My pride and joy, my 1982 Zenith needs help. For a while, sometimes it took a couple of tries to turn it on because the set would "motorboat" (buzz) and then after a few tries, turn on. This morning, when I tried to turn it on, the green LED channel indicator lights but nothing else comes on. From reading on here, I heard on one of the boards, there is a common problem with a power capacitor.

My model number is SY2585P
IIRC, I have a 9-181-02 main module and a 9-186-01 power supply/horizontal sweep module, if I'm wrong, let me know,I'll pull the back off this weekend when I have time but that's what I have if my memory is correct. Worse comes to worst, I'll order new modules and swap them out but I'm looking for other takes on the situation.

Many Thanks

Chuck

take a heat gun to it and gently warm up caps. I did this on a 2007 phillips SPC tv, the heat lowered the ESR enough for the set to turn on, it was a small 5uf cap in a regulator circuit. I was able to isolate the cap by heating different part of the main board until I found the problem area. Of course an ESR meter would have been less crude, but I dont have one, yet.

I have 2 of these sitting out in my lawn. If you need parts and are willing to cover shipping....

Other than that...yea caps or cracked solders

I have 2 of these sitting out in my lawn. If you need parts and are willing to cover shipping....

Other than that...yea caps or cracked solders

PM Sent.

take a heat gun to it and gently warm up caps. I did this on a 2007 phillips SPC tv, the heat lowered the ESR enough for the set to turn on, it was a small 5uf cap in a regulator circuit. I was able to isolate the cap by heating different part of the main board until I found the problem area. Of course an ESR meter would have been less crude, but I dont have one, yet.

Would a hair dryer do? I'll have to give that a shot too.

Does that set have a small start up board that's mounted to the 9-186 heatsink? If so, there's a small electrolytic cap that will dry out and cause this problem. Unfortunately, there's about a million other things that can cause your problem. The trouble may be on the main module, the sweep module, or both. And, one module can fail and wipe out the other one. I even had one of these that was trying to start and all the power supply voltages were low. The culprit turned out to be a dead shorted electrolytic cap in the electronic tuner module. I don't remember the value; but, it was something like a 2200 uf, 16V. It got to the point where when I got one of these sets that I couldn't fix to the component level, I'd swap both modules. That is, until it got to the point where the boards cost more than what I could get for the set. Now, I'm not so sure you can even get the boards.

Would a hair dryer do? I'll have to give that a shot too.


thats what I used, its a long shot but I know that sometime heat will make a marginal E cap function, at least long enough to find the problem. You dont have a lot to loose by trying. just heat up one spot and try it. You dont need to get it real hot, just warm.

Of course an ESR meter would have been less crude, but I dont have one, yet.

Get one! Mine has paid for itself many times over. Lots of time and frustration saved.

I plugged her in for the heck of it while getting the parts list, she "farted" once but the next shot, she came on and is working. She is getting tempermental in her old age from time to time, but still, I plan to collect as many parts as I can. Many thanks.

Another Quick Question. Do I have to stick to the exact module number or would something like a 9-186-06 work in place of a 9-186-01 for example?

Maybe someone with a Zenith module substitution guide will chime in. There were several versions of the 9-186. Some are interchangeable and some are not.

I looked in my Zenith "CRSP" book. A 9-186-06 IS a sub for a 9-186-01.
The only one according to the book published in 1984. (so not sure if any subs were made after that date)

I have a Zenith CRSP interchangeability matrix book at work - I'll try and get the relative pages posted tomorrow. In the mean time:

http://circuitwork.com/techassist/tip/ZENITH.HTML

Lots of good tips there. The "chassis" are actually module part numbers 9515 = 9-515 module.

Cheers,

I have a Zenith CRSP interchangeability matrix book at work - I'll try and get the relative pages posted tomorrow. In the mean time:

http://circuitwork.com/techassist/tip/ZENITH.HTML

Lots of good tips there. The "chassis" are actually module part numbers 9515 = 9-515 module.

Cheers,

Thanks. I'll give the link a look too.