View Full Version : Zenith Chromacolor console worth saving???


RobtWB
09-23-2010, 09:42 PM
There is a Zenith Chromacolor, not a CC2, console at a local estate sale. A console model with the folding doors on front. Cabinet is exceptionally clean and free of dings and scratches. Looks like a veneer over hardwood. Does not appear to be a particle board cabinet. If I remember correctly it is also an SC600x, and a varactor tuned set

It is also stone dead. No signs of life at all.

Is it worth saving?

sampson159
09-23-2010, 09:43 PM
Yes!by all means!save it!

radiotvnut
09-23-2010, 10:00 PM
It probably has a "D" or "E" line solid state horizontal chassis. Whatever it is, it's worth getting.

RobtWB
09-23-2010, 10:08 PM
I'll probably go back tomorrow am and get the set - it is only 5$.
Don't know what the heck I'll do with it - I am over ran with sets right now and really have no room in the inn to store it - maybe I can make some room in the garage for now - the cabinet is really nice - hate to see it end up in a dumpster - or sitting curbside with the back off and the neck and yoke missing - damn copper scavengers!

RobtWB
09-25-2010, 10:13 AM
After a second look I'll gladly let this set go to a dumpster, or better yet a burn pile.
Removed the back - full of mold and smells terrible - amazing since the cabinet was almost perfect - Oh well - just an old dinosaur Zenith anyway - nothing to get excited over.

gellis
09-25-2010, 11:08 AM
if the cabinet is almost perfect then whatever was on the inside must not have been too terrible:scratch2: I think it would be worth for having still. What do you mean old dinosaur Zenith? Was that a special model?

radiotvnut
09-25-2010, 11:33 AM
I'm curious, was it tube or SS and did it have the flat chassis or the stand up vertical chassis?

RobtWB
09-25-2010, 12:23 PM
Yes the cabinet was near perfect - only a small, easily correctible scratch on top - not even vac. cleaner kisses along the bottom -
the inside of the cabinet with the flat chassis was a mess - mold and odor - certainly not worth dragging home and risking a 3 month course of oral/iv antifungal medications to correct a fungal infection of my lungs - the remote was missing anyway - a nice set, probably a top of the line model at the time, maybe a "special edition" given the quality of the cabinet and the SC600x designation, but now a junk heap - only an uneducated retard, or someone who is sexually aroused by old Zenith tv's would attempt to detox that chassis/cabinet.

3Guncolor
09-25-2010, 03:38 PM
Guess that means I fall into the uneducated retard camp....

radiotvnut
09-25-2010, 04:09 PM
Guess that means I fall into the uneducated retard camp....

I guess I'd fall into that category as well. You should see some of the stuff I bring home. TV's with mold growing on the inside of the cabinet, stereo consoles that are full of rat droppings, etc; but, I did scrap the stereo that was full of rat droppings and evidence of urine all over the record changer and control panel.

gellis
09-25-2010, 05:44 PM
only an uneducated retard, or someone who is sexually aroused by old Zenith tv's would attempt to detox that chassis/cabinet.

Dude, you are getting just a little too carried away and a little too descriptive there...

mbates14
09-25-2010, 06:14 PM
I guess collecting old TVs of any condition just isnt for him....

mwplefty
09-25-2010, 07:54 PM
My family has an issue with my 1974 RCA simply because it smells like cigarette smoke (which was common for sets of that time). However, that doesn't stop me. I'd rather it smell like cigarette smoke than rotten eggs or something disgusting like that.

AUdubon5425
09-26-2010, 02:20 AM
...or someone who is sexually aroused by old Zenith tv's...

:wtf:

sampson159
09-26-2010, 06:55 AM
wouldnt let the mold bother me.it can be taken care of easily.a flat chassis zenith is almost like the holy grail these days.increasingly rare and desirable in just about any condition.i have gotten any radios and some had a mold problem due to storage in basements,etc.quite easy to eliminate and clean.odors can be stifled with baking soda.if your allergic i can understand declining the invitation.wish i was invited!

Username1
09-26-2010, 09:16 AM
I guess its all in what yer willing to do. I remember picking up an old Emerson record player that I had seen from the school bus on the way to school. Back in the mid 70's when people would stop and dump stuff out of their car behind the guard rails along side the road. This record player got dumped basically because it needed a tube. 35w4 as I remember. Well before they dumped it they knifed all the speakers, and it sat long enough for mold, and animals to have been crawling around it along with evidence of their nesting and all that goes with it. I fixed all of it, and uded elmers glue on little bits of paper towels like shaving boo boos to fix the speakers. It was one of those amps that had a loudness knob, trebble and bass. That was one nice sounding record player and quite fun to repair all that some unhappy person could do to kill off that nicely crafted machine. I would feel very bad not to have the room to save something like that if it was up to "me" to make the decision.

Eric H
09-26-2010, 02:34 PM
Of course non one but RobtWB actually saw the chassis but unless it's covered in fresh rat droppings I'd probably try to save it.

It's Solid State so I'd pull it out and take some soap and a hose to it, it'll survive a dunking if you let it dry completely.

RobtWB
09-26-2010, 07:09 PM
Well I will have to eat some crow - went back to the estate sale today after work looking for a Duncan Phyffe chair I should have bought Friday - no joy - but i did drag home that 2 ton dinosaur Chromacolor console - looks like it is a Chromacolor SC 600-X Model SD2566-91 and a 25DC56 chassis.

Started with the obvious first - changed out the cheater cord and I'll be damned if it didn't power right up. But it has problems. Very snowy picture and vertical size looks a bit off. Plus the damn mold and smell issue. Color looks spot on though.

Gonna tape a throwaway plastic tablecloth around it for now and deal with it later.

sampson159
09-26-2010, 07:32 PM
put it in a dry enviroment.the mold will go dormant.once that happens,clean it will some bleach and water.easy to handle.of course it powered up,it a zenith!!!!the crt should look very good.early black matrix tube.it should deliver a beautiful picture.i wish i could have one of these.great find!

RobtWB
09-26-2010, 11:24 PM
Well NUTS.

Connecting a dvd player to the set I get a really ugly picture. With the Chromic engaged I get oversaturation and blue blooming/flaring.
Manually adjusting the set will produce a good picture, but not what one expects from a Chromacolor or CC2.

I'll try and post a pic or 2 in the next few days.

RobtWB
09-27-2010, 09:17 PM
Well bah humbug!
I have let this tv play for about 3 hours now connected to a dvd player. Color has improved greatly with a little use, but certainly not what it should be for a Chromacolor. Ignoring the color, the crt is grainy. Looks suspiciously like a common early 70's color crt.
Looked in the set for the CRT label - it is missing - the adhesive is there - but no label - beginning to think this is a replacement crt - and a dying one at that.
Going to close up and cover this set for now - will look into it later this winter.
If the crt is dying, will probably send this one 7 miles northeast to the recycler - don't know where the hell anyone can find a proper replacement crt, and if I am to restore it I will want genuine replacement crt.

RobtWB
09-28-2010, 05:40 PM
Here are a couple of pictures of the Chromacolor.

Adjusted the A.G.C. delay and focus controls slightly and sharpened up the picture, but now no color - rats.

sampson159
09-28-2010, 05:58 PM
what a great looking set.chroma module should take care of that.clean the contacts and tap on your old module.crt looks a little tired but it might come up.good luck on this.i would be happy to have this set!

RobtWB
09-28-2010, 06:34 PM
Here are a few pictures in color - had to readjust a varactor.
The last picture is with the Chromic engaged - all others are manual adjustment of the aux. controls.

RobtWB
09-28-2010, 10:08 PM
The scene from Casino Royale is from a dvd - the picture is as good as I can get manually adjusting the aux. controls.

And the cabinet with the doors closed. Needs as cleaning and some polish.

Eric H
09-28-2010, 10:40 PM
Here are a few pictures in color - had to readjust a varactor.
The last picture is with the Chromic engaged - all others are manual adjustment of the aux. controls.

The Vertical Linearity must be off, his ears look all pointy! :D

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=168272&d=1285716797

RobtWB
09-29-2010, 08:17 AM
hooked up a magnavox dtv to analog box, with a bowtie antenna lying on top of the set, and get a much cleaner picture and sharper picture.

time to close up this set for a while - i will be too busy for the next several months to have time to give it any attention + i have zero zenith service literature

ron/sampson159 - i wish i had a star trek transporter - i would happily transport this set to your work bench - if you come through so. illinois, or have any relatives coming through, let me know, i'll send the set your way

JB5pro
09-29-2010, 10:02 AM
:wtf:

This response is how I feel when ever somebody refers to thier car or any object as a girl, etc. I think feelings that should go to a girl should only be alowed to be expressed towards a girl. I am wrong but I cringe when I compliment an object and the other person calls it a she... and I think and feel wtf... stop acting like objects make u feel like u r supposed to feel towards a girl. How about if we are excited about an object we just say: "It's grrrrreat!" or "Oh boy! I sure do think that object is the cat's meow" like they did in the '40's and '50's before humans had innapropriate sexual thoughts and never even accidentally said anything that could be misconstrued.

JB5pro
09-29-2010, 10:03 AM
I like the cabinet it... It's grrrrreat! I am glad u saved it.

RobtWB
09-29-2010, 11:19 AM
like they did in the '40's and '50's before humans had innapropriate sexual thoughts and never even accidentally said anything that could be misconstrued

HUH? Sexuality has been expressed since the beginning of time. Adam and Eve maybe??? Inca/Mayan/Egyptian/cave dwellers....

JB5pro
09-29-2010, 11:44 AM
I was referring to how it was in the good ole' USA where everybody and life was very close to perfect like in Leave It To Beaver, etc. Things didn't start to get bad in this country until when Jethro played a girl on The Beverly Hillbillies which put all sorts of awful ideas in the heads of innocent viewers.

AUdubon5425
09-29-2010, 12:01 PM
:wtf:

sanjarali
09-30-2010, 05:55 PM
I was referring to how it was in the good ole' USA where everybody and life was very close to perfect like in Leave It To Beaver, etc. Things didn't start to get bad in this country until when Jethro played a girl on The Beverly Hillbillies which put all sorts of awful ideas in the heads of innocent viewers.

For in the homeland of my birth, such a man is raised on stone and made to stone. :thumbsdn::thumbsdn: You and me are of sound mind JB5 :thmbsp::thmbsp: In the lower caste of my young, a man forbidden. :sigh:

AUdubon5425
10-01-2010, 02:16 AM
:dunno: