Is there a such thing as a reliable tube color TV?

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Tubejunke

I wouldn't be afraid to power up a 76 model normally. And I wouldn't be surprised at all if it works fine as is. However, if you have a Variac or some other similar device, it never hurts to bring them up slow. A lot depends on how long it has been dormant.

Some of the 70's Zenith sets had special constant voltage transformer/motor run capacitor setups in side them and can NOT be brought up slowly on a variac. I don't know if any of the hybrids had that transformer, but SS Chromacolor II sets did. I think Zenith dropped hybrid color sets between 72' and '74.
Rule of thumb if your Zenith says CCII(Chromacolor II) or System 3 then it is SS, but if it is just Chromacolor or has no fancy second name then it is tube or hybrid. Zeniths from the 70's tend to be quite reliable...They usually don't die, and instead they develop annoying intermitents that make you wish they would die so you can properly troubleshoot them...