Philco Predicta

Repair Hints
About Me
• Got into old TV’s as I wanted a different challenge
than radios
• Repaired a Predicta for a friend 2 years ago
• Became interested in the design and history of
these sets
• Worked on many since then
• Haven’t gone crazy working on these… yet
Disclaimer:
• I am not a formally-trained technician- just a
hobbyist
• The information contained herein is based on
personal research and experience
• Others may have different experiences or know
other repair procedures
• Use this information at your own risk
Assumptions
• You are familiar with
basic TV restoration
and troubleshooting
principles
• You have and know
how to use basic test
equipment and tools

(Yeah… Right!)
So You Own a Predicta…
• Owning a Predicta can seem scary-
• “The Edsel of televisions!”
• “The set that bankrupted Philco!”
• “Every shop in town hated those sets”
• “They are a pain in the @ss to work on”
• Yes, they have their issues, but with care, patience
and persistence they can be made to work properly
• Don’t be scared of it- “Man made it, thus man can
fix it”
Models

Holiday Tandem Pedestal Continental

Debutante Princess Siesta

Common Issues
• Screen Covers
• CRT’s
• Antennae
• Corrosion
• Flybacks
• Woodgrain Condition (Holidays/Tandems)
• Umbilical Cable Condition (Tandems)
Screen Covers
• Screen covers on 21” sets
prone to material
degradation, some more so
than others
• Some covers develop a waxy,
chalky buildup on both sides;
tends to have bad smell
(buteric acid)
• Made from “Tenite®” plastic
• Green tint is normal
• Degraded material can be
removed via polishing
• 17” Models used different
material; no oxidation issues
CRT’s
• 17” CRT’s were fairly reliable
• 21” CRT’s prone to premature cathode emission failure
• Originals used non-standard filament voltage
(2.34V/2.68V) – Be careful testing!
• Many 21” sets were upgraded with common 6.3V @
600mA heaters (21FDP4, others)
• Modified 21”sets typically have jumper on last section
of filament dropping resistor and sometimes have a
placard inside the cabinet or CRT housing indicating
replacement
Antennae
• Original telescoping antenna was designed to be
stored internally
• Most antenna masts are broken off and missing
• Replacement can be fabricated and installed
• Pedestal and Continental used built-in antenna
Corrosion
• The decorative metal pieces on the CRT housing
(side brackets, plugs and base) are made from steel
with a thin brass plating that is prone to corrosion
• If the finish is in good condition, use care when
polishing
• The front trim bar on the Holiday sets is anodized
aluminum
Flybacks
• The coating on the
flybacks often looks in
poor condition, with
cracks and missing
chunks
• Looks can be deceiving,
the flyback may look
horrible, but still test
and function well.
Cabinet Woodgrain
• The faux woodgrain pattern on Holiday cabinets is
screen printed
• If there are any blemishes in the finish, they must
be repaired and the woodgrain painted in by hand
• The cabinet on the some Tandem models is wood
veneer on plywood and does well with traditional
refinishing methods
• Cabinets on other models are painted, or a mixture
of painted and finished pieces
Umbilical Cable Condition-
Tandem
• Often the cable will have a sticky,
filthy coating on it from
plasticizer leaching out of the
insulating jacket
• This can easily be cleaned up
using citrus hand cleaner or
acetone
• The cable should be checked for
continuity in the case of broken
wires (fatigue from rolling up
cable, damage from walking on,
etc.)
• Check for broken pins in socket
• Cable may be shortened slightly;
but may cause picture issues
(designed for length of cable)
Component Layouts
• “9L3X” Series – “Hot” Chassis
• 9L37 Holiday and Pedestal
• 9L37U Holiday and Pedestal with UHF Tuner
• 9L38 Tandem
• 9L38U Tandem with UHF Tuner
• 9L38A Tandem with Audio Amplifier
• “10L4X” Series – “Cold” Chassis
• 10L41 17” Models with 5U4 Rectifier
• 10L43 17” Models with Silicon Diodes
• 10L43A 21” Model with Tone Control
9L3X Chassis Layout
HV Supply

Horizontal

Power Supply
Vertical

Sync/
Video

Audio IF
 10L4X Chassis Layout
Sync/ Vertical
IF
Video

HV Supply

Power Supply Horizontal Audio

Common Replacement Items
• Tubes
• CRT
• Inrush Current Limiter (Thermistor)
• Fused Resistor (a.k.a. “Fusistor”)
• RC Networks (Couplates)
• Fine Tuning Mechanism
Replacement Tubes
• Predictas can be finnicky about the tube quality
• When replacing tubes, try to use tubes of reputable
brands
• Good tubes: RCA, Tung Sol, Sylvania or GE
• Avoid: Raytheon, Standard Brand, Lindal, Rauland
• While tubes may test well, have some handy for
substitution
CRT
• 17” Models (SF17/17DAP4) are typically reliable
• 21” Models (SF21A/21EAP4) had more issues
• Most OEM 21” CRT’s used 2.34V @ 450ma
filaments
• OEM 17” CRT’s used 2.68V @ 450ma filament
• Continental is a special case (21EVP4- 21” CRT run
from 17” chassis design)
 Replacement CRT’s
• 21” 21EAP4: Many replacements:
• 21FDP4 (Most common)
• 21FAP4
• 21EVP4 (18Ω shunt resistor needed for series string sets)
• 21EMP4 (G1 and G2 swapped)
• 21CEP4 (Longer neck, G1<->G2)
• 21ESP4 (Longer neck, G1<->G2)

(When converting a set to use a 6.3V CRT, the

last leg of the filament dropper resistor was
fitted with a jumper wire. With higher modern
line voltage, this isn’t always necessary)
Replacement CRT’s
• 17” 17DAP4 (Same CRT used in Philco
“Seventeener” portable):
• 17DEP4 (2.35V @ 600ma)
• 17DKP4
• 17DRP4
• 17DTP4 (6.3V @ 600ma)
• 17DXP4 (6.3V @ 450ma)
• 17DZP4 (6.3V @ 450ma)
• Other 17” 110° CRT’s can be used, but the neck
may be too long for the CRT housing, requiring
modification
Inrush Current Limiter
• Provides “Soft start” for tube filaments
• Original part usually defective or broken
• May be substituted with 2 Amertherm SL21 22101
thermistors wired in series
Fused Resistor
• Protects power supply in case of short
• Limits current surge to PS diodes at switch-on
• Some are found defective or destroyed
• Can be substituted with separate 5.6Ω 10W
wirewound resistor and 1.0A Slow-blow fuse
RC Networks
• Component combinations used to facilitate
production
• Ones in vertical section more prone to failure
• May be replicated using discrete components
mounted on a small breadboard
• Capacitors should be rated for 1kV, either film or
mica – avoid ceramics due to temperature drift,
unless NP0/C0G rated
• Resistors should be rated at 1 watt
RC Networks

Finished boards with discrete

components and jumpers

Perf boards cut to size

Fine Tuning Shaft
• Plastic portion of fine tuning variable capacitor is
prone to wear
• Worn area may be repaired with epoxy and
smoothed down, or metal tab on shaft may be
repositioned
Service Hints
• Board Removal
• Board Repair
• Tube Sockets
• Board Installation
• Flyback Sealing
• PS Diodes
• Vertical Linearity Picture Collapse
• Screen Cover Restoration
Board Removal
• All external wiring connections to the board were
made with wire wrap posts
• A wire unwrapping tool makes the job much easier
• The boards are affixed to the chassis via solder lugs
Board Repair
• Due to heat build-up,
boards can become brittle
and/or traces can break
• Traces can be repaired by
routing new leads along
path of original trace
• Traces can lift with too
much heat- use lowest iron
setting that still yields good
solder joints
• Re-flow solder on all
connections
• Denatured alcohol can be
used for board cleaning
Tube Sockets
• Due to nature of their design, tube sockets are
prone to breakage of the socket pins
• These breakages are hard to see- each socket must
be tested prior to reassembly
• Using a test socket gives an easy and reliable way to
test each pin for continuity
Board Reinstallation
• If there is enough slack in the wires, they can be bared
and re-wrapped on the terminal posts
• Some prefer to solder these connections
• Terminals should be cleaned with a burnishing tool or
Dremel
• When soldering, a heat sink should be placed at the
bottom of the pin to prevent a bad solder joint on the
board
• Ensure that all ground connections are properly
soldered- the VOS board grounds are not on a common
bus
Flyback Sealing
• While most flyback
transformers test good, they
typically have poor visual
condition
• The outer coating is typically
cracked and a piece is often
melted/missing
• Flys with minor coating
damage can be recoated and
stabilized with corona dope
• Flys missing much of their
coating can be recoated with
special “Sensor Safe” RTV
silicone
Power Supply Diodes
• Most models used
germanium rectifier diodes,
often in some form of snap-
in configuration
• These diodes can become
leaky and require
replacement
• Modern silicon diodes
(1N4007) can be used
• The diodes can be mounted
on the existing rectifier
(original diodes must be
isolated), or mounted on a
nearby terminal strip
Vertical Linearity Collapse
• Sometimes a set can display a flat horizontal line,
despite being repaired
• In some cases the vertical linearity pot may be
faulty, not allowing full raster deflection until near
the end of travel
Screen Cover Restoration
• The build-up of degraded material needs to be
polished off
• A headlamp restoration kit works well
• After polishing, coat the cover with paste wax to
help seal the plastic from the ambient air and slow
further deterioration
CRT Shell Trim Band
• The trim band that covers head shell band is
attached via a spring in the base
• The easier way to mount the trim band is to hook
the spring on each end, pull apart and place on the
bottom corners
• Work your way up each side, working trim into
place
• Finish at top of shell
“Hacks”
• Light Guide
• Antenna
• HO Tube Plate Wire Guard
• Line Cord Replacement
Light Guide
• The pilot lamp is covered with a cardboard light
guide
• The pilot lamp (#44) runs hot and over time the
cardboard deteriorates and crumbles
• A ½” ID model rocket body tube can be used as a
replacement
Antenna
• A telescoping brass swivel-type antenna may be
substituted for a missing original
• The Zenith Chromatenna is a good source
• The antenna can be cut out and mounted with the
original hardware
HOT Wire Protection
• There is a fish paper
holder to keep the HOT
plate lead from chafing
on the edge of the hole in
the flyback housing
• Often this holder has
cracked and fallen apart
• A silicone grommet can
be used
• Good up to 500°F;
available from McMaster-
Carr
Cord Replacement
• Units use non-polarized cheater cord; 21” models
use “eared” versions
• Replacement cord ears can be heated and slipped
over original rivets
• If rivets are missing, flanged aluminum fasteners
can be substituted
Oddities
• Extra Resistor on Sync Separator Network
• Jumper on Flyback Resistor
• Tandem Flyback Fins
Sync Network Resistor
• Some Tandem models have a sync separator
network with an extra resistor soldered onto it
• This was a factory modification- not a field repair
• The part numbers are different between the
Holiday and Tandem- this is a Holiday network
altered to work in a Tandem set
Flyback Jumper
• On top of the flyback
terminal board there is
a 2 Watt 15Ω resistor
• In most instances this
resistor will have a
jumper wire across it
• This is a factory
modification
Flyback Fins (Tandem)

While similar to the 9L37 type, this HOT has cooling fins
They look homemade, but they are factory
Closing
• Yes, Predictas have issues, but with some
knowledge these issues can be mitigated
• Take your time and be patient!
• “It’s easy to get Predictas ‘working’, but not as easy
to get them working ‘right’” – Charles Murray