1988 Zenith console Heathkit?

[pac.attack76]

Acquired this in a lot of 4 different sets. This one had me confused as it's sitting in a homemade cabinet. I thought it was redneck engineering but then I found the book on parts and assembly tucked inside along with a bag of clamps, a remote. The control panel and mounting bracket was on the other side in the cabinet. It appears, no back was ever made for it as there's no screw holes. Apparently this was a diy kit and u make the cabinet yourself. Idk, I've never come across this before. I tried to test and got nothing from the remote or the panel. I put my meter on the line in after the power supply at the main board and got nothing. I'm guessing that big rusty block on the right is dead. I'd like to see this running and build a real nice cabinet with trim, routed edges and stained.

[old_tv_nut]

I think this is a late kit that used pre-built Zenith modules, and the DIY aspect was mainly connecting them, unlike the pre-Zenith Heathkits where all the components had to be soldered to the boards. Is that what the manuals show?

Is that a totally rusted tuner/IF shield at lower left?

I wonder how long it was under water? At least it wasn't deep enough to implode the CRT.

[pac.attack76]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

I think this is a late kit that used pre-built Zenith modules, and the DIY aspect was mainly connecting them, unlike the pre-Zenith Heathkits where all the components had to be soldered to the boards. Is that what the manuals show?

Is that a totally rusted tuner/IF shield at lower left?

I wonder how long it was under water? At least it wasn't deep enough to implode the CRT.

I think it's more just connecting everything. There are schematics in the book.looks like it was outside for a couple years. Not enough to rot the wood but still. It was under trees in an old pickup bed.

[N2IXK]

I put one of those together for a family friend when I was in high school. You had to build one PC board, which contained a bar/dot generator used for the convergence setup. All the rest of the set was an off-the-shelf Zenith "System 3" chassis.

[pac.attack76]

Does anyone have a pic of the cabinet that this would Normally be in? Or model number? Back of tube says March 13 1988 shift 3.

[zeno]

Rusty part on right is a power transformer. May have been for isolation
or it was used with a non US power standard. Its odd. Other big rust
area is the tuners.
Looks like cabinet front is OEM & the rest home made.
Would have come in many cabinet styles.
Looks like a ready plug was used. That would be for an antenna switcher
or stereo decoder BUT it looks like a stereo board is built in.
Models probably start SC27## or SD27## or SD27##

Zeno

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by zeno

Rusty part on right is a power transformer. May have been for isolation
or it was used with a non US power standard. Its odd. Other big rust
area is the tuners.
Looks like cabinet front is OEM & the rest home made.
Would have come in many cabinet styles.
Looks like a ready plug was used. That would be for an antenna switcher
or stereo decoder BUT it looks like a stereo board is built in.
Models probably start SC27## or SD27## or SD27##

Zeno

If the power transformer (and perhaps also the tuners) are that rusty, I would be very wary of plugging the TV into AC power. That these components are extremely rusty would indicate the TV was or had been in a flood, rain, or other wet environment for quite a while and is not safe to use, unless of course it was dried out for hours or days before being plugged in.

BTW, if this TV has a built-in stereo audio board, it must have been fairly new (newer than 1988). The local NBC affiliate in Cleveland, WKYC-TV, channel 3, went from mono to MTS stereo sound in 1986, IIRC (the station was an NBC O&O at the time). I don't know when NBC-TV stations elsewhere converted to MTS stereo, or whether the Cleveland station was one of the first NBC affiliates to do so. I remember well when NBC went to MTS stereo, as the sound was less than perfect for quite a while, at least on the Cleveland station. I could tell the station was testing its MTS stereo equipment because the sound on my TV would become distorted, and would cut out every 15 minutes or so during a network broadcast.

[pac.attack76]

It's very dry. Nothing gets tested until then. These seen much rain but it's been awhile since. Since it's completely dead and nothing coming in before main board, should I replace transformer or?

[radiotvnut]

On those, they offered a line of cabinets and the builder could purchase whatever cabinet they wanted, if so desired. Years ago, someone gave me the guts out of a circa '84 Heath/Zenith TV, after it stopped working and they wanted the cabinet for something else. The boards came pre-assembled and aligned, so all the builder had to do was plug everything together.

[pac.attack76]

Took main board out to get better look. Is there anything here that I need to check before I test after I figure out the transformer?

[zeno]

You have nothing to loose. Cant tell for sure but it looks like
the main fuse is zorched. If so strip the set. So much water damage
odds are near 100% its sayounara for the set.
Use it as a guinea pig & dont put a penny into it.
BTW I looked for the Sylvania manual I dont have it sry.

73 Zeno
LFOD !

[pac.attack76]

Originally Posted by zeno

You have nothing to loose. Cant tell for sure but it looks like
the main fuse is zorched. If so strip the set. So much water damage
odds are near 100% its sayounara for the set.
Use it as a guinea pig & dont put a penny into it.
BTW I looked for the Sylvania manual I dont have it sry.

73 Zeno
LFOD !

Actually fuse is good. I looked at the image I took.a shadow was cast on it making it look dark but it's good. I really don't want to give up on it or any other that I have. My goal is to save them and I've actually got a lot of caps, resistors, etc. So I'd probably spend mere change other than a triple for the Sylvania