Problem with my Avanti
 

Greetings, everyone.

I have a Zenith Avanti System 3 model SLTEYSEQT2535X that is my daily driver and is currently experiencing a problem I hope someone can help with.

Several times in the last couple of months, after 30 or so minutes of watching, the picture disappears by shrinking horizontally. The set remains on, and the channel number changes to what looks like a combination of 2 and 3 (3 is the channel it was set to.) I can't remember if the sound stays on or not. There's no burning smell or anything alarming and (so far) I can fix the problem by just turning the set off an on again.

Just before the picture disappears, it "flickers" horizontally a couple of times. The picture doesn't disappear every time it flickers, just some times. We watch this set for about an hour a day and the flickering occurs every day.

Anyone have any idea what might be wrong here? I'm hoping it's something simple, as anyone who knows me knows I'm not at my best poking around inside a TV :D

I'm attaching a picture of the chassis, in case it helps.

TIA for your help!

veg

9-160 board

Look for cold joints on the 9-160 board. Look over the whole
board, they can be everywhere. Looks like its been out before
as the hidden red key looks loose. You may also want to check
the Zoom board.

73 Zeno:smoke:

Thanks for the help!

Now. What and where is the 9-160 board?

Is this something I can just go out and buy a new one?

There used to be online sources for rebuilt 9-160s (and most other Zenith boards) but, a component-level repair can be done on them. As mentioned before, definitely reflow all connections on it first, paying close attention to the joints underneath the high-heat components and near the edge connectors.
All the system 3s i've repaired had intermittents, same as the 9-181 board sets, with the neckboards that would cause full-on red or retrace lines and they were simple fixes which didn't require a new board.

The 9-160 is the big board on the bottom with the HV transformer on it.
DONT buy a new one yet, you need the complete ## first anyhows
( 9-160-??). Gather up the following first:
1/4" nutdriver, an apx 1 foot long insulated plastic anything,
pencil iron & solder, a large mirror.

Pull back, turn on, place mirror so you can see the pix while you are behind the set. Tap around the board with the plastic anything watching for the set to crap out. You can tap around & isolate where the
bad connection is this way. If you get it to act up get back to us
& will tell you how to pull the board out, there are tricks to it.

73 Zeno:smoke:

"tricks to it" Oh, boy. I can pretty much count on frying myself with this project!

Thanks for the help! I'll try to find some time to do this and go poking around with something plastic to see if I can locate the trouble spot.

Wish me luck!

Not to worry. Physically its held in by a few sneaky things
you may miss. As far as HV goes it should bleed off by itself
but a clip lead & thin screwdriver will take care of that.
Let us know how it goes......

73 Zeno:smoke: