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The Zenith/LG tube debacle--ON PURPOSE?
I am just curious--is there ANY chance...that the LG tubes made for Zenith.,..were PURPOSELY designed to die--as soon as they did ?
WHY...would LG do this you ask ? Remember...at the time..they were working on GETTING TOTAL CONTROL..of Zenith. And BEFORE..the LG tubes..Zenith CRT'S were WELL KNOWN..for long-life..ESPECIALLY in the delta era !! SO..when someone bought a Zenith tv--they were USED to it lasting at LEAST 10 years..often a LOT longer.. WHAT BETTER WAY... to totally DESTROY a company..that people WERE used to hanging on to their tv sets for often a GENERATION...than to SABOTAGE..the CRT going in them !! Not ONLY ...do you cost that company a WHOLE LOT of MONEY this way...but you ALSO RUIN their REPUTATION !! And AL of this was going on...at a time when RCA sets often had nearly BULLETPROOF tubes in them !! Not QUITE CC tube quality...but maybe ONE step lower .. Any thoughts on this ??? |
#2
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I guess it was a sign of things to come. Buy the latest, watch it die just out of warranty, then rinse and repeat. It's what drives today's economy.
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#3
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Are you talking about the tubes made from '93-'95? They were designed and manufactured by Zenith - LG had nothing to do with it.
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#4
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...
Last edited by andy; 11-20-2021 at 03:17 PM. |
#5
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I thought it WAS the other way around..so those terrible tubes were made by ZENITH? The SAME Zenith...who made nearly INDESTRUCTIBLE CC delta tubes ?
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Audiokarma |
#6
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Actually it was more like 91-late 98..THEN Zenith began to use some tube that did NOT have a brand name on it..which was NOT too bad. i
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#7
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I found the worst by far to be '93-'95. '92 seemed to hold up pretty well, and by '96 the failure rate had dropped quite a bit. They closed Melrose at the end of 1998 so that was the end of Zenith made tubes.
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#8
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They were probably trying something new, something that cost less, TV history has many New and Improved CRT's that were disasters, 15GP22, 9QP4, 12WP4, Short Focus Predicta tubes.
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#9
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...
Last edited by andy; 11-20-2021 at 03:17 PM. |
#10
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I remember reading somewhere that the the factory where the tubes were made was not nearly as clean as it should have been and the contamination had a lot to do with these tubes failing.
I've worked on a few '90's Goldstar TV's that had the same crappy Zenith CRT's in them. The main problem these tubes gave was intermittently shorting/arcing; which, would often take out the power supply and/or video output components. You could fix the chassis and the set might work for a minute, hour, day, week, or month and then the tube would arc and blow up everything that was replaced. The tubes also got weak way too quickly. In fact, I've seen brand new sets that looked like the tube was bad right out of the box. I can also tell you that the replacement tubes were no better. Generally, the only time the CRT was replaced was under warranty. Usually, when the tube failed out of warranty, the set was junked. Starting in about '98, Zenith started using a mix of LG/Philips and RCA/Thomson bonded yoke CRT's; but, by that time, the damage had been done and in '99, LG took over Zenith totally. Personally, I've not seen a bad Philips or Thomson tube. I know of a couple of Zenith consoles from the early 2000's that are still in service. They contain non-Zenith CRT's and they still look fine.
__________________
http://www.youtube.com/user/radiotvphononut |
Audiokarma |
#11
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saw tons of those zenith crts.hit or miss.i have a couple of 25 and 27 inch in the garage.these are excellent.i think zenith made products from the 60s to the 80s,too good.no need to replace them.a set that lasted 25 to 30 years?i still watch a flat chassis and a metal cabinet set daily.if you bought a new set every 7 to 8 years,maybe zenith wouldnt have died.the quality got bad towards the end.sad to see this happen
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#12
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I KNEW...I thought they were using phillips tubes... Sometimes IIRC they did NOT have the NAP label though..
Now..I HAVE seen a FEW bad NAP or Thomson tubes...but ONLY a FEW.. INCLUDING a VERY few bad BRAND new ones. A bad NEW tube means it is not good....and you should NEVER try to hit one--as it will NEVER be any good... But all in all..Phillips tubes were not bad. Same with Thomson tubes.. NONE were quite to the quality of the Zenith delta CC tubes or round Zenith color tubes...but then was there ANY consumer-type CRT made....EVER...that WAS? |
#13
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Quote:
I too..have ONE 25 inch Zenith console set from 92...with a VERY good CRT. I got it to use as a jig for another 32" chassis... It worked WELL for that purpose. Good cabinet...just could not part it out.. BUT...I have to say...that the 100 degree Zenith "tri potential " tubes from about 77-81 or so...are NOT NEARLY as good as the Dleta tubes....oR the in-lines that followed the 100 degree tubes...till about 90 or so...THEN they went to SHIT... |
#14
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With the early Zenith inline tubes, I've never seen a bad 13" one. I've seen a few tired 17" and 19" ones; but, most of them were still watchable and the ones that were not would often take a hit. I've seen a lot of weak 23" and 25" ones and those were often so bad that they no longer produced anything close to a good picture.
In recent years, I've seen a few weak; but, usable Zenith delta gun CCII-era tubes. I've only seen one dead 25" Zenith CCII-era tube and it was used in an early upright chassis set with instant on. However, it bounced back and gave a decent picture, after I rejuvenated it. As far as RCA tubes, I've seen a lot of weak delta gun RCA tubes from the pre-'77 time period; but, they usually respond well to rejuvenation. It seems that from about '77-'80, RCA had a "bad run" of CRT's (especially delta tubes) and these often won't rejuvenate well. Once RCA went fully inline and continuing into the Thomson-era, their CRT's seemed to hole up. Yes, I've seen some bad ones from those years; but, not many.
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http://www.youtube.com/user/radiotvphononut |
#15
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those rca deltas would respond well to hit or two.the last deltas in the late 70s were pretty bad though.never saw a delta zenith that was unwatchable.saw many sylvania dark matrix that hit the skids prematurally.the first 25 inch zenith inlines were fairly good.i have two spares that are very good.the zenith crts from the 80s are ok,but nowhere near as good as the deltas.had a zenith 27 inch console from 1994 that had an orion crt.it was a replacement and it looked bad!tested good but was dim in the set.watchable but not really good.as i ve said before,sad to see this happen to the best manufacture of television
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Audiokarma |
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