Zenith Trash Find

[maxm]

This is probably my best trash find yet. I saw this set, lying face down by a dumpster. It was in an alley near my house that I usally don't walk down but it was a nice day, so I went for a walk. At first I though it was a microwave, but than I saw the antennas on the top, and knew it was a TV. It looked to me like it was broken, since there was no CRT bump, but I went up to take a look, and to my pleasant suprise, I saw a 1960 Zeith metal cabinet 19" black and white set...

I carried it home, it was only about 4 blocks. (These metal cabinet Zeniths are heavy, but the car was being used, and I didn't want to leave it there, though I am probably the only person here in Chicaog who would care to take it. (See the thread "I think I'm crazy" if you want to hear an even worse TV carrying story.)

I took it home and had a look. There is a sleep timer installed where I assume the optional UHF tuner would have went. This set has a nice transformer powered (heavy) chassis. This is my first Zenith with a transformer powered chassis, with the flyback in the middle, I have sever of their later sets though.

The set has seen a lot of use though, as many tubes are replacements, and the CRT was replaced in '65.

I haven't had a chance to clean out the set and give it a test, though there are a few thing to look out for. the CRT base is cracked and loose, most of the insulation has flaked off the flyback, and there are some paper caps under the chassis that may be bad. I'll try to look into it and clean it up this weekend...Wish me Luck!

[drh4683]

Nice find max! I think that very TV is on the cover of the 1961 zenith service manual.
Trash finds are great when you have something to work with. Looks like that set is in pretty nice shape and shouldnt take much to bring it back. Im glad you found it or else you know what....
Good luck with it!

Happy happy joy joy! Good on you Max. I'm jealous of all you Windy-ites and all the local Zeniths. Makes me think I oughta move out there :-)

Anthony

[RetroHacker]

Nice find! I've got a couple similar Zeniths - the 23" version of that, and then the slightly newer 23" version. So far I've only really had the chance to work on one of them (the newer 23"), and it took very little to get it going. I found that set in a roll-off bin (long dumpster, like a construction dumpster). It had been rained on, and had clearly been thrown in there. The cabinet survived very well with very minor bending. All I had to do to get it working was to take apart and clean the tuner, as it was so bad that I didn't even get a picture, just a blank raster. I had to clean crud off the picture tube near the HV connection to get rid of some arcing, and clean a couple tube pins. I think I also had to replace one tube, although I forget which one.

Those sets were made very well, the quality definitely went in before the name went on...

As to your TV carrying story, I've been there before. I once rollerbladed a mile and a half carrying a TRS-80 Model 3. (I also collect old computers). I had found it on the side of the road on my way back from school several years ago and just had to grab it - for those of you that aren't familliar with the model 3, it's an 80's Radio Shack machine, and the monitor, disk drives and keyboard are all in one housing. Very heavy.

-Ian

[bgadow]

In the early 90s I attended an auction of a very old radio/tv shop (started in the pre-radio days selling Victrolas). If I had room I could have brought home a pickup load of these (or similiar) as they were all stacked up in a back room, all bw Zeniths, and nobody there wanted a single one of them

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by maxm

I carried it home, it was only about 4 blocks. (These metal cabinet Zeniths are heavy, but the car was being used, and I didn't want to leave it there, though I am probably the only person here in Chicaog who would care to take it.

It can't be that heavy, it has a handle on top.... Or is it a "luggable" instead of "portable"?

[Randy Bassham]

Portable: noun Has handle and can be moved.....

[frenchy]

I love that channel changer knob, is that non-ergonomic or what? Seems as if you'd have to use three fingers to turn it instead of two. But it looks cool and that's what counts, right? : )

Frenchy

I once saw a vintage Magnavox Astro-Sonic stereo in my apartment dumpster. I didn't take it, but also found the original instruction manual and quality check card and took them. I was astonished to see it. Don't know whether it was working though.

[Adam]

Those are good sets. I have the same set in a wooden cabinet, and it works so well I think I watch it more than all my others. Mine has the 23ANP4 where the outer glass is glued to the crt, is your 19" set the same way? My 61 zenith is the only b&w set I have seen like this.

[maxm]

This set is still sitting in my basement, I haven't had time to look at it... Though there is a long cold winter coming soon here in Chicago, so it will probably get some attention.

I did notice that the wood grain was starting to peel off the steel cabinet. It seems to be a very thin plastic film. I personally hate fake wood on anything (though I love real wood), so I have thoughts of painting that part of cabinet with brown hammertone paine, which I like the look of.

[Telecolor 3007]

You've got yourself an nice tube set