Zenith Chromacolor II Drifting tuner/composite mod?

[vinyldavid]

Hey guys.

I took another look at a Zenith Chromacolor II that my grandmother has sitting idle, and in the past 2 years it has developed a severe drift issue. VHF low-band doesn't lock onto anything, and just drifts all over the place. Since I only use my TV's as composite or S-Video video monitors, I would like to know how to feed composite into this thing and bypass the tuner entirely.

I know that all TV's have to have composite somewhere (or maybe it's labeled CVBS), and I was wondering where to look for that here.

Or, if the tuner issue is easy, how to fix that?

[radiotvnut]

I think I remember you posting about this set and it was a space command remote set with a varactor tuner. A common problem on those was loose connections inside the tuner module. Resolder all the ground connections, as well as the plugs where the cables connect. If that does not solve the problem, the trouble is likely in the actual tuner control assembly and those can be a PITA to service.

[vinyldavid]

A video tech friend looked at it last night and basically said unless it's a quick fix (aka total tuner, etc swap, or a cut the trace and solder on a BNC for composite type thing) he doesn't want to work on it. It's way over my head, unless I'm given decent instructions. We deoxited all the plugs on the removable connectors in the tuner area, but that did not change anything.

Getting to that circuit board where the tuner module connects (the one nearest the front panel with the numbers) is more of a PITA than the set is worth IMHO.

Yeah, it is space command, and pretty darn cool to be honest.

To make the set most useful to me, a straight composite or S-video input would be best.

[vinyldavid]

bammmmmpppp

Anyone got a photofact?

[radiotvnut]

What's the chassis number?

I got rid of most of my Sam's; but, I'm sure someone can help you if you have a chassis number.