finally,a zenith rectangular!

[sampson159]

just picked up a zenith rectangular set.looks to be from 68-69.full tube chassis,clean with a rebuilt sylvania crt.nice full floor cabinet,well taken care of.
it needs a 6jh5,(blooms when brightness changes or scene changes) and a tuner,(dreaded snowy picture.watchable but not clear.).the safety glass has started to delaminate,but not too bad yet.i may keep this one if i can get it straightened out.need a tuner or some advice on this.will post pics later

[DaveWM]

is the HV jumping around with scene changes? or is it just blooming?

I have had some real fights with HV regulation on some of my zeniths, it should hold rock steady thru scene changes, I set mine right at 24kv.

if the tube is ok, suspect the VDR...

try the agc control for snowy pic.


oh and get a pic!!!

[sampson159]

agc is ok.picture blooms so much that it goes black!i suspect the regulator tube.snowy picture is a cap in the tuner,i think,havent gotten into it yet..it is in my garage and it is cold!!!!will get to it next week.this is almost a dream set for me.a zenith rectangle with a full floor cabinet.i lucked out.the set belonged to an elderly gentelman who passed away a month ago,he used this set up 2007 when the regulator problem started.local repair guy told him it was too old and not worth fixing.had a service contract paid until 1992 from lazarus.imagine,this set lasted until 2007!crt replaced in 1984.no other repairs from the service tags.all zenith tubes.
we didnt see too many zeniths in the shop days.the flat screen set was gone when i got there.the zenith was sitting in a corner.cabinet is sharp with no damage whatsoever.the safety glass will need to be removed and the other two issues solved.now,if only i can get rid of the other sets i have to make room for this!

[DaveWM]

[radiotvnut]

Congratulations on your find! Now, we must see pictures! I'm really not surprised that this set was used up until 2007 because, as we all know, most of these old sets were built to last and if properly taken care of, they will last. I'd like to see some of this new junk last 40 years.

[dieseljeep]

First tube I try when there is excessive blooming is the hi-volt rectifier. Please furnish the chassis or model number.

[ctc17]

I have a 68 69 that has the snowyish picture, Im curious what you find out on that and would like to know what cap. I would call mine a watchable but noisy picture.

The hv issues can be a major PITA! Weak HOT tube, open/out of value resistors/caps in the regulation circuit..on and on.

Im curious on your chassis number too, most likely I have the Sams.

[sampson159]

either 6jh5 or 3dc3 tube.i had a ge hybrid console back in the day.nice set with a replacement crt,(sylvania),that i got from an old tv repairman.it had a bad shunt regulator.pulled it out of the socket and it played for about a year.i sold it and it never came back.told them to get a tube.never heard any more about that set.the snowy picture issue is a small cap in the tuner.i had one years ago with the same issue.repair job.actually,dave fixed it.of course that was back before he wore womens clothes.i will get chassis number and try to post pics.

[compucat]

Pictures Please - We would love to see this set up close.

[DaveWM]

Originally Posted by sampson159

.the snowy picture issue is a small cap in the tuner.i had one years ago with the same issue.repair job.actually,dave fixed it.of course that was back before he wore womens clothes.i will get chassis number and try to post pics.

there is a small 18pf cap that couples the tuned signal to the grid of the RF amp. could that be the one?

[sampson159]

yes,thats the one.dave found this many years ago and we saw this same problem on most of the zeniths we had.picture is very watchable,just snowy.
i really like this set.a zenith roundie would be my dream set,but this will suffice for now.

[ctc17]

Im going to try and change it on my 69. I bet its going to be a major pita, anything in the tuner is a pita. How about the 10pf an 8pf?

I thought it was an IF problem but this makes sense because its like the antenna is not making a good connection.

[ctc17]

can you share what cap it is sampson?

[sampson159]

when i get to mine,i m going to change all.not taking any chances.i called dave/linda and they recommend changing all.better safe than sorry

[ctc17]

JA!/?

Wait, as far as recap capacyde goes a total recap of a color tuner would be nirvana.
I can just imagine the alignment nightmare.