Star Wars - Amplifone Replacement??

[kentmurphy]

Folks,

Purchased a Star Wars recently and one of the things I noticed was that the phosphor on the center of the tube is completely burned away.

http://webpages.charter.net/kentmurphy/images/starwars/burnin1.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/kentmurphy/images/starwars/burnin2.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/kentmurphy/images/starwars/burnin3.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/kentmurphy/images/starwars/burnin4.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/kentmurphy/images/starwars/burnin5.jpg

Thinking about buying a replacement tube, but not sure replacing a tube is something a beginner should be doing. Mind you it would only be the tube, no yoke, etc. What do you think?

Thanks,
Kent

 

[jar155]

I might be mistaken, but your colors seem off compared to mine. It could be the camera or something, however.

I've never done a tube replacement, but man, that burned dot would drive me insane.

 

[kentmurphy]

The colors are off. Check out this post.

http://forums.klov.com/ubbthreads/showfl...rt=all&vc=1

Thanks,
Kent

 

[Level42]

I'd say I'm quite experienced with electronics and even I am scared of having to replace a CRT. Probably because I've never done it. If you follow the steps (purity, convergence etc. etc.) it must be do-able, but it takes a lot of patience.

Did you fix the color issue with re-wiring the color wires ?

I was just discussing this with my uncle some days ago, who has done it a zillion times. Many years ago, he bought defective TV's with burnt-out CRTs, replaced them and sold them with a nice profit. We're talking 60's-70's.

I asked him if he could help me. My own 25 inch is still fine but I'm going to do the replacement for a friend who has an even worse burn mark than yours. (19 inch in upright, I guess you know where to get NOS CRT's ? Andre in Canada has the last one's apparently. He mailed me that he was thinking of putting up a guide how to do it.

 

[Deadly]

Burn spot in the middle - who has that?

The blue and/or red is turned up too high (blue and red make purple right?) I would set that monitors colors right first to make sure there isn't another problem.
I just setup my first WG SW monitor from ground zero. After removing the rings and yoke I took the wedges and eye balled them from the old tube position applying them to the new tube. Slid the yoke on and then the rings also eyeballing the rings position before I removed off the old tube. I was amazed how close the colors were when the new tube was fired up. If you follow the manual it's really not hard to set it. Just make sure you follow proper procedure to discharge your old tube. Also this forum has alot of knowledgable folk to help you out.

 

[rhwiley]

Just make sure you follow proper procedure to discharge your old tube.

This can't be said enough. So far, I haven't had to replace the monitor in any of my games - but I plan to soon. I used to do this type of thing on a regular basis on several systems when I worked for a commercial computer reseller as one of their technicians. It's basically the same thing as what I did there, and I've seen what's happened to those who disregarded that step (nothing too very serious in those cases, but I'm very glad I wasn't the person who got zapped).

If memory serves correctly, the two most important parts of discharging a tube is to find a good solid ground (relative to the tube's circuits, and not necessarily an earth ground) and use a discharging tool to discharge the tube. There are cheaper methods of discharging tubes - but I've never liked doing it that way (you'll probably understand what I mean if you ever look up how much capacitance there is in most tubes).

Personally, I most like the Elmer approach if you can do it with stuff that can injure you. That method is to have someone show you how the first time. After that, you do it in front of them. For some reason, that method has always worked the best the me!

 

[tester007]

I guess you know where to get NOS CRT's ? Andre in Canada has the last one's apparently. He mailed me that he was thinking of putting up a guide how to do it.

Yes I will be.. I'm waiting on a yoke setup from England to do one for a guy and will document it. Figured I would kill 2 birds with one stone. Yoke should be here any day now as its been a while.

 

[danweb]

Actually as far as Vector spot burn goes, thats not too bad. The converging procedures are detailed in the Amplifone manual, but they make it seem alot easier than it is. Its alot of trial and error and there are no guarantees you will ever get it quite right. If Randy Fromm has trouble with it, than you have to figure its a real tough job. Can you get a tube at a reasonable price, or is it $200 plus shipping?

 

[kentmurphy]

Can you get a tube at a reasonable price, or is it $200 plus shipping?

Correct. $200 plus shipping. Too high?

Kent

 

[danweb]

$200 is too much, but as they say, she may be ugly, but she's the only girl at the dance. Apparently the seller is now the sole proprietor of all the remaining stock, since he went directly to the supplier and bought them up. The ones with the yokes were selling for $165 before that. I saw that he was trying to move a pallet of 32 of the bare tubes for $3,900.00 on ebay the other day. If you had enough people interested it would make the price per tube easier to swallow.

 

[metahugh]

Too much for me and I need a tube worse than you. Don't feel so bad about your burn spot, check out mine to feel better:

 

[Level42]

$200 is too much, but as they say, she may be ugly, but she's the only girl at the dance. Apparently the seller is now the sole proprietor of all the remaining stock, since he went directly to the supplier and bought them up. The ones with the yokes were selling for $165 before that. I saw that he was trying to move a pallet of 32 of the bare tubes for $3,900.00 on ebay the other day. If you had enough people interested it would make the price per tube easier to swallow.

If you read message 772529 in this thread carefully, you know who the seller is.
And like my uncle always says: Better expensive than not for sale.
He took quite a big risk buying that stock because how big of a market is there for these tubes ? If he makes a profit, so what ? That's what business is about.

Anyway, I am SO glad my 25" is 100% OK since these ARE not for sale anymore. Nowhere.
And I would be annoyed by the burn-in dot, no matter how small. First you say to yourself: "It's barely noticeable" Than you get the monitor re-built, cleaned and re-adjusted and you have a like brand new picture, except for that black spot. Every game you play it annoys a bit more. And this happened not even on my own cab

 

[kentmurphy]

And like my uncle always says: Better expensive than not for sale. He took quite a big risk buying that stock because how big of a market is there for these tubes ? If he makes a profit, so what ? That's what business is about.

I concur. I want one.

Kent

 

[danweb]

Yeah, biz is biz, I hear it all the time. Still, I am not a fan of cornering a product in a fringe market like this, and gouging the hobbyists. Its not like there is any real money to be made, a few grand hardly seems worth taking advantage of people. Actually, as the owner of a 25" tube, you are in luck. Pretty much any medium res tube will work fine, all you need is a yoke from a WG 6100 tube, and those are a dime a dozen. Of course you are still faced with the prospect of having to converge the thing, which is not for the timid.

 

[tester007]

Well Dan my 11 post friend, you have the right to your opinion.
-No, not 'any' 25" tube can be used.
-No, yoked tubes were never sold for the amount you stated. In fact VDC didn't even know they had them and a person one day happened to call and get the right person at the right time who actually looked. You don't think 'many' people called and tried before? If anyone got a yoked one it was pure dumb luck they grabbed one or they would have been listed with -WNA for the part number, which they were not. They thought they had 3 which I went to buy. Turns out they had 13 after they got back to me a few days later and 11 non-yoke ones which I paid for as well to lock them up. They said they had to test them all. Over the next couple weeks they found more, and the vultures swooped in impersonating me on the phone to try and scoop them. I 'know' who they are and believe me, if I didn't take them you wouldn't be seeing them, and if you did, not for this price. I don't owe you the entire story on how these ended up here. Because Rell had them 'on order' for months didn't mean they would ever get any if VDC did not know they had any now does it? Thats why bare tubes were hitting the 400$ range between collectors before I got these. 75% of the yoked ones went to an arcade game museum (ya, I could have gotten more and 'took advantage' of whiners like you). So cry all you want, this is where they ended up and people can still get them until they are gone. From a person who has paid 450$ plus ship for used 6100's, I think its a bargain. Christ its a tank and a half of gas.
-You can take your point on 'hardly worth it' and apply it to many things like artwork and repro parts... If everyone took that stance then nothing would get made.. doubt anyone is getting rich off of this.

 

[Level42]

....and NO f-king Wells-Gardner shit is coming anywhere NEAR my cockpit.

But I'd like an extra vector monitor for testing and to play-around with (maybe a Zektor-vector) so where do I pick up those WG yokes ?

 

[danweb]

Lets make it an even dozen posts. So what you are saying is you bought up the tubes to prevent the "vultures" from getting them and selling them for more. Well, unless you are selling them for cost, I don't see what difference it makes which Vulture got the tubes. For all we know they might have sold the bare tubes for $190 each. I also don't see how playing middle man on those tubes is the same as reproducing a piece of artwork. Overpaying for a complete working WG 6100 is not the same as overpaying for a bare tube that you might never get converged right. Which is the original point of the post; converging a tube is a tough, hit or miss task, especially if you don't have experience working with monitors. The $200 plus shipping is just the beginning.

 

[tester007]

But I'd like an extra vector monitor for testing and to play-around with (maybe a Zektor-vector) so where do I pick up those WG yokes ?

I have a 6100 for bench testing and a 6100 frame to hold the amp tubes while working on them. Too bad you didn't ask a few days ago.. I gave away a 6100 yoke/rings to a guy who bought a tube off me.. I don't think I have any left. They come up now and again on Ebay.
I also have a ZVG setup.. but have not installed it yet.. maybe I should get on that and see what it looks like..

 

[tester007]

Dan, don't owe you the story man. And thats not what I said.. thats a possibility, but not the reason why initially. By vultures I mean guys trying to get VDC to ship tubes I had already bought, to themselves while impersonating me believe it or not. It was a few days of having to make some very fast decisions, some that I regret ever doing in the first place.. Just it has to be pointed out to whiners that that very well could have happened just as easily.. And if you are the type of guy who makes a decision over getting something with a difference of 10-30 bucks, then you probably wouldn't have gotten it anyways. If that makes the dif for you, then you probably should pick up another hobby like needlepoint with a lower 'entry cost'. If I had not taken them all I could have very well been sitting on the first pile I got (that I thought was all left as VDC said... until they found more) unable to sell them for god knows how long, because of the extra costs to get the first batch to myself.. capiche? If you think I enjoy a half hour per box to pack these and having a huge chunk of my storage set aside for these things you are sadly mistaken.

I'll sell you the rest at my cost and you can be the hero then.. deal? PM me and we can work out payment.

Converging isn't easy, its also not hard. Its not like you do it once and its set in stone. You can do it over as often as you want.

 

[VectorJunkie]

I picked up a 6100 VDC tube for just under $160 shipped. I'm still kicking myself for not ordering more while the supplier had them.

-VJ