Estate Sale Finds in 2009!
 

I've found a few sets this year already, they just never got posted. I finally decided to bring this thread back, and hopefully keep it going. I picked up that '69 Zenith console at the Evanston estate sale on Friday morning. The sale was at 9524 Hamiln, was a family run sale and we were all standing in line getting ready to get rained on. We were ready to have one of the most serious downpours in history that morning.
It was at this sale where saw Max for the first time in quite a few years. He was waiting in line too before the sale started.
This was a nice old house, basically undisturbed in 40+ years. The zenith was up in the bedroom, and as I hoped, it was the 16Z8C50 chassis. The son of the original owner was there, told me it was their first color set, then it became a bedroom TV later on where it never got used again. Not even an antenna, or antenna jack connected to it, it just sat there since the early 80's.
They told me to take the TV for $10. One of the guys working at the sale told me they had a much better newer TV downstairs. This zenith actually works, just a dim picture. Might need a kick start to the filaments to bring it back, looks like it had the back off maybe once. Completely original.

One of the guys working at the sale offered to bring it down the stairs for me and help me load it into the truck. As soon as I got the TV downstairs, I had the truck waiting in the street with the tailgate and cap door open. It got very dark, very quick. The rain started to come down pretty good at this point. We threw a big heavy blanket over the TV and then me and this other guy picked up the set and litterally ran out the door with it to get it to the truck. As soon as the set was in the truck, we were soaked, but the blanket was good enough to where it didn't saturate the blanket down to the cabinet. As soon as I felt the TV was safe and sound, I pulled the blanket off it. Right then and there the rain just picked up fiercly and a huge gust of wind blew the rain sideways, right into the truck blasting rain water all over the TV! NOO!! I had to get in the truck, turn it around 180 degrees so the rain wasn't blowing into the back. Fortunatly I had some towels with me, I was able to dry it off asap before the water ruined the cabinet. The rain was so dense that you could hardly see 10 feet infront of you. I was instantly soaked as I had to run back into the house to pay for the set. And as always, I had to hear people at the sale talk among themselves "I can't believe someone actually bought that thing". I hear it every time! I was asked by someone what I do with it. I told them I wanted it for the cabinet. The one guy says "oh, yes, its a very nice cabinet to make into something else" That ended it. No more me needing to explain why I like the old sets, no more people looking at me cross eyed when I tell them how good the picture is when they are properly working, no more people telling me that its not digital ready and that I'll need a convertor box to watch it. This way, it just speeds up the process, tell them what they want to hear and everyone moves on.

Its safe now, just need to open it up and see whats all wrong with it and get it going again!

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Look at that green shag carpeting. Talk about walking into a place where time stood still! Takes me back to my childhood.

I think the TV has that late '60s Mediterranean styling...

Those estate sale rats of course would talk shit about the set, but once they see your collection the frowns would turn upside down. Some people have no sense of style.

I took the back off to see what I'd be up against. Darn it tall, the infamous brightener was on. I rarely see those brighteners on color sets. I figured the tube was toast as they normally always are at this stage. My RCA CRIII couldn't do a thing to it. The old B+K 465 did the job, and very well too. The emission went up to a near perfect tube on all 3 guns, so the tracking is excellent. This it the picture it produces without touching a thing, except backing off and setting the grey scale. The picture detail is a little smeary, but its not the CRT, probably some some tubes and simple alignment, but its got a picture and I can tell it will clean up to a good working set.

See the yellowish dust? It was a smokers set, not very extreme though, but it has that hot tube cigarette smoke smell once the set is going. That smell takes me back as a kid looking in the back of old sets, smelling the hot tube smoke smell looking at the filaments under all the dust....

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Very nice find & I'm glad to see this thread going again.

Congratulations on this Zenith find. Wow, what a beauty. That's a great looking '69 Zenith set. The picture looks good too (is that the rained-on US Open on the screen?). That's a nice looking house too, possibly built in the early 1960s?

It's been raining like crazy in New York for the past two weeks, pretty steady. As a result, the apartment buildings don't put out heavy stuff on the sidewalk for garbage (like portable a/c's or console tv sets) they usually wait until it is dry (I don't know why). I will be keeping my eyes open this summer for old Zenith's and RCA Victor's.

Nice! I know that smoker's smell all to well, for one, I used to smoke and two, I seem to find a lot of smoker sets. Always have, I guess everyone smoked back in the day.

Nice set. I wish I could find 1/10th as many sets as are turning up around Chicago!

I'm glad you got that set, it was nice seeing you at the sale.
That rain was pretty bad, I was worried that the set might get wet when you were bringing it outside. The rain seemed to be heading into Chicago, so it followed me all the way home, some of the worst rain I've seen here for a while.

I think it is. The U.S. Open was supposed to have finished up yesterday (Sunday), but rain cut things short so they are playing the last few holes today (the NBC station here in Cleveland is showing local programming as I write this, at 4:44 p.m. EST, so it must all be over except, as the expression goes, for the shouting).

I agree--the TV looks great, and the picture is excellent with your DTV converter box between the antenna downlead and the set. I did, however, see that "green halo" around the edges of the screen, both in the first pictures of the set and in the one that showed the U.S. Open. That was a real problem with Zenith CRTs after they get a few years on them. I sometimes wonder if they ever licked it, or was the halo a problem right up to the end of CRT production? Hmmm. :scratch2:

I heard that. It seems like anything remotely good has disappeared from this part of the country.

^ Don't fret. Every time I want something from the 1960s (color set, clock radio, table radio, electric wall clock, etc) it just seems to turn up within a month or so of me really looking online or ebay or estate sales. The US economy in the 1960s was quite good and a major status symbol was to own a big color console tv (super status was to also have a nice color portable in the master bedroom as well the big color console tv in the living room). As a result, production in the mid-late 1960s and early 1970s was really booming. Just like with vintage cars from this period...they turn up in barns and garages...electronics will likely continue to turn up at estate sales. Keep checking www.estatesales.net and plug in the zip code near you.

Great finds. I'm also glad your threads are back. You find some amazing tellys.

About the smoke smell....I know it all too well. It's almost like, every set over a certain age just reeks of the stuff.

Too bad about the brightener

The '69 Zenith is all fixed up, working great!
 

Finished tuning it all up this evening. Went through a cleaning process. Had to take it all apart, down to the CRT. Had to pull the CRT so I could clean the "smokers dust" off the bell of the tube. It was pretty bad as you can see in the "before" photos earlier. It did clean up really well though with the paint brush and my 1963 electrolux model G vacuum cleaner. Tubes were actually good. That brightner never belonged on this CRT. the Video output tube was weak! The tekie put that in no knowing where the real trouble was. It is a low hour set, lots of original tube still good and going strong. Even the 6Z10 was good! After the repairs, it got a "cook out", and sure enough the 6Z10 shorted out on me. So it got replaced anyway. Go figure. Typical zenith tube set though, focus is somewhat soft due to the leaky focus rectifier. Put in a new NTE118 and it sharpened up and brought the pot mid way like it should. It converged really well, even with a good selenium convergence diode. Lots of zeniths with high hours will have a burn up convergence pot for the left side blue horizontal line control. Another tip this set didn't see much use as that pot was still good and not "crumbling" when I turned it. I really like these tube chassis/solid state IF models. They were always good working reliable sets. The 16Z8C50 is a chassis I don't run across too often on the zeniths. 9 times out of 10 I find '68 model zeniths with a 20Y1C48 chassis. That must have been a big year for color TV sales. I can't tell you how many '68 models I have and how many I have run across over the years.

Got some large pics here, so enjoy. Looking at the chassis is what its all about on zeniths.

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Hey, good stuff! You do nice work.

I could eat supper off that chassis! (and, I suppose, cook supper on it :D)

Nice job!

Wow, Doug!

That set looks great! Glad you were able to bring it back. It certainly cleaned up well. What do you use to get the smoke smell out or does it leave with the dust? I've run across quite a few sets that were pretty fuzzy inside.

We had the same set when I was growing up; at least the control layout. I think ours had speakers on each side of the screen.

-Jim

Very nice job, Doug!

That really is great,doug!What exactly do you use to get them that clean?

Great job Doug! Another Zenith saved! Looks beautiful man, can't even tell it was a smoker set. The black '63 Zenith roundie I restored took countless hours cleaning like you did with it totally disassembled. Imagine what a persons lungs look like after all the years of smoking. Every time I open a set like that I thank God I quit smoking. Been more than a year now:D

Is that the beginning of a "cataract," i.e., separation of plastic cover from the CRT face?

Phil Nelson

Yes, it is. The green halo is a bit more stubborn and reacts well with the "hot wire" method of safety glass removal. I leave it if it's only like this one is. It really don't do much to the picture until it creeps in about 2", that's when it really gets green and can be seen in the picture.

Estate sale find: 7-18-09
 

Went to two sales yesterday, turned up another nice clean set. The sale was at 508 N. Main in Mount Prospect, IL. There were no pictures of this set on estatesales.net, I just got lucky and saw it sight on scene when I decided to go this this sale.

In the basement I found a very unique space command 400 color set from '68 in the corner. I say unique because this is the only rectangular color TV model zenith offered as a space command 400 and only available in '68. Interestingly, I did find this exact same model at an estate sale on 7-8-06 in Berwyn, which I bought and restored but couldn't get rid of the mildue issues on the cabinet. I was so dissapointed with that one because it was in a damp basement. I no longer have that one, another collector has it who can apparently deal with the mold/mildue issues it had.

So yesterdays find is near mint from a nice clean basement was nice and dry too. Right as I was pulling the set away form the wall, the people running the sale say "its the TV guy". I kind of laughed like yeah that me as thats pretty much who I'm known as at all these estate sales around here. They even offered to help me move it up the stairs and into the truck which was great. I got it for $20.

I didn't see the remote for it, but as soon as it was scooted away from the wall, there it was, sitting on the floor underneath the TV! Its the regular space command 400 remote too, no "color TV" or anything on it. So seeing that remote also answered my question if the 68 sc400 remotes should have been the regular plain "400" or the one that said "color TV" like the '64 models. I'm under the impression this set was zeniths cheap attempt at giving you a color set with remote control as basically all the color sets were using space command 600 by 1965.
I then saw a table full of old zenith radios, none which I bought ($50 for a plain 60's table radios that werent in great shape was a bit too much!) I did see a box with many RCA tube boxes. Right away, I recognized all the numbers as ones being out of the color TV. Sure enough, most of the tubes in the boxes were the original zeniths. Inside one of the tube boxes was a receipt from May, '79 when he went to Tri-state electronics in Mt. Prospect (still in business, I go there all the time!) for a bunch of RCA tubes he bought. In fact, some of the tubes he bought were still brand new in the box. There were some other tubes in there, like a 6DW4 and 6JA5, so I know they also had a 4 tube hybrid at one time but its probably long gone as it wasnt at the sale. A couple empty TV carts though as usual. He apparently did a shotgun tube recplacement to fix a problem as he was a do it yourselfer but not a TV man. Fortunately I got most of the original tubes to put back in the set to keep it original.

As I went to pay for the TV, the guy at the register told me they had some papers for that TV. He goes sifting through a folder next to the cash box with manuals and gives me an envelope with all of the original documentation for the TV. I couldn't believe it. Even had the hang tags and the sticker that went on the CRT. It was bought new on November 25, 1967 at Fujawas Furniture in South Bend Indiana. Wonder why they bought it there though?They used to live on the north side of Chicago as can be seen on the registration, and then moved to Mt. Prospect which was not that much of a move.

This should be a nice one to work on, clean non smoker set and from a house with baseboard heat. There is almost no dust inside the set! It should have alot of potential, havn't tried it yet, but I checked the G2 controls, and all were set low, so that give me hope the CRT is still strong. Its got the 20Y1C48 chassis, which as I've said recently, I find so many set with this chassis for some reason. '67-'68 must have been a huge year for Zenith TV sales in the Chicago area. I would guess many of the networks were broadcasting many color programs by '67. Alteast my dad tells me he remembers lots of stuff being in color starting around '67. (my grandparents on dads side bought a motorola color TV in 1966, which apparently started a huge argument between my grandparents my dad told me. Grandpa bought it as a gift and grandma said they couldn't afford it, but then saw the pictures in color for the first time and the rest is history....haha.

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Looking at those pictures took me back to when I lived in a 3-bedroom house with a basement in suburban Cleveland, and did a lot of work on old TVs I would find in my neighbors' trash. I had a bunch of old TVs in my basement, a lot of which were Zeniths. My favorite was a K2739 23" VHF-only console, which was a trash find in 1969. Someone had filched all but two of the tubes (the 1J3 HV rectifier and the CRT were the only tubes in the set when I got it), so I had to replace every one of them, but it was worth it. The set worked as soon as I connected the antenna and turned it on--a beautiful, razor-sharp Zenith picture on all three network stations from Cleveland. Unfortunately, I had to give up that TV about three years after I restored it (I moved to a place with no room for a big TV), and I missed it for quite a while after that. However, in 1977 I found a Zenith Space Command "300" 19-inch portable, again a trash find, that worked perfectly as soon as I plugged it in after getting it home. The set lasted a year or so, then the horizontal output tube went gassy, overbiasing the IF stages to the point where I was getting a very weak, washed-out picture on all channels in my area. The tube was some oddball type, 22JF6 or some such, that I couldn't find anywhere, so I put the set in my basement and, the next day, bought a 12-inch Zenith solid-state portable. That little set worked for 22 years and was still going strong when I got rid of it (no room, as by this time, late 1999, I had moved to a very small apartment and had brought two color sets with me; no room for a third). I certainly hope that whomever picked up that little portable from the trash area in back of my apartment got some use out of it, as it still had a lot of life left in it.

That 1969 Zenith SC600 you have is the same set that appears in the 1969 episodes of the '60s TV series Bewitched, seen in reruns these days on WGN America. I think the producers of that show must have had a liking for Zenith televisions, as every TV in the Stephenses' living room from the start of the series in '66 (when the show was being filmed in color) was a Zenith console. If you ever get the chance, I suggest you watch one of the Bewitched episodes on WGN America (it's on at, I believe, 1 p.m. CST; it airs at 2 p.m. here in the Eastern time zone) and look closely at the scenes of the living room. I saw at least two Zenith consoles there, an earlier model in the beginning and a Zenith SC600 from 1969 until the end of the series.

I miss the days when I used to work on old TVs, but I still do quite a bit of work with vintage Zenith radios (I have an MJ1035 with a bad volume control; one of these days...) and have a small collection of them here.

I enjoy reading your posts and always look forward to seeing them in AK's forums, as I'm sure I have mentioned before. You are doing a wonderful job restoring the Zenith TVs you have, and at the same time you are preserving the history of what I have always regarded as one of the best, if not the best television, stereo and audio manufacturers in America. As I have said many times here, it was a darn shame they had to sell out to foreign interests in the late 1980s. The day the Zenith Radio Corporation (it was renamed the Zenith Electronics Corporation in 1984) left Chicago and moved to Korea marked the end of an era. :no:

Great save man! I love it when the tags are there! I like the part about the largest picture in color tv, "Giant screen" boy have times changed.

A very smart looking set, and the paperwork is worth what you paid for everything. I wonder if the owner of the furniture store might have been a friend or relative? I often think about how every set has a story...they may not all be exciting, but I think this one has a good one.

Got a call last week from a gentleman over on the next block. He asked if I'd be interested in some radios he has (sounds like typical late 40s consoles) and, oh, how about one of those early color TV's with the round screen-remember them? That one is buried in his storage shed. I'm going to be daydreaming about that for awhile!

Estate sale find: 8-1-09
 

Picked up two sets yesterday at the estates. I went to an interesting sale in Park Ridge. It was a very old home built in the 1890's and was in very poor condition inside. I found out nobody lived in this home since 1991! That explained the vintage of the items I saw in there. Nothing changed in this house since about the mid 40's it looked like!
Anyway, I went up the walk up attic and spotted this 1952 RCA b/w table set. I never had one of these, and it was in such nice condition I had to buy it. Its a model 17-T-200. Everything at this sale was priced right, so they could clear it out. Tons of stuff in that house. The TV was $10. I did pull the back off to see how it looked. I was pleased to see almost all original tubes in there and NO brightener and NO hack repairs. These 50's sets seem to always be victims of the worst hack repairs, but this one looks to have missed it. I guess there is going to be alot of wax caps under that chassis?

The last sale I went to was at 9141 S. Hamlin in Evergreen Park. I found a set that rarely shows up, a Magnavox Color console from around 66-67. It was in the basement marked $45. The set looks to have not been plugged in for years, the cord was coiled up and held together with an old brittle twist tie. I then noticed two buttons on/off volume and channel. It then occured to me this was a remote set. I never had a magnavox remote set. Unfortunately, the remote was nowhere to be found. I assume it uses the phantom remote as the little retainer for the remote on the back of the set is only about 1.5" square. The set doesn't work, no B+, just lights up with no sound or picture. The drive motor and relays all work when I press the buttons. The set is like new still. Im friends with one of the girls who runs estate sales, so she took my picture when I was waiting for the TV to warm up. In fact, one of the older ladys who also helps run the sales was interested in knowing why I like these old TV's. She was probably the most rational people I've met at the estate sales. Before I answered, she looked at me and said "oh, you're not that old, you're from a generation that wasn't around when things from the 60's were new and common place, so to you its something new and interesting. I think thats great people your age try to preserve things like this". For once I couldn't believe what I heard instead of someone putting down the idea of "old TV's as useless junk what do you want it for?". This should be a good set to work on though, look forward to finding the right remote for it. Can anyone tell me what the remote should really be like on this? Is it a mechanical hammer remote, or is this the bellow type remote?


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Nice looking little RCA you got there! Well worth the $10. Good luck with your new Maggie!

A couple clean ones...I don't generally like Magnavox but that one has plenty of character...good find!

Been a while since I posted, so here are a few of this years finds in Detroit. '66 Maggie with Phantom remote,'69 Zenith portable, '65 Zenith roundie (top one, found today), '67 Zenith with power tuning. Looks like I will need another house with a basement soon!

A Portacolor found in Harper Woods last month (estate sale pic), another Portacolor and a couple Zeniths!

Those are some nice ones!

I like that b/w Zenith, looks to be about a 1959 with the SC400?

Yes, it's a 1959.

Great finds Dwight! That Zenith touch tuner set is great.

Estate sale find: 9-12-09
 

Went to two estates yesterday and turned up two zenith space commands, both at the same house. The sale was at 1349 Douglas Ave. Flossmoor, IL. The home was a large split level, completely original home inside. In the lower level is where I spotted a very special set. Its is the very first generation Zenith "Emperor" from 1965. This was as high end as you could get in a Zenith. Its also the very first year for Zenith's rectangular picture tube. This has the 25MC46 chassis with the large post deflection purity magnets. The set was still plugged in, hooked up to the antenna. I powered up the stereo and it still worked, the EM84 tuning eye lit up brightly as well. Only have a left channel but thats no big deal, it can be fixed. In the pics, you can see the remotes, neither which were for this set. The record changer compartment had all the original paperwork for the unit as well as yet another remote control that was taken apart and left in peices. As for the TV, it works, but no way of really checking its performance for obvious reasons. It was priced well, only $35.00! Needless to say I quickly paid for it. This is one of the TV's that many people at the sale thought was a very nice looking set.
one of the sale people helped me move it, which was easy. Since it was in the lower level, all we had to do was walk it to the garage entry and we were outside. No stairs which was a huge plus. Besides, the guy helping me really couldn't handle this set too well to begin with. Its one heavy peice of equipment thats for sure.
Once we got it loaded up I glanced in the garage and there I see yet another zenith with its back facing out. It was in the "junk" pile. No way would I let that happen. I slid that away from the wall and it turned out to be another high end zenith. This one is the first horizontal flat chassis set, the 25CC55 from '72. This one also has the ultramatic tuner with space command of course. Mind you it was supposed to be thrown away, but those running the sale made sure it had a price tag on it when I loaded it up in the truck. It was only $10. Who knows if it works, unfortunately its not in the best of condition. It looks somewhat weathered like it has been in the garage for many years.

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Not bad! I love that Emperor!

Nice finds, Doug! I was wondering, is the stereo in that Zenith 100% solid state or is it one of those with a tube tuner and solid state amp?

Solid state - look just below the lighted "Zenith" The only tube in the tuner/amp is the tuning eye.

Those are nice TV sets Doug. I believe I've seen them both before. I just missed Emperors twice on Craigslist, the second time, some fool tossed the set because he broke a leg from it while dragging it outside.

It makes me curious if the Emperor came in any cabinet styles besides the (I'm guessing) Italian Provincial.

How are things coming on that chassis I gave you with the bag of new caps?

Also, please let me know if you still want that steel cabinet Zenith I bought for you at the Estate sale some time back.

:scratch2: