I went all the way up to Chattanooga, TN to get this Zenith roundie at an estate sale. I got it for $40, but it is an extremely high hour set. It has a 1971 RCA Hi-Lite tube, and many replacement tubes. No remote either. And as you can see, it is covered in 1/4 inch of fluffy dust. It will be getting the full spa treatment.

Too bad about the high hour thing but if i never clicked on the estate sale on the website, you may not have it right now.

Think you got ripped off. That tv says it was $4 each.

Think you got ripped off. That tv says it was $4 each.

:lmao:

That was only the third model year of Zenith color, I'd be happy to find a remote set like that even if it was super-high-hour.

If the sweep output transformers and CRT are good, the rest can be made good.

Just powered the set up for the first time. Remote chassis and power tuning work, but no HV, and I started to smell something getting hot after a minute. More updates tonite.

Great find Dave! I have the same model. Mahogany contemporary - S6026 And have not dug it out. I wish I could find a brochure for the 1964 models.

Paid substantially more for it but the previous owner was scientist-engineer who had serviced it since it was young. He'd installed a cooling fan on the back cover and its on its 3rd or 4th CRT. It was his mother's and when she passed, He decided to let it go. I have no intention of selling it.

That was a great chassis. Nobody ever got rid of them like the RCA's with their famous fried-backs.

The 1971 RCA Hi-Lite tube has one foot in the grave. This is the blue gun, after a rejuvenation.

The heatsink on the power transformer implys that they ran it hard...

Very nice find! I thought the heatsink transformer was standard Zenith issue, no?

No high voltage, and the horizontal output tube is redplating. Replaced 6 of the 9 bad tubes. Still need a 6HF5, 6BK4 and 6BQ5.

I was able to draw a very weak arc off of the horizontal ouput plate cap.

I went all the way up to Chattanooga, TN to get this Zenith roundie at an estate sale. I got it for $40, but it is an extremely high hour set. It has a 1971 RCA Hi-Lite tube, and many replacement tubes. No remote either. And as you can see, it is covered in 1/4 inch of fluffy dust. It will be getting the full spa treatment.

You have a good set there. Zenith TVs were always good, in my experience; the chassis were hand wired (no PC boards). The power transformers in most, if not all, Zenith TVs of the '50s-'60s all had fins on either side, so they ran cooler than many if not most other sets. I once had a Zenith K-2739 b&w 23" console with such a transformer; it served me well for quite a while, until I had to move in 1972. I hated like anything to have to get rid of that set (it was a trash find with no tubes except the CRT and HV rectifier), as I had retubed it and had done a lot of other work on it; then, a year or so later, I found out I would have to move and couldn't take the set with me. I hated to do it, but my circumstances at the time were such that I had no choice (long story and OT).

As I said, you have a good TV there, one that will serve you well once you get it working. Zenith TVs, radios, stereo gear, etc. were great; it was a shame the company went out of business and moved to Korea when it did.

Very nice cabinet, looks to be in great shape.

If the horizontal output is red plating, the HV rectifier is a prime suspect. Also check the grid voltage; you might have a horizontal oscillator problem. I can't remember if that set uses a 3A3 or a 3AT2; it has been too many years.

The end of Zenith was a tragedy; LG basically just took them over. The debacle with the bad CRTs was the final nail in the coffin.

I have the same Zenith (3 yr old thread notice) and have not worked on it yet. It is a fine set indeed, I will not part with it unless presented with a worthy trade.

Fellow member TUD1 may have prioritized some things above this Zenith.

“Fellow member TUD1 may have prioritized some things above this Zenith.”

In fact, his last thread (almost 2 years ago) was a liquidation thread. :(

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=271446

jr

Check the horizontal efficiency coil. Mine did the red plating horizontal output tube thing when I got it. The coil form breaks and it loses horizontal drive. A high hour Zenith is not the same as a high hour RCA. Well worth restoring.

Believe it or not, I am still alive. I'm not collecting nearly as many TV sets as I used to due to *many* changes taking place over the last 2 years, but my interest in these old sets is still here. These days, there are other things that require my attention before TVs.

I had to give this set away, it currently belongs to the collector that gave me the Zenith metal cabinet roundie that Electronic M has been working on.