1964 Zenith 5111 comes to life!

[Tubejunke]

I mentioned acquiring this metal cabinet "roundie" several months ago. I was looking for a Sams PDF at the time and probably mentioned the sets condition as it was. The set was powered up slow on a 100 watt bulb for maybe an hour and a half. At full potential the horizontal outputs plate was red and there was no HV or sound other than some crackles and pops, and smoke coming from the HV cage. Naturally, I didn't keep it powered up very long in that condition.

The other night I decided to test some tubes and what I found at first attempt was a marginal horizontal oscillator, so I replaced it and the H. output still had a red plate, but not as bad. I saw an arching in the HV rectifier, so I pulled that and the regulator which were both marginal on a basic emissions test (not mutual conductance). The smoke that I mentioned seemed to be coming out of the base that the HV rectifier plugs into. I replaced both of those tubes and powered it back up. BAM! A perfect white (ish) raster that seemed to be stable. Upon another visual inspection I noticed the mixer tube glowing like a light bulb. When I pulled it I could see that it had lost vacuum, or at least some as it had a milky look, yet the filament was not burned out as I presume that it would under zero vacuum. So, I replaced that tube and powered it up again with the VCR attached and next thing I know I am watching one heck of a rich and pure color picture. Frankly, I could not believe the outcome as I have not replaced the first component beyond the tubes mentioned. I have heard about these Zeniths being super tough, but anyone who has read my posts about my trials and tribulations with my 59 24" Space Command that to this day will not play should understand, I began to wonder if Zenith was the product for me.

This story is great, but I don't want to make it too great. The color picture is real nice, all things considered, but there was a touch of bleeding color around images, so I know that some alignment is in order. Too bad I don't possess any of the equipment needed to properly align color TVs. When I push the service switch the horizontal line is mostly white with misalignment on both outside edges, to about 3" inward. Maybe I can touch up the color without any fancy equipment that I don't have the money for, or other than this set, any use for. The rest of my collection is 40-50s black and white. I had a few "roundie" color sets when I was a kid and they could be found pretty cheap, if not free. I just lately started seeing the nostalgia in the early color sets, so I guess I got lucky with a decent Zenith.