Why wasn't this Zenith roundie repairable?
 

Growing up, we had a Zenith color TV (a "roundie", according to a Google search).

One day, I remember the set developed a problem where the black edges of the screen started to pulsate, and they encroached on the picture a bit.

The effect looks a bit like slow-motion waves.

Apart from the wavy black edges, the picture itself was OK.

Anyway, the TV repairman soon came, gave my dad some bad news, and we got a new color TV.

My question is what exactly was the set suffering from? I'm just curious if it was a terminal problem, or if the set was repairable.

Thanks!

Filter caps easy fix.

I was under the impression it was the picture tube. (At least that's what I think my dad told me back then.).

No idea what filter caps are, but thanks for the reply! :)

Easily repairable, but not in the home. Perhaps that was what gave the impresion it was 'terminal'.

We used to repair that in the home, just jump them until you find the bad one then jumper in a new one and tape it to the chassis, Bam, done. :D

Not proper or elegant but often done by techs trying to make a living.

Not too mention....Zentih with the "service saver" screen on bottom made that EASY to do--compared to most. ANY decent--fair-minded tech could have fixed that problem, in an HOUR Or so--maybe a bit more. Fact is...he sounded as if he did not WANT to fix the set.

"bad picture tube"was--and stiil IS ...ALWAYS a "cop out" used be "repairmen" to get out of fixing a set they did not want to fix. SO much so....that when I began in this hobby over 35 years ago...I was told that nearly EVERY old tv set had bad picture tubes and thus--were not worth messing with. The TRUTH--of course is much different....then--less than a THIRD of tv sets I ran into had bad CRT"s--and that has not changed much TODAY.

I suppose possible the tech advised him the CRT was getting tired and not to waste any money fixing it? He still got paid for the service call and wouldn't have to fix anything.

I agree with others, by the time I started playing with sets in the 80s it was hard to find a technician that still wanted to work on a tube chassis set. The shop I usually dealt with had a policy that they would fix it "one more time" but after that, never bring it back. It would be strange if that repair took place in the 70s or earlier, though.

BUT....if it had a "good picture' aside form the hum-bars---and it was a roundie (assuming this was 30+ years ago or so)---that tube probably had plenty of life left in it. He just wanted to sell a new one--or not mess with the old one--and like you said--STILL get paid.

STILL happens today---and in EVERY field of repair !!

And...if your folks put that out for the garbage truck:tears:, it may have been picked up by the likes of us here. I surely would have taken it had I ever seen a Zenith roundie at the curb, which I didn't:sigh:

My Zenith had that problem when I first got it. I was able to trace it to 2 capacitors (the doubler lytics) just by looking, and was able to fix it in a very short time without the schematic.

It still has a few small bugs I need to get to, but is a decent set now.

Thanks for all the information.

Maybe my dad just wanted to go with a new solid-state TV with a rectangular screen. (I don't remember the year or model number, but the replacement TV was a big Zenith console with a vertical sliding channel selector. [You set the tuning for each space on the selector, then inserted a channel number tab in the corresponding space.])

Most likely scenario is.

Some filter cans were bad.
The CRT was weak
Probably had other minor problems.
The slide rule tuners were on E-F line sets apx 1975 so
the old set was 10 yrs old.
He told your father to do it right $200 -$300. And he
would soon have a dark, unreliable & unstable 10 yr old set.
The right call was made.

A few other clarifications.....
Most techs realize you make more $$ fixing than selling.
Fixing old dried up junk looses money. We would just
say no sometimes. A tech dont want a sale unless its the
wise thing to do or the customer wants it. He also wont tell
you a CRT is bad just to avoid a POS set, just say NO.
There are bad apples but I saw few.
Remember we repaired NOT restored.

73 Zeno:smoke:

i remember those tired old lines."well,your crt is weak and in my honest opinion,this set is not worth fixing."or the southend columbus line,"if your set was a horse,i would have to shoot it!".very common when you didnt want to repair something.i could see not fixing a roundie if the crt was weak.by the 80s they were getting fairly scarce and these sets werent in vogue like now.we repaired everything that could be repaired.the only issue was good used crts for roundies.they were available through rebuilders up to the the late 80s but demand was low.many techs by that time just wanted to snap in a module or tripler and collect his money.gravy work back then.we always got the tough dogs.they were at other shops and turned down.filter caps were replaced in home.simple repairs and quick.dont understand why a tech would turn down such a simple fix?

From our perspective today as collectors and restorers, it is sad that what to us would be a simple and routine repair was not worth the bother to a tech or a customer back then. I do remember as a kid in the Seventies that after about five years most TVs needed frequent repairs and the prevailing wisdom was don't keep putting more money into it. The result was that a set that probably would have been good as new with an overhaul on par with what we do now rather than the patch-it-up for another six months type of repair designed to be profitable. Many of these old sets would have had longer service lives, stayed away from the landfills and more would be around today if they had a mini restoration every five to seven years or so. The disposable mentality was starting to take hold especially during the Eighties so repair was less of an attractive option or a first thought back then.

The TV shop that sold/serviced our family's TVs is actually still in business, so they must be doing something right. (Their website shows they now have three locations too.)

I do remember that I liked the old TV better because I could often tune in channels from Providence, RI, and on rare occasion, from Maine. (I grew up north of Boston.)

But, the old one took awhile to warm up, and its replacement went right on.

An "E-F" model from 1975? I guess that's when the switch was made. (No remote control on either set though.)

You guys certainly know your stuff. Glad I was able to get some answers to something I've occasionally wondered about over the years. :)

This is it right here..... The guy I worked for would try and talk people out of
repairs of tube sets saying he does not warranty work on tube sets because
of the higher frequency of repairs they would need..... Even on the same
items more than once..... He also would replace all the power tubes each
time they came in..... That usually was an extra $110. He would do the
work if they insisted, but the pricing was quite discouraging for people to
make return trips.... But we did not sell sets, so there was nothing gained
by him in encouraging new sets.... It may have been the right thing
to do.... The few tube sets we got were rca's and magnavoxes, and they
did come in once a year.....

.

...

We are from the same area ( Acton back then). The old tube
Zeniths had the hottest tuners & selectivity. Newer varactor tuners
almost as good & in a few yrs even better.
At the shop the ultimate test was to get WMTW TV8 on Mt.
Washington with the antenna pointed SE at Ch 7. Only Zeniths
could do it consistently, all others rarely.
If you are from Rio Linda the test is this. Ch 8 is 130 miles
due N. Also CH 9 due N. abt 45 mi. CH 7 SW apx 30mi.
A brutal test of your traps & selectivity.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Growing up, we had the "Eastern New England" edition of TV Guide, so it would list the Channel 8 of New Haven, CT.

Of course as a curious kid, I'd occasionally try to tune in stations from outside the Boston area, but only channels 9 (Manchester, NH), 10 (Providence, RI), 11 (Durham, NH), and 12 (Providence, RI?) were at all watchable.

Occasionally, a very faint signals on channels 6 & 8 could be (barely) seen, but the only sound would be white noise.

I remember one time I got channel 13 to tune in quite clearly, but it must have been due to the atmospheric conditions, as it was something that I was unable to do again. (And the fact channel 13 was not listed in the local TV Guide meant I had no idea where it was located.)

When I got a house I got the biggest antenna a Jerrold VU937 IIRC.
Was over 20' long. Could get either CH 8, CH 6 Portland or New Bedford,
CH 13 Portland & 26 Saco. At nite when everyone was off all the
NYC VHF stations were watchable. On a good night even Philly.
Wish I were up higher, could done much better especially on UHF.

73 Zeno:smoke: