First timer here with a question about my Zenith Avanti (?) Stereo Console TV
 

Hello, everyone. I've been reading this site for sometime and now have need of your help.

Back in 2007 I bought a really great midcentury Zenith stereo/console Chromacolor II TV. I think it is from the Avanti series; I have seen others like it, but none with the stereo feature, which is very cool. It has a white cabinet on a wide, white plastic pedestal with a rosewood top. By pressing two buttons under the front lip, the back 1/3 of the top pops up to reveal an AM/FM stereo and 8-track tape player. (Photos are below.)

The problem is that it will not power up. When using the remote control, it turns on for just 3-5 seconds, but then trips the breaker. Activating the breaker (in the back, what a great feature) causes the same behavior. Based upon what I've read here, it needs a new voltage tripler.

So, I have two questions:

first, how does one determine the model number or chassis number, and

secondly, once I determine that information, how do I locate the correct voltage tripler?

Thanks in advance for any information you can share. I love this set and want to get it operational again!

Welcome:thmbsp:

The chassis number will be somewhere on the back of the chassis. 25dcxx, something like that.

You really need to troubleshoot the issue. Something is shorted or causing excessive current draw. It could be any one of 100 things and blind replacement of parts will shurly be wasted money.

There are a few owners of those sets here who have great diagnostic skills and can advise you where to start....
davewm and radiotvnut come to mind.

You can still get parts with a little searching.

Thanks for the help. I have a TV repairman who looked at it (he tells me he has a lot of experience with these) and told me that's what I need. For some reason, though, he is not overly interested in chasing parts.

I took the back off of the set and the model number is 25EC58. It appears that the serial number might be 32130905.

see if it has a big oval shaped can next to the power transformer. If so its prob a 3.5uf non polar cap (oil filled, looks like it belongs on a AC motor like the kind found in air conditioners). I bet its shorting, see if it gets hot after the quick power up, Or just go ahead and replace it. From what I understand this was a pretty common failure point. I had a Sylvania that used the same kind of voltage regulating transformer and it did the same thing would pop the circuit breaker after a few min at 1st then got shorter and shorter before popping.

I could not find a 3.5uf but did find a 4.0uf at graingers and it worked fine.

I will look at see if i have the schematic for that tomorrow

Thank you both. Dave WM, thanks for the tip.ctc17, if you've got a schematic, that would be GREAT! Thanks again.

Hello I think I may still have chromacolor parts from when I worked on these sets chromacolor sets have amazingly good pictures they were easy to work on.. give me a week to see if I have any tripplers in my hoard of tv parts if you find one please PM me if you find that part... Timothy

the tripler should have a number on it. On your tripping the breaker problem, take the screws out of the horiz output transistor and see if the breaker holds. I may still have a tripler so post the number.

Thanks for the advice -- I'm not really comfortable taking anything apart on this wonderful set (if it was a car, that would be entirely different!). If you could tell me what the tripler looks like, though, I could see if it's got a number on it.

I did manage to get a schematic from Sam's; would it be listed there somewhere?

Thanks again.

Take the back off and look for a small suction cup on the back of the tube. Attached to it should be a wire. Follow the wire to a gray box (maybe on the right side). This is the tripler. Look for any dark spots where it is burned through. This would tell you for sure if it is bad. If the tripler looks good, try powering it up again (although I don't recommend it), and see if you smell smoke from it. If you need a replacement, the part number might start with 212-. Try Moyer Electronics. You may have to call them with the part number so they could match it up. The part might be hard to find on their website.

http://www.moyerelectronics.com/Depa...-TV-Parts.aspx