found 2 Zeniths at an estate sale

[Adam]

The first one is a 1960 B/W console 21", the cabinet has some goo left over from duct tape I have to clean off. The set more or less works. The controls are a bit dirty, horiz sync is a bit weak, but then I'm betting it still has all those original wax caps under there.

The second one is 1975 19" chromacolor 2 in a plastic cabinet, with the SC 600 remote. It works, including the remote. Controls dirty on this one too, particularly that Chromatic button. Later I'll take the back off and see if it has that white 4 lead cap that's supposed to have problems. The cabinet's really dirty (been sitting in the garage for a while), and the plastic is cracked where the built in antenna comes up. Otherwise, it seems good.

[compucat]

That black and white console is great. With some preventative servicing and a good cabinet cleanup you will really have something there. I just love Zeniths of almost every era.

[Adam]

I am planning on a complete re-cap for the b/w, the preventative servicing really is worth it, just finished cleaning the duct-tape goop off the cabinet.

I took the back off the chroma II, it has the orange 4-lead cap, so I don't have to worry about that, chassis # is 19GC45Z1, I cleaned the controls, and it works great, right now I'm putting back together the cracked piece where the antenna goes, after I'm done this set will replace the 1961 19" Zenith B/W metal cabinet set as the daily watcher/ bedroom set at least for a while.

[kx250rider]

Nice finds! Was that sale near you, maybe in one of the old 40s-era houses around there? I can see in the photo that you've already had the 4-lead cap update. But you still have the old 9-92 vertical module. That should get swapped for a 9-147. Otherwise it will have unstable vertical height, and you'll be adjusting it alot...

ALSO CAUTION on that ChroII... Don't try to tip it forward! I've learned that the hard way. You have to pick it up, and lay it on its face, or the front pedestal can crack.

Charles

[Adam]

The chromacolor II is back together. Vertical height seems ok. The only problems I seem to still have are caused by that chromatic button, I must not have cleaned it good enough, still sometimes have to shake it a bit. This plastic cabinet with that unusual base in the front really is not easy to deal with with a set this heavy, I can see how it could crack easily. Once I had a 12" b/w Zenith that had a base like that, it had a removeable tinted clear plastic cover that went in front of the screen, I liked that set.

This estate sale wasn't exactly an estate sale (where you get to walk through the house), but one woman there said it was her grandmother's stuff, that she hauled away. There was also some old appliances, furniture, a 60s hi-fi console I passed up, lots of books, records, a good amount of stuff... The sale was out in Van Nuys, but as to the original location of the sets there was a sticker on the chroma 2 that said it was once repaired in a place on Santa Monica Blvd. There were 3 sets there, each spaced about 15 years apart: the 2 I picked up and a Magnavox color set that looked early 90s that I passed up. There are a good number of estate sales in the older houses around here, usually at least one or two every few weeks, I like walking through the older houses, but I rarely find any sets, the only one I found that way was a 1956 8" RCA b/w portable.

[andy]

We had that exact TV in my highschool electronics class room. I think it was one that was abandoned there as a donation. At some point I think I repaired something on it. I remember it was always annoying that it had a slow horizontal AFC and couldn't deal with a VCR.

Originally Posted by Adam

The chromacolor II is back together.

Wow, back in the 70s I watched all those Rockford Files episodes... on a "QUA-ZAR!!!! (by motorola)"

[drh4683]

great find! Especially that chroma II. Nice clean set with remote. Definitly a good reliable daily watcher. Sets like this can be used all the time with practially no problems.

As for the 4 lead cap. I actually have a sheet of stickers supplied by zenith. They are yellow and say "4 lead cap modified" and was supposed to be stuck on the back of the cabinet by the service tech. The stickers are dried up and basically pop off the sheet if touched.
Ive seen many chorma II's, even the early ones that would have had the bad 22-7233 cap, yet Ive never seen this sticker on any of them. Perhaps nobody thought they were important enough to put on...

[3Guncolor]

At the shop I worked at we put the stickers on. That set may not have needed the cap changed. It is a "G" line and by 1976 Zenith had switched to the Orange Cap. It was mostly the "F" line that went BOOM. Great set the CRT's would go forever.