Finally found a Zenith 25" steel cabinet CCII w/ cart
 

A girl I know, who's been promising me this TV for months, finally came through today. This set was in the conference room of her work place and the only thing it was being used for was to hold a 19" BPC set. I found her a cart and we made the trade today.

It's a '79 25" Zenith using the 25KC45 chassis and it uses a one knob varactor tuner. The set still has it's ID tags on the back and all back screws are accounted for; so, I doubt this set has ever been worked on. It works; but, needs the usual adjustments and typical connections resoldered. When I first turned it on, the VHF-lo band was dead. After about ten minutes, a picture appeared; so, I suspect the problem to be loose connections in the tuner module. IMO, this is a special Zenith since it's a steel cabinet table model and it was built in '79, which was the last year for the CCII chassis. Does anyone know if the cart is an original Zenith item or is it an aftermarket item? This is the first steel cabinet 25V CCII that I've had in ages.

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...25kc450001.jpg

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...25kc450002.jpg

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...25kc450003.jpg

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...25kc450004.jpg

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...25kc450005.jpg

Excellent find. Those 25" Zenith CCIIs are great sets; yours is the first one I've ever seen in a metal cabinet (I had a great-uncle who owned a 25" CCII in a wood cabinet; he had his for some 20 years or so, with hardly any trouble except for a CRT failure [a screen crack that slowly grew in length and went diagonally across the tube about six inches] after six months), and will work well after the usual clean-up and adjustments, as you mentioned. However, it looks like the cap over the on-off button is missing.

I'm curious to know how you tested your set when there are no analog TV signals available. :scratch2: My best guess is that you either tested it with a DVD player or VCR, or else you were able to tune in a low-power or translator station in your area.

that set will last the rest of your life.i have one in a full cabinet and love it!second best set ever made

I tested it with a channel master DTV converter box; and, there was a lot of interference. Then, I connected it directly to the comcast cable feed and the picture was clear (channels 2-13).

I did pull the tuner and found several loose pins where the channel selector assembly plugs into the tuner. I resoldered the entire plug as well as many of the ground connections where the PC board solders to the tuner shield; and, the tuner problem seems to be fixed.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the girl who gave me this suggested gutting the TV and sticking a fishtank inside if it couldn't be fixed. I pretended like I didn't hear her.

Look at that chassis.....just plain amazing. I love this style CCII. :thmbsp::thmbsp:

You lucky bas&&rd! Not only are you lucky to get a CC2, but a steel cabinet, AND one of the LAST CC2's to roll off the line WITH a delta tube! In 78-79 Zenith started the phase-out for System 3. Some Chromacolor 2 chassis were also paired with the new in-line tri-focus tube. So for you to get a 79 model without the inline tube is one hell of a find. And yes.. that is the cart that came with them. Zenith didn't make them they were supplied by Gusdorf (sic?)
How do I know? I worked in my Uncle's Zenith dealership during those years and I still remember the catalog books.

Very nice find! You're lucky to find one like it as James said, including that cart! It appears that most CCII's were made in Reynosa after about 1976. That '76 steel cabinet CCII I picked up might even be a Reynosa set. I havn't even pulled the back off it yet. I don't think I've seen any US made CCII's after 1976 though. Either way they are great sets. I think Zenith started building modules in Reynosa Mexico first sometime in the mid 70's, maybe 1973 or 74? and then transitioned TV production down there around 1976/77. Not sure where I read that, but Im pretty sure Reynosa was mainly a module assembly location in the beginnings.

The dtv converter boxes are not to well refined when it comes to interference/isolation. Try hooking two of them up to one outdoor antenna.
They are a very poorly designed temporary way to pacify the public

I've seen a couple of delta gun 23V CCII consoles from November, '79. They had the single knob tuner with a round silver pull on/volume knob and a round orange chromatic switch. The usual "solid state chromacolor II" was not printed on the front. Only the name "Zenith" was printed. I think these were a last attempt to get rid of remaining CCII parts, as I've seen system 3 sets in the exact same cabinet.

That's a great looking set! Nice find, glad she finally came through for you. If the cart is made by Gusdorf (should say underneath) it's a cart supplied for Zenith sets and was purchased with the set. Zenith had a contract with them for their carts for many sets though the years. The one you have looks like the correct one for the set.

Oh yes!! Zenith was One Great Marvelous Television Sets in the 70's I used to have a set very similar to the one in the picture. It was a 25HC45 and was a 1977 model.

So, Those Good Old Zeniths set with "The Quality Goes In Before The Name Goes On" are really RRRocks!!

Looks like I'm going to be on the hunt for a new tripler (Zenith 212-145/NTE528). The old one has developed a cracked case and is arcing from the backside of the tripler to the chassis. I could probably patch it; but, I'd feel better about replacing it with a new part. I've had a few of these Zenith triplers short and take the flyback and HOT with it; and, I don't want that happening with this set.

I would have turned a deaf ear to her too. Every time I see on eBay or elsewhere on the Web a TV set that has actually been converted to a fish tank (I saw one of these not too long ago, either on eBay or CL), I cringe. I guess people who would do that sort of thing to a vintage TV don't appreciate the value of these sets -- like kids who throw rocks at the screens (or snap the necks off CRTs) of TVs on curbs. (It's a miracle more kids aren't hurt badly or killed, pulling stunts like that). :eek:

Hmmm. I wonder if any of this kind of nonsense (scratching to death or otherwise defacing the cabinets) was going on 60 years ago, when people were throwing out their old Depression-era console or table radios when TV came in. Or were there that many antique radios being discarded in those days? :scratch2:

Just wanted to give an update on this set. I found a parts supplier online called Wholesale Electronics Inc and they listed the NTE528 on their website. They said they didn't have one in stock; but, they were still available from NTE and that they would special order one. So, as soon as it comes in, this set should be back in business. I was a little surprised that NTE still makes these triplers. That just shows that there is still enough demand for these older parts to keep making them. I wonder how much longer they will be made, with everything going to flat screen TV and everyone thinking they have to jump on the HD bandwagon?

With shipping charges, this tripler was $38 and some change. I was paying around $30 for them back in the early to mid '90's at the local parts house. Of course, I don't mind the price one bit since this is a quality TV and will likely last for many more years.