transformers were good. I brought it up with one pair of output tubes, kept it on the dim bulb and voltage down, and here are the results as of now:

Some previous resistance checks showed continuity on all windings of the OPTs, no shorts to the chassis, and the main filter cans looked intact. I did an initial 50v tubeless power up, then to 90v and no smoke, . All voltages were present, although I think the -bias on the output tubes was a little off, and noted it got higher (less -) as it ran. The bias filter cap shows signs of - yuk! All tubes lit, and after some coaxing I did manage to get a signal coming through on the R channel! I switched the tubes over to the other channel and same. I can get a signal through, so I believe all the iron is good. I could also get a signal from the phono input on 1 channel, but the FM is dead. I could hear a very faint hiss with the volume control all the way up, but no stations. The plastic wheel on the tuner is broken, so I only went so far. I suspect the good ole' silver mica disease, but need to make some more checks. As of right now, that's as far as I got. It is an earlier production according to the serial number, and I don't have the service info on my bench. I did find a pair of NOS 7868 tubes, so I can at least run both channels at the same time - if I rob from my instrument amp again. 

I went NOS because I read the pin diameter on the EH ones were bigger and would ruin the sockets, and I'm trying to keep it stock. Figured it's be better to search and wait rather than be changing sockets. This will probably not be a rapid project and will work on things as I find parts, time and see just what is there.