Got my 2nd Zenith Porthole! And it works! But I have a question...

[CoogarXR]

Wow,

I got my 2nd 1951 Zenith porthole today, the 16" one. My 12" is still being worked on...

I went to pick it up, and the guy had it out on his porch for me (I understand, not wanting to let creepy craigslist people in the house). I asked him to show me that it worked, since they said it lit up. I plugged it in, and I couldn't see anything except a fine on the screen since the sun was so bright. I thought, "ahh, at least it does something".

So, I bought it anyway, lol. But when I got it home, and tried it again in the house, that sucker lit right up, with a nice bright picture! No brightener on the CRT either! I am pretty happy about it. By the way, I wouldn't have tried to plug it in, had they not told me they already tried it successfully.

Now, I do plan a recap just to assure that it stays working. But in the mean time, all I can get is snow on the screen. I hooked up an RF modulator and a dvd player, I tried channel 3 and 4, but no change, just snow. It seems that I have to hold the knob between channels too, or I get fine lines on the screen. That's probably a deoxit fix, right? Is there anything I can check for a quick tuner fix? Remember I have a 12" 1951 Zenith too I can rob tubes from, if needed.

[cwmoser]

Post some pictures. We like to see what it looks like.

Carl

[Phil Nelson]

I would start by testing all the tubes and cleaning their pins. Dead tubes in the front end could result in no signal.

Cleaning the tuner, along with all controls and switches, is another routine initial step. Don't spray cleaner all over the place or use anything abrasive. I dip a Q-tip or tiny non-abrasive brush in DeOxit and clean each contact manually. Allow time (like overnight) for cleaner to evaporate from the insides of controls before powering up again.

I would not play the TV for extended periods until you have replaced the electrolytics in the power supply.

Seeing light on the screen is a positive sign, but it's a little pointless to debug specific problems when the TV is jam-packed with leaky old paper and electrolytic caps.

Phil Nelson

[Dan Starnes]

What Phil says and would like to see pics of the set.

[CoogarXR]

Well, dumb me, lol. I had my input connected to the internal antenna, rather than the input. Once I connected to the input, I got a snowy picture of my input. I think I am satisfied enough to let it sit now, until I can restore it properly.

The TV is sitting in my dining room that I am remodeling, so don't mind the mess, heh. The picture came out a little blurry since it's dark in there. The cabinet looks nice, other than a rip in the speaker grille.

Here he is:


And here's his little brother, the 12" that I already had. Someday I hope to have them both working

[Sandy G]

Ah HATE yew....You have 2 Portholes 'n' I ain't even got ONE....Tain't fair.... MOMMY !!!! (grin)

[Phil Nelson]

Oo, la la! Definitely worth taking your time and doing right by those sets. I like that cabinet size much better than the huge combos.

Have fun.

Phil Nelson
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

[John Marinello]

You've got yourself an "Aldrich".

[CoogarXR]

Originally Posted by John Marinello

You've got yourself an "Aldrich".

What's an Aldrich?

[leadlike]

That's the same set I just picked up. Your chassis has provisions for Phonevision AND the lazybones remote. I'm with Phil in liking this cabinet style quite a bit, and it should produce nice sound as they still included a 10" speaker.