Zenith H2447R 19" Porthole TV

[Sandy G]

What I was trying to say,& that obviously has gotten taken about as far out of context as possible is that these Porthole style sets were and are STRANGE looking-Especially now,as it seems that the normative "Look" for a TV is a black/grey rectangular plastic box w/little or no adornment at all. When Portholes were new, having a TV was still something of a big Deal, Zenith kinda run 'em up the flagpole,as the Sets with the "Giant CIRCLE screen", My Porthole is a12" tabletop model that is vinyl/leather covered. When I show it off, most people that are roughly my age-60 say they can remember them, but younger folks & kids are completely befuddled by it. Its also amazing as to how many people claim to never having seen A b/w TV of any sort...

[Kevin Kuehn]

Zenith had a reputation of making strange looking radios too. Almost as if they were expecting future generations to collect them.

[Crist Rigott]

Originally Posted by Kevin Kuehn

Zenith had a reputation of making strange looking radios too. Almost as if they were expecting future generations to collect them.

Good one Kevin. Thanks for the help in posting pics.

[Crist Rigott]

OK, here goes. I've started on the restoration of this TV. In the next few days or week I'll get caught up with the progress that I've made.

Fist off I'm working on the HV cage and Fly back. The FB coating was pretty melted and cracked. What I did to restore the FB will be part of the upcoming posts. What I'd like to show you guys and get opinions on is that the 1B3GT filament winding that is around the core of the FB might have an issue. The wire is held off the FB core with 2 thin pieces of a fiberglass like material. Where the filament winding has passed through those pieces, it looks like they "dug" into the insulation, thus compromising the insulation. Here are 2 pictures of the filament winding and how it is held in place around the FB:





Now here is a close up of the damage to the insulation. It goes in some but not all the way to the conductor:


I think I need to replace that wire. Now here is another question. If the original wire is lets say 20Kv and I use 40Kv wire, will there be enough "juice" to get through the "extra" insulation of the 30Kv wire to work the 1B3GT?

[jr_tech]

"I think I need to replace that wire. Now here is another question. If the original wire is lets say 20Kv and I use 40Kv wire, will there be enough "juice" to get through the "extra" insulation of the 30Kv wire to work the 1B3GT?"

Sure, this is just a transformer with a one turn coil providing the 1.25 Volts for the 1B3 filament. Turns ratio is the only thing that counts here, extra insulation on the wire will not make any difference.

jr

[init4fun]

Originally Posted by Crist Rigott

......... If the original wire is lets say 20Kv and I use 40Kv wire, will there be enough "juice" to get through the "extra" insulation of the 30Kv wire to work the 1B3GT?

The voltage breakdown specification of wire refers to it's insulation quality of resisting arcing only , it's the gauge of the wire that determines current carrying ability . If your question centers around whether enough magnetic coupling will exist with the higher value of insulation then I will say I believe you'll be fine , the extra voltage breakdown quality of the wire shouldn't affect the magnetic coupling as long as the gauge of the new wire matches that of the old .

[Crist Rigott]

Originally Posted by init4fun

The voltage breakdown specification of wire refers to it's insulation quality of resisting arcing only , it's the gauge of the wire that determines current carrying ability . If your question centers around whether enough magnetic coupling will exist with the higher value of insulation then I will say I believe you'll be fine , the extra voltage breakdown quality of the wire shouldn't affect the magnetic coupling as long as the gauge of the new wire matches that of the old .

Thanks for the great explanation. Just what I was looking for. I have some 40Kv wire from an old TV with the same conductor size that I'll use.

[init4fun]

Originally Posted by Crist Rigott

Thanks for the great explanation. Just what I was looking for. I have some 40Kv wire from an old TV with the same conductor size that I'll use.

Exactly what I've done in the past in similar TV high voltage cage repairs , that's why I'm confident you'll have no problem with the wire's higher insulation rating .

PS , I may not post all that much , but I've seen your restoration work and you do have great talent with making these old sets look great again

[Crist Rigott]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

What I was trying to say,& that obviously has gotten taken about as far out of context as possible is that these Porthole style sets were and are STRANGE looking-Especially now,as it seems that the normative "Look" for a TV is a black/grey rectangular plastic box w/little or no adornment at all. When Portholes were new, having a TV was still something of a big Deal, Zenith kinda run 'em up the flagpole,as the Sets with the "Giant CIRCLE screen", My Porthole is a12" tabletop model that is vinyl/leather covered. When I show it off, most people that are roughly my age-60 say they can remember them, but younger folks & kids are completely befuddled by it. Its also amazing as to how many people claim to never having seen A b/w TV of any sort...

Got it!

[snelson903]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

What I was trying to say,& that obviously has gotten taken about as far out of context as possible is that these Porthole style sets were and are STRANGE looking-Especially now,as it seems that the normative "Look" for a TV is a black/grey rectangular plastic box w/little or no adornment at all. When Portholes were new, having a TV was still something of a big Deal, Zenith kinda run 'em up the flagpole,as the Sets with the "Giant CIRCLE screen", My Porthole is a12" tabletop model that is vinyl/leather covered. When I show it off, most people that are roughly my age-60 say they can remember them, but younger folks & kids are completely befuddled by it. Its also amazing as to how many people claim to never having seen A b/w TV of any sort...

im confused