I just picked up a "bugeyed" zenith portable. The set still had the dealers knob tag. bill of sale, and manual, as well as a box of fuses that a serviceman taped inside the cabinet with a note on the cap he replaced. The set also has the optional magic genie antenna that attached to the back. I've recapped it, and the set is working great! The only major flaw is a scratch on the safety glass. It's somewhat annoying to look at, so I've left the glass off for now. I know I won't be kicking in the CRT, so I should be fine. What I really want to know is if anyone here has experience with removing scratches from tinted safety glass? What method works the best?

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/2813/zenith002li3.th.jpg (http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zenith002li3.jpg)

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1170/zenith004cp7.th.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zenith004cp7.jpg)

http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/6039/zenith001eh0.th.jpg (http://img119.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zenith001eh0.jpg)

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/9285/zenith005ed7.th.jpg (http://img170.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zenith005ed7.jpg)

Eastwood sells kits to do automotive glass. Check out the link.
Dan
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=2024&itemType=PRODUCT

I'm having one other problem with the set. There is a light horizontal stripe on the top of the screen that seems to shrink the image in that particular area. The tops of peoples heads appear squished, but otherwise fine.

Hey, I have one of those!

http://antiqueradio.org/zen28.htm

It's a good performer, once restored. If you haven't already done so, you should replace the electrolytic capacitors and any paper/plastic capacitors, as well as the selenium rectifiers. This article has basic info about recapping:

http://antiqueradio.org/recap.htm

Squishing at the top of the screen is a vertical linearity issue. There are adjusters for height and linearity at the back of the TV, although you may find that the problem disappears after you have recapped the set.

Regards,

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

Phil has a good point. I just replaced a defective tube on one of my tv's and I learned all about height and linearity adjustment. I still have a very very slight compression at the top of screen. Sams troubleshooting suggests testing or replacement of 2 tubes. Got them on order.
Dan

All of the paper capacitors and black beauties have been replaced with 630v film caps from justradios. The selenium rectifiers test fine, but I'm still going to replace them as soon as I can get to a rat shak. The multiunit electrolytic cans seem to be working fine, they stay cool to to the touch for hours after the set has been powered on, and none are shorted. I did replace the one cardboard 140mfd 150v can with a 100mfd and 40mfd 450v cap wired in parallel. nevertheless, i will be replacing the cans with caps of the appropriate values mounted on terminal strips in the near future.

I have been curious about those glass polishing kits. I have asked numerous glass techs about it and all say it's a waste of time & money, that you will end up with bad optical defects after lots of labor. But then I have read on the net (maybe on here) about picture tube rebuilders polishing out scratches or acid etchings (which is what I want to remove from the face of a crt). So far I haven't wanted to shell out the money for the Eastwood kit. Their prices seem kinda high; I should do some research as somebody else has to sell it. 3M supposedly makes something.

IIRC there used to be a "scratch filler" glass kit for eye glasses that would fill the scratch and make it appear to be gone, or at the very least fill it in so that it could be polished.

Anyone know of something like this? I have a CRT on the way that has a scratch in the face that I would like to fill in.

...

How hard would it be to find a spare CRT for this set? I'm planning on using it as a daily watcher, and the screen is quite dim for the first 5 minutes or so after the set warms up. It would be nice to find a good used crt, or, even a NOS one, if it still exists.

It would be nice to find a good used crt, or, even a NOS one, if it still exists. The set can use either a 17AVP4 or a 17AVP4A

Also, I'm having some problems adjusting the geometry. There is slight pincushioning, and the horizontal doesn't completely fill the left edge of the screen.

Put me down as having one of those too. I've been using it for the past 9 years semi-regulaly in my bedroom. (As recently as last night) It's never been re-capped.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/bedroomTV.jpg

Put me down as having one of those too. I've been using it for the past 9 years semi-regulaly in my bedroom.
Hey, time to start a bugeye club! I haven't played mine in a while. Time to fire it up and give it a little exercise.

Phil Nelson

This must have been a pretty popular, or like most zeniths, an extremely well built and reliable set. Carmine, your's is still working with all those paper caps? Things like that never cease to amaze me.

Would anyone happen to have a copy of the schematic for this set? I'm just about to replace the electrolytics, and need something to doublecheck my work.

I have the SAMS Photofact. If you send me your mailing address in a PM (or go to http://antiqueradio.org/contact.htm ), I can take it to Kinko's and shoot a copy your way.

Phil Nelson

This must have been a pretty popular, or like most zeniths, an extremely well built and reliable set. Carmine, your's is still working with all those paper caps? Things like that never cease to amaze me.


It's been years since I've had it open, but the only new cap inside is in the vertical section. It's been getting used less and less lately, not so much because of a problem, just because TV sucks a little more as time passes.

It's hooked to a hidden VCR so I kind of have a Space Command 100 remote (channel only). But the stupid VCR insists on a 5 min channel surf each time the power turns off, so I've actually been using the "real" tuner.

I have the SAMS Photofact. If you send me your mailing address in a PM (or go to http://antiqueradio.org/contact.htm ), I can take it to Kinko's and shoot a copy your way.

Phil Nelson

PM sent.

I mailed the photocopies. Enjoy.

Phil