Hello!
I only just joined this forum today and I must say its wonderful.
I recently bought an old "Astor Devon Fringe" Television in working condition (the seller assured me that it had been plugged in and it turned on fine). As I really don't know much about vintage televisions I have a few questions i'm hoping some of you can answer:

What year was the television made?
Should I get it inspected by an electrician before plugging it in and turning it on?
Is there anything safety-wise I should be aware of before using it?
How hard is it to get tubes for old televisions like this and where is the best place to buy them (brand new or second hand)?

Below I have links to a few pictures I took of the television:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/156790096@N07/

Thank you in advance for all your help!

- Andrew

***UPDATE***

I got an electrical friend of mine to look at the television. He looked everything over and said it appeared to be in good condition and electrically safe. I then decided to turn it on. The speakers seem to be working okay, however the screen just shows a white line in the center and no proper picture. I am hoping that someone will be able to tell me what I can do to fix this. I have also added another picture to my flickr account to help you.

Hi,

Dont turn it on! High chance of damaging it for ever. Caps will need to be checked as they will be leaking. There are people here that will explain the correct procedure and I'm sure they will answer you shortly

All the best pete

None of those links work. They give:

404
This is not the page you’re looking for.



EDIT: fixed

Hi,
I think i've fixed the photos now.
Thanks,
Andrew

Andrew,
Many vintage TVs have paper Capacitors and old carbon resistors in them , These rot with afe and often leak DC voltage into other components and it stuffs them. So normally the caps , resistors, mains are a problem and need to be checked, some hold very high voltage , 400 volts and much more.
Vintage TVs are mostly turned on with low voltage to start with. But as I said in my post someone will explain it to you, I'm a vintage TV collector not a techo..
Pete

Thanks for you advice Pete. Much appreciated!

Welcome,
There are vintage TV techos here most days , just that its christmas time and everybody's playing santa or kids or sleeping it off!

G'day Andrew,

At a glance your TV looks like it could be a 1965 Astor Devon D31C/5A-BV. I can confirm this later on tonight when I get home.

You can hook it up to a A/V modulator with a DVD player or set-top box. I have done this with my 1967 Astor Royal which I occasionally watch.

In the meantime, heed the advice given about not firing it up until you can get it checked over.

UPDATE:-

According to information on hand & TV Collectors Astor TV thread, https://vintage-radio.com.au/default.asp?f=10&th=3&offset=3, this model should be a D31L/5A-BV. Unless I'm seeing things, the model number shown in one of the images is D31C. A little bit puzzling as according to TV Collector the "C" stands for upright console, whereas the "L" is for lowboy of which this model clearly is. I cant make out the chassis series, but it should be 5A-BV.

On the subject of parts availability the only things that could be an issue is the picture tube & the horizontal output transformer.

Hi Andrew

Since it's a 1965 model, Astor were using all polyester caps by then and so the issue of recapping the chassis does not apply. You're in luck!

I'd still run it up using a dim bulb first time. See this post,

https://vintage-radio.com.au/default.asp?f=6&th=203

Don't worry about the link it contains to another article about restoring old TVs, your's is too new for these issues to be relevant. The post is about an older chassis than yours.

You might need to find a 150 watt 240V tungsten lamp, or two smaller lamps in parallel.

It might also be worth checking if the power cable has rubber insulation on the internal wires. Many products of that period still did. However, if your house has a functioning earth leakage breaker you shouldn't need to worry about this.

If you do need a tube (valve in Oz!) they are still readily available either NOS or new depending on the type. Your biggest worry is the CRT, there is no-one left in the world (just about) that can rebuild them now.

The Series 5 chassis was a good performer as I recall and fairly trouble-free.

Late recollection: there may possibly still be two paper caps in your set that will need to be replaced.

Hi Andrew,

Your Astor Devon is suffering from vertical collapse. Whilst I don't consider myself sufficiently expert in these matters, the first thing I would do is to see if all the valves light up. A valve possibly could of worked loose during transit. One valve to look for in particular would be around the vertical output, V7 (6GV8).

Also an electrolytic capacitor, C71 (100μF) & other components around the vertical output could of failed causing the problem.

Astor Series 5A Service Data

On the subject of the actual model, it is a D31L/5A-BV from 1965. The D31C/5A-BV is the upright console version. There must of been a mistake when printing the model designation on the rear cover.

Hi,
Thanks for all the information. Yes, if you could upload the service sheet that would be great.
- Andrew

SHIT!!, Andrew, don't leave it running like that!!!

You will get a burn mark on the otherwise-good CRT!! You won't get another one.

Turn the brightness down so that the line is just visible.

First, check that the 4 pin plug going to the yoke is plugged in firmly and there are no broken wires.

If this is OK, you'll need to make the folllowing tests with the set running......

Look for voltage on Pin 1 of the 6GV8. If none, fault is either O/C R91 or the height pot itself.

If there is voltage on pin 1, (about 50 to 200 v) check voltage on Pin 6. Should be about 20ov or more. If not, vertical output transformer is O/C - a common fault on this model.

If pin 6 is OK, check Pin 7. Should be 150 to 200v or so. If much lower, R80 (3.3k) is O/C.


That's about it for vertical faults in Astors of that vintage. I'll send the circuit to Brad.

Hahaha
Shit said the King and the Court Strained!
Arrrrrrr😅😁😅

I SECOND THAT!

I winced when I saw the photo!!
Once the phosphor is burnt it will never recover and the burnt line will then show up as a dead area in the centre of the picture and your eye will always be drawn to it!
Be guided by Ian over the likely fault cause, the set is probably only one fault from originally working except for any capacitor or part that may fail from the long time not powered and startled into life. Hope the set was powered up at low voltage in the first instance and capacitors allowed to reform gently.
Nice looking set by the way.
Cheers, Fred.

Andrew if you unhide your email address or email me (mine;s not hidden) I can send you the circuit.

Astor Series 5 Circuit Diagram