Yep, another one.......

[Kamakiri]

So, after getting back home from picking up the Zenith porthole, not an hour passes when a friend of mine calls and tells me that he saw an estate sale with an old Zenith round tube color set just moved out to the garage. Looked nice, and that the price was $10

So, hustled over and parted with a 10-spot. I took the legs off to move it around. Here she is......

[Kamakiri]

The only scratch on the whole set is the one on the front edge, like someone moving it in a house was pretty careless about how they did it

Ah well, at least it's in good hands now.....but am I gonna do with it?

Closeup of the knob arrangement

[Kamakiri]

Chassis is about the cleanest I've ever seen for a roundie

[Rob]

Tim,

I don't know my early Zeniths as well as the RCA's based on the literature I have but my best guess is this is a pretty early Zenith. Maybe 1962? Most of the other manufacturers just bought chassis from RCA, or built them under RCA license. Zenith made their own and they are completely different.

Good score!

Rob

[kc8adu]

post 64
note uhf tuner.
good score!

[Rob]

kc,

I agree that the UHF tuner is a good mid 1964 demarcation reference line but I see no UHF tuner. I have three mid 60's Zenith roundie color sets and all use a different tuner control setup, so I'm not familiar with this model.

Tim,

UHF or no?????

Rob

[captainmoody]

Check the date codes on the tubes, Sometimes you can get a date off the delay line or 3.58 crystal. My guess 1965, I had that exact model several years ago, The uhf tuner on that one is in with the vol and on off below the vhf knob.

[Kamakiri]

Yup, she's a got UHF. But, just because it has UHF doesn't necessarily give it a date. My CTC-5 has UHF......

I'll see what I can turn up.

[Rob]

Tim,

UHF was an option until mid 1964, then a government rule kicked in demanding all TV's, no matter how deluxe or bottom shelf had to have UHF. If you have a set that came from the factory with no UHF you can know for sure that it is definetely pre 1964-1/2.

Rob

[Eric H]

Good score Tim, so have you fired it up yet?
It as a circuit breaker doesn't it? go ahead, just plug it in!

But seriously, it looks like the CRT may have been replaced at some point? The face is lighter than it seems it should be and no cataracts, or were the Zeniths like this?

Eric

[captainmoody]

The tube had to have been replaced at some time, The Zenith tubes had the same delaminating problem from that era, Only not as severe as the RCA ones. I changed many of them in the late seventies and early eighties.

[jshorva65]

Great score, Tim!!!

That looks like a 26KC20 chassis (1964 model IIRC). I kept one of those sets alive for a neighbor of mine well into the 80's with an occasional tube or capacitor replacement. That set was good for one minor service call per year from '78 to '85. Finally, they got cable and his wife talked him into buying a digital-tuned, cable ready set that lasted him until 2001. That guy's 26KC20 ended up in my parents' basement in '86. I fixed it one last time and sold it for dorm-decorating cash just before moving to Kent State University for the next 2 years. I wish I'd kept it, but back then $100 for a 24-year-old tv sounded great when I needed the cash to buy stuff for impressing the coeds. Long story short, it got me a degree and a child.

BTW, could I borrow one of those white plastic convergence magnet holders to have some repro's made??

Tech tip on that set ... If you get symptoms of no raster, very dim and defocused setup line and hum in the sound, that's classic Zenith Roundie Syndrome. Check the B+ and you'll find it's about 150V instead of 330V. Replace the 160uF/250V doubler cap (most often it's open) and it should spring back to life. I was truly surprised at the number of Zenith roundies I've rescued from the roadside after some tech told the owner that the set wasn't worth fixing.

My personal Zenith Roundie history ... I spent most of my teenage years keeping these sets alive for family and friends. My grandparents owned 3 Zenith roundies (two 24MC32's and a 25NC33) and several of their tenants had 24NC31's, 24MC32's or 26KC20's in their mobile homes as late as 1988.

[Kamakiri]

Haven't fired it up, but I noticed that the little red circuit breaker is missing on the board, so it doesn't look like it'll do anything until I get one, or bypass it with a simple inline fuse. No biggie.

Sure John, I can let ya borrow what you need.....just let me know.

Now you guys have got me wanting to dive into this deeper.....hm, maybe I'll play around when I get home tonight and see what I can see

[jshorva65]

Haven't fired it up, but I noticed that the little red circuit breaker is missing on the board, so it doesn't look like it'll do anything until I get one, or bypass it with a simple inline fuse. No biggie.

That model may not have a little red circuit breaker IIRC. While several of Zenith's color chassis used a circuit breaker in the power transformer's 140VAC secondary circuit, other versions of the same chassis used a small plastic plug-in "Belfuse" unit instead. The schematics typically show both versions, with the circuit breaker in solid lines with an "x" across them and 3A fuse indicated by dashed lines. The Belfuse is usually located on top of the chassis between the power transformer and the "Y-Amp" tube. The Belfuse was a neat, brightly-colored thing that used the heating effect of the current through the fuse element to ignite a tiny explosive charge and literally blow it open in the event of an overload. The color of the fuse unit and its socket identified the rating of the fuse.

My memory wasn't perfect with regards to identifying the chassis from the photos. Further research indicates that it's probably a 24-tube chassis, perhaps a 24NC31. The back photo looks like the 24MC32 from the chassis layout and HV cage design. The front looks more like a 26KC20 from the black control door across the bottom edge of the cabinet instead of the 24MC32's characteristic small brushed aluminum door under the speaker. I seem to remember that the 24NC31 had the wide control door. HV cages of the 25NC33 and 26KC20 and other models were oriented differently. The upright cage with the 6BK4 located outside the main cage area in that separate shield box was common on the 24-tube chassis.

[rca2000]

I think that is a 24mc32, or 24nc31. i have owned both before. that would make it a '65 or '66, respectively.

the fuse holder is for a 2 amp belfuse, i think. you might still be able to find one from some collector.

i have a 29jc20 zenith color set, from '62, and the layout is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, AS IS THE 26KC20, from 1963.
both of those sets use a high voltage cage, that is black in color, and a seperate part of the chassis. in 1965. the 24mc32 deviated from that design, and from then on, the round chassis looked like that.