Yet another Zenith To identify
 

Hey guys,

Saw this add for a zenith not to far from here, but I can't tell what it is. It looks like it has a chromatic swith on the upper right corner, and channel selector buttons on the left side...can't quite make it out... CCII or early system 3? What do you guys think?

Thanks!

This is a tough one. If its got a red chromatic it
should be a CC2 upright, probably a J or K

If it has a yellow color sentry button with light
sensor a System 3 probably 1st gen with power transformer.

Complicating matters is a few Sys3 sets were sold late
J line & NOT called System 3.
Its a fine looking set & if a first gen S3 its much worth
saving. Probably the most reliable color Zenith built.

73 Zeno:smoke:

looks like the system 3 set i have.inline crt and that terrible tuner!mine has some bad contacts and drifts.crt is excellent and makes a beautiful picture.also has zoom,which i have no reason to use.very good set and right up there with the chromacolor chassis for reliability

Excellent, will contact the seller and try to get the price down (they are asking 75$).

Thanks!

I like that cabinet.

that is a tough call.. I'm going to say a late CC2.
Let us know if you find out!

Seems you where right! Its a 1977, CCII 25HC45. Just popped the back to take a few pictures. TV works, but tube seems tired (brightness and contrast where max out and it was making a barely bright enough picture). Cabinet is in very nice shape, and it is pretty clean inside. I'll let it run a few hours to see if the tube wakes up a bit.

Tube probably has a lot of life left in it. I have a 19" CCII, strong, bright picture. Starts off red as it warms up but once warmed up it's probably the brightest CRT set I have.

And I see that big cap is orange, good.

Yes, its the first thing I checked : the orange drop are there so no worries. Also the insides of the set are pretty clean, so it probably means its wasnt used that much.

Yeah you're right. If it was a high hour set there would probably be dust in all the little nooks and crannies but from that pic of the back it looks near mint.

CRT probably just needs to wake up... or something's causing a dim image.

This looks like a job for a CRT tester!

From the look of it, it seems we have the same tuner problem, the thing drifts like hell to the point that its imposible to watch something if the AFT function is not turned on.

Oh and by the way could a moderator change the title of the thread to "identify" instead of "identified"...it makes my eyes bleed haha

Update :

I plugged the CRT tester to it and yep, the CRT pings my B & K at 1.1 on the scale for all the guns so its in the good section, so not a problem. But the TV has a few problems and here they are;

- I have to put brightness and contrast all the way up to get a bright enough picture.
- Even with the sound swith all the way down I get a buzzing sound from the speaker and moving up and down gives a really jerky sound. (could it mean that the speaker is busted?)
- I get intermitent flickers on the screen.

I cleaned all the pots and switches on the front hopping it would solve most of the issues, but if anything it made it worst (at least for the sound) and not much else changed.

Also is the pot labeled "Brightness Limiter" at the back of the TV the same as adjusting the G2 voltage on a more modern flyback? If its the case, it is also maxed out.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

The thing that can be a pain in the ass on a Chromacolor 2 chassis is the modules. Manufactures loved those upright chassis with plug in modules during that era, and as they've aged have become problematic. I would say the XL100 is the worse.
As for your Zenith, carefully remove each module one at a time, and firmly plug them back in. Loose or dirty connections cause about 90% of the problems in those. For your brightness contrast issue, I would say you have a bad or loose video module.
If there is any module you need or want to try, let me know. I have a TON of NOS CC2 modules. I can't guarantee they're good tho. You never know how the caps have held up even being unused for 35+ years.
I hated that tuner and not sure I'll have one. It's on a module as well, and we replaced a ton of them in the 80's. If yours locks in with AFC on you should be fine. You really only need channel 3 or 4 anyway.....
I would have thought cleaning the volume control would have helped. What cleaner did you use?

Yeah my CCII was a bit, um, grumpy for lack of a better word. Brightness would flicker sometimes, tapping the top of the TV made the picture jump.

I removed each module, one at a time to avoid confusion, though IIRC they are keyed. I sprayed the contacts with deoxit, cleaned them with a Q tip and plugged the modules back in. Did this for every module. Helped out a lot!

Check the long resistor packages on the 9-88 & 9-89 modules.
They get cold joints. May be flickering & brite problem.
Be shure the chromatic switch isnt noisy by wiggling it.

Cant see the tuner (s) so pull it/them out. Resolder under the
connectors. Also there is usually a tuner control module,
check the PC there. Clean AFC switch. The tuning pots sometimes
get noisy too.

Audio is probably a bad control especially if its a slider. Try
other cleaners. WD40 can work miracles.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Your eyes should stop bleeding soon....If not see a doctor. :D