anyone out there have knowledge of WGU2000 tube interchange?

[mvsfan]

i need to find out wich tube numbers will interchange with a A63AGD01X out of a u2000.

Ive got about $350 in this u2000 now as i figure it.

when i bought my cabinet i paid $400 for it because the monitor was working. it started fading out a week later. that was 200 more than i would have paid if their was no monitor. actually id have been better off going that way cause the cabinet is clean i should have told him he could keep the monitor.

anyway, my chassis is 100% working now cause i do have another wgu2000 here to plug it into.

but on this tube, no matter what i do, the picture just stays faded out and never gets bright enough.

okay to make this short, ive got quite a few 25" tvs that ive saved as people give them away, i keep getting more too.

main reason i started saving them is this. I also upgraded to a digital tv.

But if you try to play any old consoles like hooking your atari up to a digital if it works at all mostly it doesnt, but it looks like total crap takes the whole soul out of the game.

actually, theirs gonna be a point in time where Crt tvs just like classic cars become valuable. so hang on to them.

[MonMotha]

In general, tubes of the same "era" with the same number of pins will often interchange.  Pretty much anything in the right size made within the past 20 years is likely a suitable replacement.

The thing to check is the yoke impedance.  Inductance is the critical measure, but you can get a reasonable handle by just measuring horizontal and vertical resistance if you don't have a meter capable of measuring inductance.

If you happen to have several tubes laying around, post the numbers off of them.  There's a couple monitor/TV people around here who probably have a crossref book.  There's also some lists floating around on the web.

[mvsfan]

i actually have a big list of tube interchanges i printed out a few years ago but i dont know how to read it.

basically it goes like this.

it says that a

a63agd01x   has a heater of 6.3 and a CR/CA of 23. I dont know what any of this means but what ive gathered is that another tube the same dimensions also having Heater 6.3 and CR/CA of 23 would fit.

so am i right? this would be the first time ive run across a bad tube. ive never swapped one before.

a buddy of mine though told me that if i find one that matches i need to keep the original yoke and swap it onto the new tube.

is that also correct? thanks.

[MonMotha]

If the yoke is "weird", you may have to swap it.  Generally, you've got a decent shot at finding one that's a close enough match to be usable.  Someone can probably tell you what neighborhood the impedance of a U2000 yoke is in.  Swapping yokes is something of a pain (compared to swapping tubes with yokes attached, at least), and can result in purity/convergence issues.

Tubes can definitely get old and weak.  A CRT is just like any other vacuum tube in that regard.  If you take the tube to a person with a tube tester, they can tell you if it's weak (since you've tested this tube on another known good boardset, it likely is) and can possibly run a so-called rejuvination cycle on it to perhaps bring it back to life.

Sorry, not actually a tube person, so I don't know what CR/CA is.  Sounds like a ratio of some key parameters or something.  However, I'd suspect that if they're listing that in a crossref guide, then it would be a parameter to match, yes.  Heater voltage is critical to match, but I do believe most CRTs use 6.3V heaters.

[Kevin Mullins]

The "CR" number (in this case 23) is the socket size/style/number of pins/etc that fits the neck of that tube. (the neckboard socket)
23 is a fairly common socket.

I'd call up an older television repair shop and ask about the CRT Tester and Rejuvination.

If you go the tube swap route:

The "A63" part of the tube number gives the size.
So even without a cross reference list, you can match that part of the tube numbers and the neck size/socket and you have a good chance of a match.

Even though impedance measurements would be more accurate..... basic resistance measurements of the yoke will also tell you if the new yoke is in the ballpark or if you need to use the old yoke. There are four wires which is actually two "pairs". One pair for horizontal, one pair for vertical. Measure the resistance on each pair.

[mvsfan]

thanks everyone has been most helpful.

on that list their are 5 A63AGDxxxx tubes wich would be closest match

and theirs over 100 A63xxx  6.3v socket 23 tubes.

this sounds pretty good now that i could match it now i know what it means.

i probably have one on the shop floor just have to crack it open and find out.

[mvsfan]

i just opened one up and it has an A59KPR84X01.

A59 wont work its a bit smaller than a A63 right?

thanks.

[SirPeale]

That is correct.  It's much smaller.

[mvsfan]

i found one solution. i found a company that will ship me a new

A63AGD01X for $159 plus shipping. they also have many other tubes.

i wonder what shipping would cost though.

before i explore this option though i just wish somebody could tell me wich TVs this tube shipped in.

i already asked this company that but id really doubt to get the answer from them, otherwise they wont be selling me a tube.

[mvsfan]

also i was just reading about a tube brightness corrector.

its a small device that solders in somewhere on your chassis and i guess that it overdrives the guns or something to force brightness upon a stubborn, ignorant tube. heh.

anyone have any experience with this or know what its called?

[Kevin Mullins]

I'd call up an older television repair shop and ask about the CRT Tester and Rejuvination.