Zenith 14A9C50

[zenith2134]

Hey

I was given a 1970 22" color tube Zenith chassis 14A9C50. Heavy as anything. Had to remove chassis to transport the set. Reinstalling it was fun since my nearest Sams is for 14A9C29.

So it could use a convergence procedure but nothing severe. There is a slow noise bar rolling up the screen but again , minor. It will need the multisection can changed out. Tubes test good!

Only did a greyscale adjustment at this point.

[ctc17]

Very nice. Does this have the demodulator IC? The Simpsons look good, no color bleed on Homer. Many of these old sets struggle with the sharp edges on the yellow and I dont see that at all. Nice score.

[zenith2134]

I didn't notice if this one uses the ic's in the chroma circuit...I do recall that it used discrete vintage transistors throughout...

[Carmine]

Originally Posted by ctc17

Very nice. Does this have the demodulator IC? The Simpsons look good, no color bleed on Homer. Many of these old sets struggle with the sharp edges on the yellow and I dont see that at all. Nice score.

Bart.

Aye Carrumba, dude.

[zenith2134]

I was gonna say... but no biggy of course!

So doesn't anyone else have an opinion on this tv?

[drh4683]

Thats the first gen for this cabinet. The 14A9C50 does indeed use the 221-39 demodulator IC (in the form of a 9 pin miniature tube). I have this same set but it has the 20CC50 chassis for '72. The 14A9C50 is another chassis I hope to add to my collection one day as the 1970 Zenith's are my favorite year of all.

Heres my 20CC50 version to compare and this was the end. By 73 the only fully loaded up tube type TV's were the 16" portables. The consoles and large table sets like these had all gone solid state or were 4 tube hybrids by 73 as well.

[zenith2134]

Hey drh- thanks for the info. What impressed me with this TV was that it conains virtually no plastic...everything's metal; but that's why it's so heavy too.

Guess i'll post more pics after I change those caps.

[drh4683]

I had to change a filter cap on mine too. It "leaked" out the bottom. I had an NOS zenith filter cap for this chassis and I used it. So far its been about 7 years since I fixed it and I periodically use this TV and its been holding up well. Mine is all metal too, the only plastic part is the speaker grille. Yours has that red knob in the aux control panel. Is that a seperate chroma level control? Some of these sets had the "Color commander" control on the main control panel which was a ganged pot with chroma and contrast. Never liked that idea, people would crank up the control to get more color, and would also be cranking up the contrast which would then overdrive the CRT and kill it prematurely. I've had quite a few 1970 models with color commander with toasted CRT's.

[Carmine]

Is this a big 23" table model, or a 19-incher?

[zenith2134]

As mentioned in the OP, it's a 22" tabletop.

Drh, the red control in the aux panel is actually the audio tone control ! Good eye though.

So, the chassis at this point hasn't even had the tube pins cleaned by me yet. I suspected the filter can because a previous owner replaced some lytics underneath(obvious new parts, like a JJ filter cap) and the only originals were some coupling caps under the video tubes and the multi-can.

[Electrohome]

The above post is spam-Please remove-Thanks.

[kskallen]

Just a note that I have a 14A9C50 which is still operational as well as a B&W from 1950, don't recall the number at moment. I also have official Zenith Color schematics (many) as well as a book of aftermarket schematics of early B&W schematics., if that is helpful to anyone.

[zenith2134]

Hey, great to hear another of these is still alive somewhere!
So, was it yours from way back when Did you rather inherit it? the stories are great.

[Komet]

Very nice, can I see the chassis? I love Zenith color tube set

[mstaton]

Nice set. Similar to mine