Zenith Projector 1985

[mbates14]

nope my projector runs quiet as all get out. your ticking/buzzing seems like dried electrolytics to me. like is said, everything is a moot point right now, until you go through all the electrolytics. Think of a 1950s tube type. try troubleshooting that without going through the caps first. hehe.

if he offers the tube, by all means GRAB IT. just in case. And my projector looks ok at a flat white sheet :-)

[mbates14]

oh BTW that board your talking about, in the middle, is the passive convergence board. if theres any burns or shorts in there, you WILL have to repair this board, as your picture wont be right until you do. and if your pots look burned or otherwise open/bad. that most likely your problem this whole time. unfortunately, youll have to have a schematic to know the ratings of all the pots, assuming they are not marked. which they might be.

Repair this board FIRST. your ticking/buzzing could be comming from that, although unlikely. After this board is repared, the projector might work ok.

[JesusJones]

Dang... After using a screwdriver to free the pots. I worked with them until I got the same readings as the red pot on my ohm meter. I tested the unit again and no miracles happened.

The green does turn on and play. But it is only visible if you look right inside the tube. (Which I don't do anymore)
It plays the picture and looks OK. It's just dim.

[mbates14]

yea if this is the case, and your red is strong, you can rule out the HV.

I would move the RED neck board over to green to see if your green comes back. if not, you DO have a bad CRT. but before you rule this, i would move the red neck board over to green as i said, and move all the yoke connections from the red to the green and vice versa. so your red tube will have green info, and your green tube will have red info.

if nothign changes, (except color) your CRTs are indeed shot.

[mbates14]

If i could find a nice replacement projector for a decent price around my area, i would consider stripping this one and sending you the CRTs and parts. as it works perfectly.

[JesusJones]

Heres some pics of the picture as of now

P.S. The camera makes it seem alot worse...and I also only moved the projector till it seemed more or less in focus and it's on a wall.

I think a white screen would do wonders

[JesusJones]

The switching idea is hard to do. I wanted to before but I couldn't get it done as simply as is sounded. Things just dont move that far freely.
Also
Could changing just the connectors work? Or would this cause damage?

[mbates14]

yeap thats a classic sign of wasted CRTs. They are toast.

Ok, heres what we are going to do. If you can figure out a way to get it from point A to point B without too much effort from me, you can have mine. I got LCD so it dont bother me anymore, and i havent turned mine on in 3 years. it did work. although the blue CRT, you need to get a new glass cut for the front (where the old one was broke, and fluid got everywhere). then RTV Sealed back in place, and CRT remounted and re-siliconed. the CRT still works perfectly fine as it is, theres just no coolant for it. and you can use one of your old dead CRTs as a pattern. or better yet, you could cut the silicone away from your dead CRT, and stick the good blue CRT in place, and not have to get anything cut for it. possibilities are endless here.

Also i lost all the covers and several screws and feet to mine during the move 3 years ago. so its just a metal frame and chassis. the unit like i said still works, so you might be able to take 2 and make one work. and have lots of parts.

Let me know.

[JesusJones]

Yes I noticed these Crts and very browned..... More browned than ant crt I've ever seen.

So maybe they are just toast like you said..Having yours would be great! But the point A to point B problem.
Where abouts do you live?

[mbates14]

im in the cincinatti area. in USA. ohio.

[JesusJones]

I did a shipping estimate

For a 130 pound
30 inch wide
30 inch long
and 20 inch high

It would cost 100$ for shipping. But I think in reality it's a bit lighter and smaller so perhaps a bit less. Mbates are you sure you'd be willing to give yours up?

I also think when it costs 100$ UPS guarantees your packages safe arrival.

Can anyone think of a possibly cheaper way?(Just wondering)

What do you think mbates?

P.S. If we did do this, the box couldn't be any bigger than 33 or 34 inches in any way. Or else the price sky rockets.

[mbates14]

I dont have any boxes that big. hehe. yea i dont use this goofy thing, everything that I got now is all HD. but ive been on the lookout of a good VGA/Data grade CRT projector.

I could strip out everything liek the boards and stuff, and do it this way. But ive never packed CRTs before, so i dont know how safe they would be in shipping.

[JesusJones]

A box with foam inserts all around. And then once the crt is in the middle pack it full of loose packing foam.(And the box has to be just the right size to fit it. This should work rather well. Any extra insulation after is even better.

And yes if you could strip all the parts out and exclude the frame this would make shipping less costly and you would not need a larger box.
If you are willing to do so. I think it would be a great idea.
And it would be much appreciated

[JesusJones]

Only thing is shipping all parts individually
I estimate dthe price of one CRT
10 pounds 5x5x12 inches
22$
Plus 2 more 66
plus boards probably 80-95$ just like shipping the whole thing.
On the other hand stripping it. And fitting it into one box. Whole different story

If you could fit it all into a box 25x25x25 or smaller
And it weighed somewhere around 80 pounds it would only cost 80$ although it may come out to a bit more.

Also (just wondering) You can tell just from those pictures that my crts are shot....?? And you think the projector is working OK otherwise?
And normally would red be the last color to stay strong??(Just wondering)
And I've looked at the CRT's to look for wear. There is light browning on the face. But it is not as bad as some shots I have seen on the web.

Alright well. I turned on the projector with no source hooked up today. I waited and the blue tube turned on.
This confused me. The CRT's never turned on when I first got powered up with no source hooked up.
Then I remembered. MY POWER SUPPLY. I changed one 680 uf cap in it. That's all. After that I hooked up my dvd player and it worked. But I thought to myself that it was only because I actually had a source hooked up to it. But now I think it may be the cap I changed.
And my power supply makes strange noises as of right now. I am going to see what other caps I can change on this board today with my supplies.
Any thoughts on a weak power supply causing loss of brightness???

[mbates14]

well lets see. like i said before, get an ESR meter and go through all your caps. every single one of them.