Zenith 2004 Console Television
 

Looking for a backup CRT for this Zenith 2004 Console Television.

It is Model number B27A74 R. It has Serial number 421-42130169. The number on the original CRT that is still in it reads A68ADT31X03. I thought I saw somewhere where they had a Substitution CRT for this TV that read
A68AGD01X. I would appreciate any help or suggestions in being able to locate a good CRT for it. Thank You. :scratch2:

Is this a Thomson tube? The set is new enough that you could probably find some low hour tabletops on Craigslist to salvage the tube from if you keep an eye out. I liked these sets, one of the last consoles made!

I'd try and find a chassis on ebay too.

I'm not sure about it being a Thomson tube. Are you saying that the chassis were known for giving fits on these sets? Thanks for your reply.

I don't think that one is in the era of the Zenith tube issue.
The chassis were fine, but in Zenith sets from about the mid -90's to the early 00's had defective picture tubes, and the tube would short out, and take some drivers with it. I'm sure by the time yours rolled off the line, they weren't using that tube.

No the chassis in that set is very good, I would just keep an eye out for one because I would want to keep this set going forever, and even the best chassis does eventually wear out!

I think Zenith closed the Melrose CRT plant around 2000-2001, and started buying tubes off of Thomson which made some pretty good CRTs.

Zenith made a console in 2004?

Please post pics. This I gotta see.

Yeah i gotta see this. Cant be right. I was under the impression that consoles ended in 2002. I have a 2001 Zenith myself. Pic below is what mine looks like. Got the original remote too. I have a thread about it somewhere on here.

That is exactly what mine looks like. Yes, the sticker on the back of mine says Manufactured April 2004. I was told this was the last year for them. Model number B27A74R is mine.

Your set probably uses either an Thomson bonded yoke CRT or an LG/Philips CRT. I've never seen one of these go bad and I know of one Zenith from 2002 that still has a good picture. The A68AGD01X was one of the Zenith tubes that was crap; so, stay away from that one. IIRC, A68ACT00X was the other bad one.

Yep Zenith made these up to 2004. IIRC they were assembled in Tennessee of all places. The place I was working for at the time bought every one the warehouse had in 2004 when they discontinued them because the old folks loved the sets and we were the only place that still carried consoles! The 74R was OP's style and 76R was the vertical style with VCR storage under the screen.

Really nice sets for the time! I wouldn't mind snagging one.

CRT Numbers
 

Can anyone tell me if the following CRTs would work in this 2004 Zenith Console set with Model# B27A74R?
A68ACT11X; A68ADT19X01 :scratch2:

Thanks.

Any 27" (A68) tube should work, as long as the CRT socket and mounts are the same.

I can't remember the value; but, there is one electrolytic capacitor in regulator circuit that will fail and cause intermittent/no start-up. An elderly couple that I know had the 2002 upright version and when it died, they bought a flatty and gave me the old set. They said that they really didn't like the flatty; but, that was all that was available. That cap was bad in their set and once I got it going, I offered it back to them. They took the flatty back and were very happy to have the Zenith.

To help your search get the EIA number off the CRT label.
That will tell you who made the tube & you can search that
brand also. It a 3 digit number like 274 for Thompson / RCA.

These Zenith consoles were the last Zenith product we sold. All
the other sizes we had given up on for many reasons.
Oldsters still wanted them. One day a Haitian cat came in from a city
20 miles away. He bought one & was very exited. After that every
few weeks another Haitian would come in from far away & get
one. Paid cash & took it in the box never to be seen again.
That worked nice for a while !
After the consoles were gone we were 100% Sony, had a real
franchise, a very hard to get thing ( took over a year). The
last Zenth consoles were 100% reliable & the ones with Thompson
jugs the best.

Well, you did a good deed for the elder couple. :thmbsp:

I checked and my CRT has a Zenith Brand Sticker on it.

I Agree. :thmbsp:

Some of those Thomson CRT's were branded as Zenith. Look for an EIA number and that will tell us who really made it. Also, if the CRT has a bonded yoke, it's most likely a Thomson.

When I bought this TV the G2(Screen) I felt was set a little too high. When viewing just the Back Screen it looked a little bright. I backed down the G2 but still seems a little bright? Any suggestions on the correct adjustment of the G2 (Screen)? The Screen seems to have quite a bit of red color in it. This set has no adjustments that I can find for the Color Hue. It makes the Black& Gray in pictures sometimes have a little red tint. Any suggestions on correcting this or what is causing this would be appreciated. I set the EZ Picture to Customs to make my own settings on the TV. The Digital Preset was way too overdone. Thanks.

I have a Zenith console from September 2002 I run when I'm not using the 1982 model. It is a 25 incher, model B25A74R. IIRC, I remember Mom and I settling on that same model back then for just in case we ever lose the old 1982 Zenith.

Hmmm, looking at your post again after checking my 2002 model, you have the same model as me except mine is the 25 incher instead of 27. I got it from my best friend's brother in law, he bought a flat screen and was dumping the old Zenith so now it is my living room TV. I use the 1982 model in the dining room that doubles as my computer room with my desktop PC.

Hope this helps. Exploded view lists the CRT:

Not by the book but turn brightness, color & contrast all the way down.
Adj G-2 up til you see retrace lines then turn down til they go away &
screen isnt lit.
Turn things back up & check that the brightness has good range.
For the color adjustments you need to get into the service menus.
ALLWAYS write down anything you change.
The red problem is probably a leaky driver or the CRT though.....

73 Zeno:smoke:

Thanks a bunch for sending me that PDF File. For the Main Module it states:
Component Level Repair and no part number. Can anyone explain this to me? Anyone that can help on locating Part Number for the Main Module would be appreciated. Trying to find some extra parts if I can. We really like this particular Zenith TV ALOT.

Thanks.

Does anyone know if number 9-2067-04A sound like the right number for the Main Board on this Model B27A74R 2004 Zenith Console Set ?

Yes, that's the number for the main module. Zenith was one of the last companies that offered module level repair of it's TV's. That means that you can exchange the module for a rebuilt one, saving the technician the time of troubleshooting the old board. In later years, Zenith announced that technicians were expected to repair the board to the component level, meaning that they were to find out exactly what part was bad and replace the bad parts.

On most Zenith TV's of any age, I tried to fix them by component level repair as much as possible. Sometimes, I exchanged the defective module and the new module was often bad right out of the box. I was told that they simply replaced a certain list of parts and that was it. If the failure happened to be caused by one of those parts; then, you're back in business. However, if the failure was something else, that meant trouble. I always liked repairing them to the component level because it's stupid to spend $60+ on a module that could have been fixed for under $5.

I seem to remember that they really didn't want you repairing the 9-160 modules (in early '80's TV's); but, I fixed a bunch of them. I've even replaced flyback transformers on them (usually with one obtained from a junk board).

Too much Red
 

When I Grey Scale my Set I have too much red showing in the Screen. The red color isn't bleeding out though in the pictures. I rescaled & it's better but still not right. It helped the B& W shots some at least. If I leave the G2 turned up higher than normal the red doesn't show like when I turn it down. However, when the screen is set higher it of course washes out the picture some. Anyone that can help on this and what is causing this would be appreciated. Also, any heads up on locating a CRT for this set would be nice to.

Thanks.

You can use almost any schematic for a SS set to
follow this. I dont have this manual so its aproximate.
Use a blank screen.
The R,G & B outputs usually on the CRT socket.
Video comes into all 3 emitters apx same voltage.
R,G, & B each go to there base, again all about the same.
If you measure the collectors they will be apx 120VDC.
If one goes low it brightens that color, if high will darken it.
Try swapping the Red transistor with another. If the red
is still messed up the transistor is OK.
If the red collector is low DC volts pull the CRT socket &
measure it again. if it came up the CRT has H-K leakage.
Also compair the red base with the others, the jungle IC
may have a problem.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Your set doesn't have a swappable module like the earlier sets. Zenith supported it as component level repair. You couldn't order the module from Zenith or PTS. See the exploded view I posted earlier.

If you need the manual, pm me. I have a TON of Zenith and LG service data, all original pdfs.

Zenith's procedure.

Thanks for the information. It is appreciated.

Can anyone tell me if either of the following 2 CRTs don't have the Yoke bonded to the CRT Neck?

A68ACT11X

A68ADT19X01

I am pretty sure the CRT that is currently in my TV which is A68ADT31X03 doesn't have a bonded yoke to the CRT? The parts list sheet for this TV shows the Yoke as a separate item from the CRT itself. Does anyone have any information to check and see if either of the 2 CRTs listed above would work in place of the current one? I asked the Seller of these CRTS for information and they never gave me any information on them.

Thanks.

I have just noticed the red problem is more noticeable and stronger when trying to run the TV on Video. When running the Converter Box or Satellite Receiver on Ch.3/4 it's not nearly as bad.

When this TV has no Signal hooked up to it the TV is a True Black & White Snow that looks perfectly normal. However, when you hook up some type of signal whether it be satellite or antenna Converter Box the Back Screen shows too much Red color.

How do you access the Service Menu via the Remote to adjust the Color Bias on this TV?