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If it's any consolation, I was told that the metal cabinet sets are more rare than the wooden cabinets. I have a 1964 model 5111 that I thought might not be as desirable as something with a nicer cabinet. What I was told (and it makes sense) is that the metal cabinet models were indeed lower end in their day, so as they developed problems or were otherwise retired, they were more often tossed as opposed to keeping around forever like people used to do. Often they were used as a stand for that nice new 19" portable that became popular in the late 60s through the 70s. People by then were probably tired of moving large and heavy sets around. Anyway, I hope to get my Zenith going properly sometime soon. I needed room and posted it along with several nice 50s black and white sets for sale and guess which one everybody wanted. It was the one set that I really wanted to keep as I don't have another early color set. I only posted it in hope that it might spark someone to travel here and take several from my collection, but I never got any seriously interested parties, that is unless I would let go of the "roundie!" I wish I had all of the "roundies" that I parted and tossed back in the 80s when you couldn't give one away! I have always thought that the 50s black and white sets were more interesting and easier to properly work on. There is a lot going on in a color set and it takes special equipment and the knowledge of its use to properly set up convergence and such. I am thinking about saving myself the headache and finding one of the few TV service men left around to give my Zenith a once over so that it will be reliable. It made a beautiful color picture after nearly 30 years of dormancy, but it only lasted a few hours and the color turned to black and white with a case of the jitters and a vertical interference line to the far left of the picture. Supposedly a crystal causes the color to go out in a lot of cases. Somebody here sent me a replacement for that, but I never got around to putting it in. The other symptoms that I mention tell me that some capacitors are in order. Finally, I am concerned about the horizontal efficiency coil. Mine is cracked internally, so you can move the end inside of the chassis around while the mounting end remains rigid. I assume that the windings are all that is holding it together and I don't know how much a little bit of movement might effect the inductance. As most people know, the horizontal circuitry in these sets is a very critical point of maintenance, so I better find a replacement if possible. If anyone has some junked chassis and could sell me a good coil I would greatly appreciate it.
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