What is it with 1990's Zenith televisions?

[MRX37]

I know Zenith's overall quality went downhill after the golden age of television, but GEEZ!

I own or have owned several Zenith televisions all made in the 90's. All of them have problems with the CRT.

1994 25" Zenith. I forget the model number. The picture was sharp, but dim. So dim I had to adjust the flyback to brighten it. It also had color bleeding and poor contrast.

1992 25" Zenith console TV. Found on curbside. Picture tube was very dim. So dim that even with flyback adjustments it was unwatchable.

1997 27" Hitachi. It's a Zenith with the Hitachi name. It has Zenith guts and a Zenith CRT. I've grown to hate this one. I mean I really hate this TV. The middle of the screen has a decent picture, but the edges have such poor convergence that small text is unreadable, and no amount of playing with the yoke or ring magnets will fix it. The tube also has color bleeding, usually bright red or orange.

1998 27" Zenith A27A23W. The best 90's Zenith I own. It hasn't seen a whole lot of use in its lifetime, but already the corner convergence is not as good as in the middle of the screen. Playing with the yoke helped somewhat, but it's still noticeable if I look for it, and I suspect it will only get worse.



I have found TV's from the 1980's and 70's that are still going strong. I had an RCA Colortrak TV from 1991 that had such a good picture that I would have kept it if I hadn't found a newer and bigger RCA Colortrak TV. I've messed with various models of RCA TV's made throughout the 90's, and the picture tube usually had a lot of life left in it.

What happened to Zenith in the 90's, and is their new stuff just as crappy?

[radiotvnut]

I too would like to know what Zenith did to cause their CRT's to be so bad. I heard somewhere that the aquadag coating would flake off inside the tube and cause shorts; but, I don't know how true that it. There was a Zenith dealer in town that used to give me all their Zenith sets that were not approved for repair (so they wouldn't have to toss them). I'd say 95% of the ones made in the '90's had some sort of CRT defect. Most of them had shorted CRT's that burned up the power supply or video drive components. Others were so weak that the picture was lousy. Any attempt to rejuvenate them would usually make them worse. Even if they did come back; they didn't last long. These would have been decent sets had the CRT been of good quality. The chassis wasn't a '70's Chromacolor; but, they were usually simple to repair. That rebranded Hitachi is interesting. I've seen some Ward's sets that were Zenith made and I've seen some GoldStar sets with Zenith branded CRT's (also bad).

It's amazing that a lot of sets from the '70's and '80's still have the original CRT's that test almost new; but, a set that's only a few years old has a worn out CRT. That should tell us something about the products of yesteryear.

I suspect these "bad Zenith" sets will be harder to find in 30 years than some of the sets we now collect from the '70's and earlier. It seems like I find more '80's sets than those '90's Zenith's (thank goodness).

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I too would like to know what Zenith did to cause their CRT's to be so bad. I heard somewhere that the aquadag coating would flake off inside the tube and cause shorts; but, I don't know how true that it. There was a Zenith dealer in town that used to give me all their Zenith sets that were not approved for repair (so they wouldn't have to toss them). I'd say 95% of the ones made in the '90's had some sort of CRT defect. Most of them had shorted CRT's that burned up the power supply or video drive components. Others were so weak that the picture was lousy. Any attempt to rejuvenate them would usually make them worse. Even if they did come back; they didn't last long. These would have been decent sets had the CRT been of good quality. The chassis wasn't a '70's Chromacolor; but, they were usually simple to repair. That rebranded Hitachi is interesting. I've seen some Ward's sets that were Zenith made and I've seen some GoldStar sets with Zenith branded CRT's (also bad).

It's amazing that a lot of sets from the '70's and '80's still have the original CRT's that test almost new; but, a set that's only a few years old has a worn out CRT. That should tell us something about the products of yesteryear.

I suspect these "bad Zenith" sets will be harder to find in 30 years than some of the sets we now collect from the '70's and earlier. It seems like I find more '80's sets than those '90's Zenith's (thank goodness).

I know my 1982 Zenith System 3 when it was fixed last, 1999 I think, the guy who fixed it said the CRT was still very good but showing its age a little. The only difference I notice is that it take about a minute or two to go to the brightness we want instead of like 10 or 15 seconds but we still have an excellent picture that is just as good as it was when we got it in early 1983.

[waltchan]

Originally Posted by MRX37

What happened to Zenith in the 90's, and is their new stuff just as crappy?

It's because Zenith is losing competition to Japanese makers, like Sony, Panasonic, and Toshiba. You don't want to know how many people own a mid-90s Sony, Panasonic, or Toshiba TV. It's like many. That caused Zenith to go bankrupt in 1995, and it was brought up by GoldStar (now LG Electronics).

[Jeffhs]

I have a Zenith SMS1917SG "Sentry 2" 19" color TV that still works after 12 years--great picture, sound and everything else. No problems whatsoever with the set in all that time, although it hasn't seen much use since I moved here almost eight years ago (I bought a 19" RCA in late 1999 and put the Zenith in my bedroom; the Zenith hasn't been used much except for cross-checking on those rare occasions, and I do mean rare, when I have trouble with the cable). The most continuous use the Zenith has seen was the first four years I had it; it was my main set in the living room of my former home. I did use it at my current residence for about two weeks when my RCA set was in for repairs, but other than that the Zenith has been sitting in the bedroom getting very little use. Its CRT is still as strong as when the set was new in 1995. This surprises me because of all the posts I've read here about 1990s-era Zenith televisions being nothing but trouble; bad CRTs, HV regulation problems, power supply failures and so on. I must have been lucky to have gotten one that has gone a dozen years without one bit of trouble, and as I said, with a picture as good as when it was new. It's interesting to me that this TV was made the same year Zenith went bankrupt and was taken over by Gold Star. Perhaps my set was one of the last models manufactured before everything caved in for Zenith? The set has a label on the back cover that states "Zenith Electronics Corporation, Glenview, IL 60025" and below that, "Made in Mexico." Well, they must have done something right if the set still works after all this time, even if it was manufactured south of the border; however, the quality of most of today's Gold Star TVs is nowhere near that of sets made by the original Zenith Radio Corporation. Sad to say, the only thing left of Zenith as we used to know it are the business offices which are still in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire. The quality fell off the boat when the name was sold.

[MRX37]

I fixed and sold a 1986 Toshiba TV, and to this day that TV is still going strong. It had one bad capacitor in the vertical circuit. The picture tube is still in excellant shape.

Two of the worst Zenith's I had were made in 1992 and 1994. I think Zenith went bankrupt and was bought by LG because they made junk in the early 90's, and as far as I know, they still make junk.

[fsjonsey]

The tube on our 1995 zenith went on thanksgiving day of 1996, during the parade if I recall. Cant remember much as i was only six, but i believe one of the guns shorted and took most of the chassis with it.

[julianburke]

I am in the coin machine and video game business. Wells Gardner (also in Chicago) who makes most of the monitors for these games used the Zenith Rauland CRT's in many of the 90's units. There were mostly all crap and seldom lasted more than 3 years. In fact I just threw one away a few days ago. It was a skinny neck tube and a bad process that ruined the tube. In the late 80's and early 90's whoever had a source of tubes would be one of the strong dominant manufacturers of TV sets. Brands like Curtis Mathis and others who had to outsource their tubes would be hurting because others like Magnavox/Phillips who bought Sylvania only for its' CRT division would be able to compete. Only manufacturers who made their own tubes would be safe in this dilemma at that period of time.

Additionally, Phillips/Sylvania sold few tubes to be outsourced because they could not keep up with their own demand just like other manufacturers at that time. Instead, they sold complete contract marketed sets to Curtis Mathis, JC Penny and a few other home brands. They were based right here in Knoxville, Tennessee and I know most of the engineers and we often talked about this at length among other things! You heard it from the horse's mouth right here! What else do you want to know??

[jedo1507r]

My former boss and I were looking for TV sets in local pawn shops last year. The shops were chock full of 90s Zenith sets that had serious CRT issues - unfortunately, the Zenith sets were quite good in features. OTOH, the Thomson RCAs that he used in his business have been on 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, for the past seven years never had a hint of trouble, just the typical wear.

He had to settle for a recent model Sony, which the image quality isn't as good as the early-80s Trinitron I picked up at the trash heap a couple of months ago - and even he saw it, though he was turned off at the missing control door.

[andy]

Originally Posted by julianburke

I am in the coin machine and video game business. Wells Gardner (also in Chicago) who makes most of the monitors for these games used the Zenith Rauland CRT's in many of the 90's units. There were mostly all crap and seldom lasted more than 3 years.

The bowling alley I went to regularly upgraded to automatic scoring in the mid 90's. They had nice big 27" score monitors. It was great, but they had those Wells Gardener monitors with Zenith CRTs. There were always a hand full with bad CRTs. Some were missing one or two colors, others were way out of focus, and some had a bright raster with retrace lines. At least the Wells Gardener chassis could take the strain of a shorted CRT unlike Zenith's. Interestingly, there were a few lanes that looked perfect. Either they had non-Zenith CRTs, or there was a small percentage that were ok. I should have offered to repair all their monitors.

The funny thing was that the town's other bowling alley never had much trouble with their monitors even though they were about 5 years older.

I wonder how much money was lost by companies like Wells Gardener due to Zenith's mistake? Did anyone sue Zenith over this?

[Danger Boy]

this is my third Zenith tube TV in 23 years.. and they all have been great TV sets. Only had one problem with my first one.. and it wasn't a CRT problem. it was a relay switch problem. fixed for $7
my current HDTV is Zenith too.. great picture. My next TV in a couple years may be Zenith too, not sure yet. but for me. i still have my first one in the spare bedroom 27" that just won't die.

[Big Dave]

I'll take tube Zenith anytime. THHHHHHHHHHH to this modern junk. My mother bought a Zenith floor model in 1990 and it went south in about 1998. I think the CRT went kerblooie and wiped out the motherboard. I attempted to, and failed to fix it. My tube sets work nicely and will continue working for a long time.

[julianburke]

NO you don't!! Those bowlling game 27" monitors were alful!!! I had to work on them for a little bit thinking I was helping them. They called me daily and I could'nt get any work done and had to quit and never got paid either. The chassis' were very complicated and hard to fix. The whole unit weighed about 90 lbs each and had to have scaffolds to get them down. I never want to see them again!

[Chad Hauris]

I put a Mitsubishi CRT into one of these bad CRT 27" Zenith sets...the set was headed for the junk heap "as-is" so I thought I'd try it. The CRT is not an exact fit but is not too bad. It really has a good picture...even used the Mitsubishi yoke and it has been working fine for years. The chassis does seem to be pretty good apart from the CRT issue.

What about the 19" and 25" Zenith tubes? They don't seem to be as common but did they still have the failure issues? We saw a 19" early 90's "New Horizons" hotel Zenith set at the Majestic Hotel in Hot Springs, Ark. which still seemed to be working OK as of a few years ago.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by Chad Hauris

I put a Mitsubishi CRT into one of these bad CRT 27" Zenith sets...the set was headed for the junk heap "as-is" so I thought I'd try it. The CRT is not an exact fit but is not too bad. It really has a good picture...even used the Mitsubishi yoke and it has been working fine for years. The chassis does seem to be pretty good apart from the CRT issue.

What about the 19" and 25" Zenith tubes? They don't seem to be as common but did they still have the failure issues? We saw a 19" early 90's "New Horizons" hotel Zenith set at the Majestic Hotel in Hot Springs, Ark. which still seemed to be working OK as of a few years ago.

From what I've seen, the 25" tubes were just as bad as the 27" sets. I also ran into my fair share of bad 19" tubes. A friend gave me a few 20" early to mid '90's Zenith hospital TV's and they all had weak CRT's. I never saw too many Zenith sets bigger than 27". The few I did see had tubes made by someone else and they had nice pictures.