1974 Zenith 22" B&W console

[Adam]

This must be one of the very last tube B&W consoles. The only thing solid state in this set is the power supply and the uhf tuner. 22DB36 chassis, model E2427-1 - which I think makes this a 74 model with a 73 chassis. It has a 22V CRT. Works great, nearly all the original tubes, too. It didn't have knobs though. Now, I know those are Zenith knobs I put on there, but I don't know if they're the right ones. I have a schematic for this model, but no picture of what it should look like. I know that uhf one is wrong for sure, because there's a light back there which should show through numbers on the knob like on the vhf, and that knob I put on the uhf has no numbers on it. It was the only one I had of that type that matched the vhf knob and would fit. This also must be one of very few tube sets built with the click-stop uhf tuner. … The picture is great, it just looks washed out because I used the flash so the knobs would be visible.

[rca2000]

Looks to me like they took their table-model cold chassis, usually in those thin metal sets...and adapted it to be used in a console. I guess for some reason they decided to drop the 14N22 chassis...and use this one...till the "flat SS chassis" was ready..

And that SAME cabinet style (thumbwheel volume knob and all)..is the SAME one they used for a few more years,,in the SS 19GB1 chassis. (I HAVE one..)

[dishdude]

Cheesy looking console at the time, but cool today.The plastic sides are something!

[zeno]

Looks like the chassis they used in the 21" tin can so called portable.
They made them up to E IIRC. Last ones came with presets
for UHF & a numbers sheet. Not your usual detent or varactor
tuner. By this time we were selling 2 or 3 B&W consoles a year
so not much else I remember about them. The 21" portable sold
OK as it was big screen with a small foot print. Oldies loved them.
Even the 14N22's & ancestors were almost never seen. They held
up so well they wouldnt get opened for 10-15 yrs. The owner did
abt 1 a month on the road. Usually hoz out & a new 6HA5 to
perk it up was it. Sometimes a filter can. I cant imagine how
many never saw repairs & got junked due to lack of UHF on old
ones or death of owner.

73 Zeno

[jstout66]

I think any console B&W set after 1970 is rare, and to think,... Zenith still offered 2 B&W consoles in 1980!

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by jstout66

I think any console B&W set after 1970 is rare, and to think,... Zenith still offered 2 B&W consoles in 1980!

Don't forget the color consoles they had in the '90s. I believe those were the very last consoles made by Zenith before they went offshore.

[dishdude]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Don't forget the color consoles they had in the '90s. I believe those were the very last consoles made by Zenith before they went offshore.

Zenith was shipping US assembled consoles in 2004.

[DavGoodlin]

I just flip for those banana-handle knobs. They were first used on the 1967 color Zeniths :<)

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by zeno

Looks like the chassis they used in the 21" tin can so called portable.
They made them up to E IIRC. Last ones came with presets
for UHF & a numbers sheet. Not your usual detent or varactor
tuner. By this time we were selling 2 or 3 B&W consoles a year
so not much else I remember about them. The 21" portable sold
OK as it was big screen with a small foot print. Oldies loved them.
Even the 14N22's & ancestors were almost never seen. They held
up so well they wouldnt get opened for 10-15 yrs. The owner did
abt 1 a month on the road. Usually hoz out & a new 6HA5 to
perk it up was it. Sometimes a filter can. I cant imagine how
many never saw repairs & got junked due to lack of UHF on old
ones or death of owner.

73 Zeno

I can't imagine an older VHF-only Zenith TV being junked simply because it did not have provisions for UHF; most people with Zenith TVs tended to keep them 15-20 years. Zenith claimed in the early '60s, IIRC, that "every Zenith TV ever made" could be adapted for the then-new UHF channels, either by using optional channel strips inserted in unused VHF channel positions. Some of Zenith's color sets of the late '60s-'70s had provisions for up to six UHF strips; Zenith said in its advertising at the time that these sets could tune "12 VHF and up to 6 UHF" channels, with a disclaimer in tiny type at the bottom of the ad stating Whenever and wherever available. With other sets having the older-style VHF tuner (with what I call a "light-through", i.e. projector, three-pronged VHF channel selector knob with a window in the center to show the selected channel), the owner could use a UHF converter, and therefore could receive the new UHF stations if and when they arrived in the area.




























[/I]

[rca2000]

Going 15-20 years with NO service? I challenge ANY flat-panel..of ANY format--to even THINK about that !!

most--particularly those made within the last 6 years or so....are DONE...by 5 years...If they have not been BROKEN by then.. The last 3 flat-panel sets I acquired ..one was broken,(but could NOT be seen until powered on) one, a Pan a plasma, had bad address chips on the panel ribbons, the Mits LCD, an EXPENSIVE 08 model...had a bad "tab bond", making it irreparable..

You had to TRY to break a picture tube...lust lean against most LCD sets...and GOOD_BYE !!

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by rca2000

Going 15-20 years with NO service? I challenge ANY flat-panel..of ANY format--to even THINK about that !!

most--particularly those made within the last 6 years or so....are DONE...by 5 years...If they have not been BROKEN by then.. The last 3 flat-panel sets I acquired ..one was broken,(but could NOT be seen until powered on) one, a Pan a plasma, had bad address chips on the panel ribbons, the Mits LCD, an EXPENSIVE 08 model...had a bad "tab bond", making it irreparable..

You had to TRY to break a picture tube...lust lean against most LCD sets...and GOOD_BYE !!

I was not talking about 15 to 20-year-old flat screens. I was referring to CRT TVs which do, more often than not, last that long.

Where did you get this "five years" figure for the lifespan of flat screen televisions? I have a 19-inch FP in my living room that is very close to the five-year mark. I use it daily, and it is working every bit as well as when it was new.

While it is true that flat screen TVs can be damaged by knocking or pushing them off their stands, I seriously doubt that just leaning against an FP will destroy it. I think you may have been taken in by all the old wives' tales that started when the first FPs were available, including the one that stated most FPs last only two years. This may well have been true of the very first flat panels, but the technology has improved greatly since then. Today's flat screens, with the possible exception of the no-name sets sold in discount stores for under $100 (these are often found in pharmacies like CVS, Rite Aid, et al. as well), are generally quite reliable and will last quite a while, if not manhandled or otherwise abused.

The brands of FPs most likely to fail within two years or less are the no-name ones, such as Polaroid and others, with names no one ever heard of. The website for Insignia TVs (Insignia is a house brand of Best Buy) states clearly that their flat screens are of superior quality, which I believe since my own Insignia set has lasted almost five years and shows no signs of impending failure. Further, I find by looking at the support forum that most of the troublesome sets have very large screens, 32 inches and larger; I rarely see any support requests for Insignia FP televisions with screens under 20 inches diagonal measure.

I maintain that many if not most FP failures are due to abuse, such as being knocked off their stands or objects being thrown at them. I once read on Insignia's FP support site of a set which had a cracked screen caused by someone throwing a wristwatch at it, and it would not surprise me if a lot of FPs are damaged beyond repair during football season by people getting angry because of a bad call, or by kids throwing a football in the house and said football hits the TV screen, cracking said screen instantly.

Where is it cast in stone that any flat screen TV from a reputable manufacturer, given the proper care, will not last more than five years? I realize these TVs will eventually wear out like everything else, but on the other hand I do not think it is fair to put a definite number on the length of time, in years, the TV will last before it fails. As I said earlier, the very cheap, no-name FPs found in discount stores and pharmacies may not last longer than a year or two, but sets bought from reputable stores such as Best Buy should last indefinitely. There is an axiom in the TV service business (and probably others as well) that states if a television, for example, still works well after the warranty expires, said TV will continue to operate flawlessly for some indefinite length of time afterward.

This is not to say these TVs will never require service at some point in their lives, but I am sure the reliability of most flat screens is good enough that it does not pay to even think, much less worry (!), about when they might fail. I for one am not concerned about that. If my FP eventually does fail, I have a 20.5-year-old 19" Zenith table model CRT TV, that still works as well as when it was new, that I can put in its place within perhaps a half hour.

BTW, I recently read, I believe it was in this forum, that CRT televisions actually make better pictures than FPs since CRTs use scan lines, rather than pixels, to form the pictures. I am wondering if CRT sets used with digital cable or with Rokus or other streaming video players are immune to the pixelization seen on FPs when the signal is weak.

[rca2000]

I was refering to experience from about 14 years of working on them. having seen the sort of problems they have. having seen SCADDLES of broken ones--often from only minor impacts. having seen a LOT of bad panels, Backlights...ESPECIALLY LED BL'S, and a LOT of bad tab-bonding problems on LCD panels..

Give me BACK a CRT---maybe the FACT that they last SO long and are SO durable--when done right... (like many RCA CRT"s and Zenith CC tubes)..is one reason they KILLED them !!

[radiotvnut]

I still have a 14N22 Zenith console from '69 and I've done basically nothing to it. I can tell that a few tubes were replaced before I got it. The set still works and has a strong CRT; but, it could stand a few minor things done to it (horizontal jitters when turned on, dirty tuner, intermittent static in audio). Not bad for a 47 year old set.

Concerning newer flat panel TV's, we won't be fixing them in 50 years because they use special parts that are often designed for a few models. Heck, even today, it's hard getting parts for some of these sets. Also, the lead-free solder could be an issue.

As far as "last gasp" B&W consoles, I know that Zenith, Sylvania, Admiral, Truetone (those were actually built by Admiral), and GE still had 22" large screen B&W's in the late '70's-early '80's. In fact, I have a Sylvania B&W console from June, 1980.