The “hour glass” symptom is a sign that the power supply’s main filter capacitor is bad. Not knowing where you’re located, I’ll discuss what we replace in our region. With RCA it will most likely to be a 470uf or 600uf at 200volts. They may be mounted on the circuit board or attached to the metal chassis with wires to the circuit board. They are aluminum cans (with or without a plastic jacket) with solder terminals on the bottom. RCA also used a dual capacitor. The dual capacitor had a 600uf at 200volts for the power supply and a 30uf at 250volts for the CRT. In a pinch, a 470uf may be used in place of the 600uf and a separate 33uf (easier to find than a 30uf) added. Never use a capacitor with a lower voltage rating. Polarity is important. The large “can” style capacitor the “can” is the negative terminal and is connected to the circuit ground (that applies to the power and CRT capacitor).
Mike Andersen, October 2005
