one of those "who'd a thunk it" things...

[lnx64]

I have a 27" HDTV CRT Prima built set. Uses a Samsung tube.

It's yoke also had bad solder and had a collapsed vertical too.. Sadly, I had given that TV to my mom when this happened, and she hadn't realized it did this until the phosphors were damaged.

I was able to fix it, but there's a permanent dark band across the middle of the screen. Only visible on white screens. (Oddly the burn isn't sharp as the line was, but a thick burn mark, about 2" thick).

TV still works.

I have an APEX 20" from 2001 in storage also. It still works, but has a weird geometry issue since new. The picture is rotated correctly on the top, but on the bottom it's skewed a little as if the rotation is off there. The tuner on it is shot, it doesn't tune anymore. It tries but the picture is just so fuzzy on most channels (but not all).

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Celt

I thought I'd give this old thread a nudge. Anyone else have a cheapo set that's proven itself to be reliable with a good picture?

How about a more pricey set with a very poor picture?
The early to mid 90's, Zeniths with the CRT problems. Great picture for the first two years, then yuck.

[zenithfan1]

Celt, I have one. A 1994 plain jane mono Zenith 19" that still works fine and has been through hell, when I say hell I'm referring to my teenage years. My mom got it for me for christmas of '94.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

Celt, I have one. A 1994 plain jane mono Zenith 19" that still works fine and has been through hell, when I say hell I'm referring to my teenage years. My mom got it for me for christmas of '94.

Did you ever remove the back and see if its a EIA 1101 sourced CRT.
That was one of the last 19" sets, Zenith built. Maybe they bought the CRT's from someone else.
The begining of the dark days of Zenith.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by zenithfan1

I have one. A 1994 plain jane mono Zenith 19" that still works fine and has been through hell, when I say hell I'm referring to my teenage years. My mom got it for me for christmas of '94.

Your set wouldn't happen to be one of the mid-'90s Sentry 2 table models, would it? I have one I got as a birthday present in 1995. It still works as well as the day I got it and even has the original CRT, although for the last 13 years it's been in storage in my bedroom.

The last time I tried my Sentry 2 table set, it was still going strong, with every bit as good a picture as when the set was new. Say what you will about those mid-'90s Zeniths with their troublesome CRTs, but mine seems to have gotten past all those problems....why, I'll probably never know; maybe I'd better not even try to figure it out, and just be thankful the set has gone this long with no problems. Maybe I was lucky and just happened to get a set with a good tube.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Say what you will about those mid-'90s Zeniths with their troublesome CRTs, but mine seems to have gotten past all those problems....why, I'll probably never know; maybe I'd better not even try to figure it out, and just be thankful the set has gone this long with no problems. Maybe I was lucky and just happened to get a set with a good tube.

I suspect that if you don't use the set, the tube is not going to wear out very fast.
But seriously, how many hours do you estimate the CRT has been operated?

jr

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

I suspect that if you don't use the set, the tube is not going to wear out very fast.
But seriously, how many hours do you estimate the CRT has been operated?

jr

Well, I used the TV every night (how many hours I put on the tube, I don't know) for four years, then when I moved I bought a new RCA CTC185 and put the Zenith in storage. The most the latter TV has been used in the last 13 years, not counting short tests every once in a while, was two weeks, when my RCA was in for repairs. Since then, the Zenith has only been on for a few minutes every month or so for testing.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Well, I used the TV every night (how many hours I put on the tube, I don't know) for four years, then when I moved I bought a new RCA CTC185 and put the Zenith in storage. The most the latter TV has been used in the last 13 years, not counting short tests every once in a while, was two weeks, when my RCA was in for repairs. Since then, the Zenith has only been on for a few minutes every month or so for testing.

For grins, a little estimation and calculation... "nights" = perhaps something like 5PM to midnight = 7 hours per night times 365 days per year times 4 years which equals 10,220 hours. In addition, 2 weeks (14 days) at perhaps 12 hours per day which equals 168 hours. The additional "testing" perhaps adds another 20 hours or so total. This adds up to an estimated 10,408 hours. A heavily used set might get that many hours use in 2 to 3 years! For a 18 year old set, your Zenith is practically *brand new* ... cherish it!

jr