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Doug, Dwight gave you good advice. Those early System 3's were Zenith's last good sets before everything started to go down-hill for Zenith. As I've stated in earlier posts, I went to a System 3 seminar in early 1981 with my Uncle at Truesdale distributing in Omaha. That was an experiance I'll never forget! Truesdale had a private showroom with different models of Zeniths from early B&W's thru the current model year. Fresh out of the box, un-used with the hang-tags still attached. I often wonder what happened to those sets when they closed. Anyway... Zenith really pushed the superiority of the System 3 over the Chromacolor chassis as both were avalable for awhile. Zenith stressed how easy service was for the tech compared to the Chroma chassis. The name System 3 was chosen because everything to do with the sets chassis was on 3 modules that had plug-in connectors. Also the picture tube had a triple-focus gun. (hence "System 3".) At the time Zenith advertised it heavily with the slogan "2 more than any other CRT!" I think the tube is made out of special "Corning" glass and is pretty heavy. When working ,the picture is superior to even most sets made today. The tubes weren't bad, but have a higher failure rate then the standard delta type Chromacolor tube. I just got a 1979 19" System 3 with remote. It's supposed to be completely cable ready, but I can't get it to tune into anything higher than channel 37, so don't know if that module is bad or what, as it's suppossed to recieve 105 channels. Mine has the "Zoom" feature which is fun. A System 3 set will not have the pin connection problems or the cap problems that are to be found on a Chromacolor 2 chassis. An intersting side note... Cap problems on the Chromacolor 2 chassis about bankrupted Zenith. They had a massive re-call and we were quite busy installing the replacement kits on ALL the sets we sold. Zenith only covered certain model years but ALL Chromacolor 2 chassis had that problem. It's the big cap that is right under the horizontal module. I think the "safe" cap is orange. If you come across a Chroma 2 chassis with a white cap then you have problems. Zenith stood by the repairs tho and a story with us I'll never forget is that we had a customer with a console Chroma 2. That model was NOT supposed to be covered, but the cap blew taking out the picture tube with it (blew the neck right off) Zenith did not hesitate on paying ALL costs! Anyway... I'm being long winded, but thought you might enjoy my experiance with Zenith's during those years and at the beginning of "System 3".
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