Zenith Chromacolor Sign Motor

[TinCanAlley]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

It will be interesting to see what you find. I have the same sign, with motor working (fingers crossed), but when I got it the bulb socket was burned up and needed replacing.

I have an early Motorola color TV sign that had a seized motor when I got it. I was lucky to find a mechanical fit at American Science Surplus (who recently went out of business, and probably went out of stock on the motor years ago anyway).
The replacement is twice the RPM of the original, and still is very slow to my eye and leaves me wondering how the sign was supposed to be eye-catching.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/old_tv...7677353439537/

Good luck!

The socket on mine was an issue when I first got it. I cleaned up the contacts and secured it better and hasn't acted up since. The motor had been working fine for years, but one day it just wouldn't turn. When I gave the color wheel a light tug, it started. Hopefully it's nothing major, but with the motor installed, I'm not sure if it's serviceable. Seems it had tangs bent over holding it together, so probably not meant to be service.

I'll be putting it on the bench tomorrow and removing the motor. I'll just bolt it back in once the rivets are removed.

Those are some nice signs. I wish I had gotten more when they were less expensive. I paid 60 for this once back in 2007. Now they want 800 or more. Crazy!

[TinCanAlley]

Well the motor seems to be completely seized. Unless the reduction gearing means I can't manually spin it from the output shaft.

Of course Zenith used a motor with a threaded shaft instead of one that uses a set screw. I'm not sure what do try next. The power supply is pretty simple. There's a transformer for the 12V lamp and the motor gets direct AC from the line cord. I could try drilling out the rivets, removing the motor and taking it apart. Not sure what I'll find inside or if it's user serviceable.

Any thoughts on how and what to replace it with?

[Electronic M]

If the reduction ratio is high enough (probably is) you won't be able to spin the output.