Saw this set for sale on fäcëböök and I thought it was cool so I decided to get it. After a 4 hour round trip, i got it home and plugged it in and no picture, sound or HV. I checked the fuse and it was cremated so i put and new one in and this time the 3DG4 rectifier starts throwing purple sparks and blew the fuse. I took the chassis out to check the filters for shorts and no shorts were found so I thought it was the rectifier tube shorting when the HV starts so I ordered a NOS 3DG4. The new tube arrives and i put it in the set but this time the HV starts up and i can hear the vertical running, and then a raster! I put the chassis back in to the cabinet and reattached the tuner and was surprised with strong snow and loud sound. I hook up the converter box and there was a nice picture but the horizontal won’t stop rolling. I asked around as to why it’s doing this and someone told me the phase detector diode was causing this so a fellow collector sent me an exact replacement and as the replacement was on its way, i tested all the tubes in the horizontal circuit and all was good except for the 6HS8. The 6HS8 tested very weak so I ordered one and its still on its way. I have decided not to replace the diode until i see what a new 6HS8 will do. I’ll update the horizontal problem when the tube gets here.

Nice looking set.

Nice looking set.

Thanks!

I have now got the new 6HS8 in and i have replaced the phase detector diode and all but two caps. The horizontal is somewhat stable but not good enough. I replaced the 6GH8 with a NOS one- no difference. Soon i will be replacing rest of the caps and a few resistors in the horizontal circuit and a few resistors on the 6EM7 to hopefully get rid of the annoying lines on top of the picture.

These sets were so damn good its almost a crime. I loved working on
them but didnt do many cause they didnt break. Best B&W sets ever
built IMHO.

For the vert there is an electrolytic in the cathode of the V out.
Its usually part of a can. Next is the integrators, 3 legged discs that
have 87 on them and a color dot. After that caps in vert feedback. Also
watch for high value resistors in the V size area.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

I just got done replacing the bumble bomb and ceramic cap. Now the set shows some more improvement.

I sold the bumblebee cap on ebay for $25. I got a sams for the set and its helping ALOT. When I order rest of the parts for this set, that should be it. I am sick of working on it.

Finally got the horizontal to lock, it was two bad 100k resistors.

More progress. Got more oot resistors replaced and a 40 mfd replaced

Nice!

I sold the bumblebee cap on ebay for $25. I got a sams for the set and its helping ALOT. When I order rest of the parts for this set, that should be it. I am sick of working on it.

Please excuse my ignorance, but I can't figure out why people are buying bumble bee caps on ebay. I replace every one I find, and have thrown away hundreds of them over the years. My experience with bumblebee caps is they're a ticking time bomb, just waiting to split open and cause problems.

If they're worth something to somebody, I guess I ought to be hanging on to them.

Please excuse my ignorance, but I can't figure out why people are buying bumble bee caps on ebay. I replace every one I find, and have thrown away hundreds of them over the years. My experience with bumblebee caps is they're a ticking time bomb, just waiting to split open and cause problems.

If they're worth something to somebody, I guess I ought to be hanging on to them.

Some very valuable electric guitars used them as the OEM caps. The application only has a few mV- maybe a volt across the caps. So even ones that would smoke your TVs flyback will do the job in a guitar...On a $700 restoration of a $5K guitar 60 bucks for the correct original type caps that give the correct sound is nothing...At least to that market.

Please excuse my ignorance, but I can't figure out why people are buying bumble bee caps on ebay. I replace every one I find, and have thrown away hundreds of them over the years. My experience with bumblebee caps is they're a ticking time bomb, just waiting to split open and cause problems.

If they're worth something to somebody, I guess I ought to be hanging on to them.

:screwy: For real , there are people who believe bumble bee caps have some sort of "magical" ability to give the Rock & Roll fuzzy distortion sound that will make them the next big thing . It's not your fellow vintage vacuum tube equipment restorers buying them , it's musicians in their never ending quest to pair "Art" with electronics to = rich & famous .

:tongue: And to the rest of us , they're worthless , so if you can get $25 for each one of them on Ebay , by all means sell as many of em as ya got !!!!

Good information to know, thank you.

Knowing this, I'll sure be hanging on to any bumblebee caps I come across from now on. Now all we need is someone to get a rumor started that weak tubes, wax-dipped paper caps, and old out-of-tolerance resistors make a guitar amp sound better....we could all make some $$ in this hobby.

I’m about one electrolytic away from finishing this set.

I sold the bumblebee cap on ebay for $25. I got a sams for the set and its helping ALOT. When I order rest of the parts for this set, that should be it. I am sick of working on it.


Wait, what?? Really?? I've been throwing those in the garbage, man, I could have bought myself something really nice if I'd saved all the ones I've trashed.

Wait, what?? Really?? I've been throwing those in the garbage, man, I could have bought myself something really nice if I'd saved all the ones I've trashed.

The cap I sold was a .022 which is one of the more popular ones. IIRC, the cap sold rather quickly.

I was able to download the pictures and your set looks similar to one (1961 model H2735) I rescued in a snow bank a few years back. It was free for the taking and I was not about to pass it up. It has the 3-legged starfish knob used on the less expensive models, lit knob-dial not the channel window knob.

I did see a few bumblebees when I took the service saver cover off. They looked to be far enough away from the fly and vertical stage that they were not a concern.
So, I powered it up and got a great picture after I brought it in and let it dry out. It sits under my bench waiting for a spot in my display room. These Zenith's exemplified the term "durable goods".

A neighbor/friend of mine had one just like yours in a metal cabinet 23" version. It sat in a 2-foot deep windowsill in the stone-house living room and played without much service until it was replaced with a 1970 Chromacolor. He is my age, so I think he has both sets. LADR, I sure hope yours turns out good!

The cap I sold was a .022 which is one of the more popular ones. IIRC, the cap sold rather quickly.

I know I've got some 0.047s kicking around, and maybe some others.. gotta have a look around tonight, I hope I didn't toss them all.