One owner roundies are still out there....scored a Zenith
 

Scored this beauty off of my Craigslist TVs wanted ad. The previous owner bought it new in '63 while he was stationed at Fort Dix. After his tour of duty he brought it back home to Buffalo, covered up in the back seat of his '58 Ford convertible. Model 5540 chassis 25LC30, with "high fidelity" sound. Sams calls it a '64.

It sat in the same bedroom untouched since 1968 or so and worked the last time it was plugged in, in the early '70s.

I blew a nice blanket of dust off the chassis, still have a lot of cleaning to go, but the set shows promise :) .

They're still out there, guys. Go get em! :yes:

Nice set, was it free, how's the crt.

Wasn't free but very reasonable I think. Took a half hour drive to get it. Well worth it IMO. Haven't touched it yet, but I'll post up when I have.

Very nice score. The cabinet and chassis both look to be in excellent condition. Keep us posted Captain!

Gonna do anything about the cataract? It looks faint but it would bother the heck out of me.

Looks like some of the electrolytics have been replaced at some point or another. Normally the one next to the transformer is a black paper tube type.

Those cans aren't original for sure.

The voltage doubler cap is a nice "shocker" too. The can is 200 volts above ground! :thumbsdn:
The set is a very high-hours set. It's also an early production "L" model set, no UHF.
I wonder if the CRT is a Zenith replacement? Green halo, instead of a cataract. :scratch2:

Nope. I tend to have lousy luck with ANY tube color set, so if it doesn't show some signs of life after testing tubes and a slow power up, I don't plan on busting my onions to get it going. We'll see what she do :)

Looking at the heat sink fins on the power transformer, I can't help but think that it's the wrong answer. That it is getting too hot, and they should have used a bigger transformer without fins.

Zenith liked to use cooling fins on transformers, I have several black and white sets with them.

Generally Zenith stuff comes back. There is one capacitor that will for sure be dead in the set. it's like 50uf 25V or something very unusual like that in the Vertical Section. It lives under the chassis, if you're facing the back of the TV, its to the far right of the chassis, with the TV facing down, going in though the Service Saver door, in the bottom corner. You have to hoist the chassis up a little to even get at it.

Zenith seems to use really good, reliable parts.

That was most of the problem....people generally used them to death for that reason ;)

I'm no stranger to the Zenith roundie chassis.....this was my last foray:

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=259958

I'll be fine just as long as the VOT is good.....

Several firms used them. As long as the transformer is fused on the primary and secondary loads.
Most of the transformer failures were the result of overfusing or lightning direct hits.

I'd still take a Zenith over an RCA. These early sets with the separate bass and treble controls have great sound, also.

You could probably triple your money if the cloverleaf is solid. Many folks here needin' one...let the bidding begin? :)