Agree. Probably the most reliable Zenith built. And the BEST greens of any set.
Cold joints at Hoz drive transformer were 90% of the fails. After that
just a scattering of odds & ends.
A little more on CC2 XXX chassis ( S-3 style) & System 3
A few late J line high end 25" sets were built with the new XXX chassis.
They were NOT marked System 3.
K line System 3 came out on all but the leader models. System 3
was just a feature list. If it had the full list it was called a S-3.
J & K line were first gen XXX chassii , still had PWR transformer
and a normal H drive & output design.
L-line starts gen 2 XXX chassis. Transformer gone, replaced by a
complex H drive & out. They could also shoe horn it into a 13".
Why no FBT's supplied ? For us a 9-160 module net exchange
was $66. Buying a similar FBT, H out & a hand full of small parts would
approach that. But swapping the board takes maybe 4 mns & a
complete repair 15 mns. So a lower labor rate & total cost is
about the same.
Last the spark gap. It belongs in the hall of Zenith fame. We saw
many sets in for a different reason with blasted gaps. Normally
on a modern set seeing that throws up a stop sign. You will
often have a totaled set on your hands.
enuf fer now
73 Zeno
LFOD !