LXI (Sears) "Mystery model" 5" color AC/DC (info sought)

[Robert Grant]

I picked up this 5" LXI (Sears) set, circa 1985, I guess, at a thrift store for $8.

It works, and it has a nice bright color picture.

I was hoping to use it in my portable digital TV kludge, as I have done with a 5" B&W set, but I have complications:

There is no place to put batteries (I presume they designed it for use with a car cord, perhaps with RVs in mind).

When I bought it, it came with only an AC power cord (no DC cord).

It has a power jack on the side (pictured) with a 5 pin connector. The two-pin column is for AC, and the three-pin column is for DC (and I'm really curious why 3 pins would be used for DC), the power cord that plugs into it is also pictured. As far as I can tell, there is no mechanical switch in the socket that would have been activated by physically plugging in the cord (as I have seen on some other AC/DC devices).

So, I'm trying to find out which pins to connect -12VDC and +12VDC to. Usually, at this point, I would jot down the model number and search for a schematic or even Sears parts department for a new DC cord, but (see picture), the model number plate came off long before I got the set.

If anyone could tell me the model number of this set, or which pins to apply the 12VDC to, I can keep this American made set running into the digital age (Yes, made in USA, which surprised me for a set this small, even this age!).

Thanks, Rob

[dr.ido]

I recall reading elsewhere on this forum that LXI gear was made by Sanyo. I have a 10" Philips branded AC/DC set that was made by Sanyo which also has a 5 pin power connector with 3 pins on the DC side.

On that set the middle pin is +12V, the pin next to hot AC pin is GND and the remaining pin is jumpered to the neutral AC pin to enable DC operation.

On your set pinout may well be different, so open it up and trace the connections before hooking it up (the DC side of these sets is usually wired so that if you reverse the polarity the fuse will blow, but why risk killing your set), but it probably uses a similar arrangement where the 3rd DC pin has to be jumpered to another pin to enable DC operation.

[radiotvnut]

We had an early '70's GE B&W set with that same style plug. IIRC, one of those pins is a dummy pin. Only two of those pins are used to actually power the TV.

[JohnAdams]

The UL code is 418U. Will someone look at the back of a Sanyo set and see what UL code is one it. AT one time, the UL code identified the manufacturer and had nothing to do with the brand name on the front.

[jhalphen]

Hi Robert,

Found these 2 low-res, ex-E-Bay pictures in my Modern Color TV Database.

They look a lot like your 5" color portable.

The TV carried the following Sears ID in the auction and i named the files accordingly:

Sears 564-40000150

And under the Sanyo brand:
Found Sanyo model TV-50TV100U (see pictures).

Hope this helps, tell us how your search goes,

Best Regards

jhalphen
Paris/France

[Robert Grant]

Merci.

Definitely derived from the same set, but differences noticed, like the VHF/UHF buttons (mine on the front, you pics have them on top), perhaps changes made to fit a SECAM decoder and/or 240 V AC versus 120 V.

At least I have the Sears model number to look up now.

[jhalphen]

Robert,

These are pictures of US NTSC sets. Sears-Roebuck never operated over in Europe.

Also, none of these models were sold in Europe by Sanyo. Actually, very few companies bothered to make SECAM compatible TVs. JVC was one.

Best Regards

jhalphen

[JohnAdams]

I dug up an old 12" Sanyo. UL418 is a code for Sanyo, so the set is a Sanyo, or whoever UL418 belongs to built the Sanyo and the LXI. The Mexican Sanyo I found has a different UL code. In the old days, you could get some real bargains on VCR's by looking fo GE or MAgnavox or RCA with a UL code , 674??, which was Panasonic. Good mid line units. At one time RCA used 4 vendors with Hitachi building their top of the line units. Back then UL codes let you track a safety problem back to the manufacturer. Someone posted a list once, but I can't find it. It's like EIA codes could tell you who built the picture tube in a tv. RCA and Zenith did a lot of swapping in the old days on odd size color picture tubes.