Zenith Chromacolor 2 Question

[jstout66]

I have an odd intermittant problem with my 1976 Chromacolor 2. Once in awhile I will notice a slight distortion in the picture. It's like the horizontal gets "shakey". It doesn't ever lose horizontal hold but will have a slight horizontal wave in the picture. It doesn't do it often. Just often enough to drive ya nuts. What should I be looking for??

[Chad Hauris]

I don't have too much experience with the Chromacolor 2, but could it be a bad connection at the horiz. module socket? You might have to solder the connections from the module into the pins on the set. Have had a lot of trouble with intermittent module sockets on RCA's (although this is a different type of module).

[jstout66]

Thanks Chad! I was thinking along those lines as well. I was going to dig thru my modules and try a new one. This set had 2 intermittant problems, and I just "fixed" one of the problems by putting in a new vertical module. On that problem, the vertical would go nuts for a second and then be fine, or you could tap the side of the set and get it to quit. When working, this tv has the best picture on a set I've ever seen. I'm kind of finding that any set with plug in modules is a pain in the ass. It must have been a good idea at the time, but I am running into these Zeniths or Quasars, or RCA's that use plug-in modules and it is one intermittant problem after the other. Does anyone else have opinions on these early solid state sets that used plug-in modules? Was it a good idea or a problem waiting to happen??

Hello jstout66,
I have worked on a few Zenith Chroma II's and as you know the main chassis is hand wired so intermittents on the chassis are very unlikely. As time goes by carbon builds up on things like module connections and tuner contacts causing intermittents. One thing that has worked well for me is to take a paper towel and wet it with tuner cleaner(make sure it is safe for plastic) and with the module unplugged run it over all the male module contacts. Then take and spray a little cleaner into the female contacts of the module. Sometimes the little fingers inside the female contacts need to be pushed in just a little to return enough tension so they make a solid connection. Mom had a Chroma II and I solved a few intermittent problems with it that way. One other thing to check would be the lytics on the module with luminance/sync. Good luck and let us know how things go.

Jeff

You could try another horizontal module to see if that coorects the problem; the 9-90 modules had a 330 ohm resistor in the AFC circuit which changed value.

[jstout66]

tried a new 9-90-01 and she now seems steady as a rock! My parts came with a Zenith price-guide that is dated 1984, so my module prices would have been 9-92 $24.85 and 9-90-01 $23.04