Help Identify My New Zenith

[TinCanAlley]

I think I'm going to remove the chassis and put it on a bench for cleaning and testing. The manual has all the resistances and other figures. I'll also make sure the safety caps are done and do them if not. This will then allow me to clean the inside of the cabinet as well.

Now the set has been unplugged for over 24 hrs, but I don't know if that's enough time for an residual voltage to dissipate. I think the procedure is to take a long screwdriver, wrap a wire around the shaft and wrap the other end of the wire to the metal ground of the chassis and then slide the tip of the screwdriver under the cup and touch the connector, right? Or is the a better way to release any stored voltage?

Thanks

[TinCanAlley]

I'm attaching a few more pics. They are in the high voltage area. Is there anything that stands out? Are these the "safety" caps mentioned?

[mstaton]

Yes and should be replaced BEfORE running the set again. Dont take a chance!

[jstout66]

Well... I can't tell... is the orange drop tied into the white one? Is that how it is from the factory, or a lazy tech? The orange one is fine, white one is a no-no.
Everything else looks good, altho I see the focus divider is still in there. Nothing to really worry about, but.... they DID tend to go out quite frequently and there IS a tripler with an internal divider you can replace it with when/if it ever fails. You will know if it's bad if you have poor focus.
As for the picture tube, I've only seen ONE bad "Chromacolor" tube in my time. And surprisingly.. it was my Uncle's (the Zenith dealer) AND it was in a flat chassis set.
He obviously got the set new. It saw little use, and then went in storage for a few years. When it came out of storage, it had a dead gun that would NOT take a rejuvination. That had to have been a fluke. Now.. 25 years later...when I come across a Chromacoloer set, the tube is NEVER bad.

[TinCanAlley]

I found that I can access the bottom of the chassis if I put the set on its side and remove the stand, so that's what I did and took some pics. It looks much better on the bottom side, that's for sure.

So how many of those caps that should be replaced are there in this set? Seems the orange one can stay, but the white one it's tied to needs replacing. Is that it? Just the two? In the underside pics there are more of the orange ones and one of those white ones (on the underside of the high voltage area). Does that one need replacing as well?

Thanks

[jstout66]

Well.. I would. I'm probably not the best one to chime in on this one tho, as I am not overly familiar with "newer" solid state stuff. I do know that Magnavox and Zenith used those white caps in the high voltage area, which tended to fail early. However... depending on when this was taken out of daily service, if it hasn't blown up by now, I wouldn't be overly concerned. IIRC it was the Chromacolor 2 chassis that had the problems, and Zenith did a huge recall, which I WAS involved with. Those caps failed fairly early in life. In repairs on the "newer" stuff ( after 1967 ) you are basically okay with the caps that are in there. Yes.. you will get many opinions, as some spaz and do a total recap, but, those sets did NOT use the ones that early sets did, so I'd hate to have you end up doing a needless recap on EVERYTHING.

[TinCanAlley]

I looked closer on the one orange and it is not soldered to the white one. It just looks that way. It is a replacement as they cut the leads and bent them into a "J" hook and soldered the orange one in. Kind of lazy as they should have done the other one at the same time. So that means I have one on top and one below that need replacing. The all have the markings of "special" and "22-5001", so they should be easy to get hold of. I check Mouser and they didn't have them, but another place did for roughly 6 bucks each. Other than those, all other caps appear in good condition (no bulging, corrosion, leaks, etc.).

I'll order the caps, clean the chassis and use some Deoxit on the G2 pots and see if that helps with the red G2 issue. By then I should have the CRT tester and pattern generator.

Oh, and one other odd thing. There are not date markings anywhere inside the set except for the long black cylinder on the under side of the chassis. It is dated March 10, 1973. I know this set isn't that old as it is a Space Command and I don't think they were made that early. Just kind of odd as my other CCII has the date in a few places in the cabinet.

[jstout66]

oh.. I would suspect it's that old. I think the first Chromacolors rolled off the line in 69 or 70, then you had the solid state flat chassis, for a few years, and I think the CC2 line rolled off the line in 74 or 75.

[jstout66]

also take a close up of the Zenith label on the picture tube.. THAT may have a code date.

[zeno]

Originally Posted by jstout66

Well.. I would. I'm probably not the best one to chime in on this one tho, as I am not overly familiar with "newer" solid state stuff. I do know that Magnavox and Zenith used those white caps in the high voltage area, which tended to fail early. However... depending on when this was taken out of daily service, if it hasn't blown up by now, I wouldn't be overly concerned. IIRC it was the Chromacolor 2 chassis that had the problems, and Zenith did a huge recall, which I WAS involved with. Those caps failed fairly early in life. In repairs on the "newer" stuff ( after 1967 ) you are basically okay with the caps that are in there. Yes.. you will get many opinions, as some spaz and do a total recap, but, those sets did NOT use the ones that early sets did, so I'd hate to have you end up doing a needless recap on EVERYTHING.

4 lead caps were in 17/19/25EC45 chassii runs 401 and higher &
into the F line. Before run 401 they used the same seperate caps
this set has. Reason for seperate caps is if one or two open the
HV wont go nuts but you will see symptoms. 4 lead caps were meant to open
between the HOT E & ground or C to flyback to kill HV but it didnt
work. Small world a Sprague rep lived in town & had an Avanti
with 25EC45 ( or FC) & the cap went. He got the new Sprague
replacement & it failed !! Sprague failures were always an open
killing the HV or dead short.

I never saw or heard of a flat chassis cutting a neck. Had abt
5 EC45 chassis with massive damage. I think most were 19".
IIRC. The vert would fail & cause a lot of current through
the yoke cutting the neck. One of the reasons the vert had a fuse.
The flat chassis used a totally different vert circuit.
I also saw 2 Maggies with cut tubes, T993 ?? probably the same thing
so we just gave them back & told them to go to a Maggie shop.

73 Zeno

[TinCanAlley]

Originally Posted by jstout66

also take a close up of the Zenith label on the picture tube.. THAT may have a code date.

Well this is the label, but there's no standard date on it, so maybe it's a code.

[TinCanAlley]

I just ordered a few of the 22-5001s from Talon Electronics. They NOS/OEM Zenith parts. Hopefully they'll be here early next week.

Time to break out the paint brush and vacuum and do some cleaning.

[jstout66]

Zeno.. I LOVE your posts!
Replies are always dead on, and.. you kind of remind me of my Uncle.
I worked in his shop in high-school, and I remember the recall in the CC2 line. I can still picture the replacement kit. We lucked out, and only had 1 customer ( on a set we sold) with a necked tube. Zenith did the right thing tho, and paid for a new tube, even tho the set was out of warranty.
Why you remind me of him... I think it WAS the T993 chassis on Magnavox. He hated working on ANY Magnavox, and there were a few we saw with necked tubes, and he told them the SAME thing.. ( take it where you bought it)

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by TinCanAlley

It is dated March 10, 1973. I know this set isn't that old as it is a Space Command and I don't think they were made that early.

Zenith started making Space Command equipped sets in 1955....Before they even sold color sets.

[TinCanAlley]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

Zenith started making Space Command equipped sets in 1955....Before they even sold color sets.

I guess what I meant was the CC2 Space Command Avanti. So did they make both the knob and remote versions at the same time (year)? If so, then I know the set isn't older than 3/10/73, but not sure when the last one was produced. Sure is odd there are no date markings.