Stay away from??

[TVTim]

Okay. I've read posts about various brands that say, that was from the such and such era.

For brands like RCA/Zenith/Panasonic/SONY, which years or models are the ones to completely avoid.

I'm looking 1975 to 2000.

Any input is GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you!!

[zeno]

Avoid Zeniths after apx 1992 & "digital" processed sets
(marked Digital System 3 )
Avoid most Sonys apx 1974-1977 12" 17" 19" & 21"
Avoid RCA TX81, TX82, TX825 chassis
Panasonics are safe.
As a rule the easiest to deal with are solid state sets up to
the late 80's. Tube & hybrid sets tend to have multiple
problems.

73 Zeno

[radiotvnut]

I'd also avoid Mitsubishi's from the late-'80's on up. Ones from that era used not so great electrolytic capacitors that will literally leak electrolyte all over the PC board and eat the traces off the board. The last Mitsubishi I took in for repair was an early '90's 27" set that had no less than 25 capacitors that were bad in some way (many were leaking electrolyte). The customer didn't want to spend much on the set and I ended up junking it. The older Mitsubishi's up until the mid-'80's were great TV's and the CRT's usually hold up well in them.

Definitely agree on the Zenith's from the 90's. I worked for a hotel company that bought 100's of them over a six month period about 94 and I spent the next couple of years hauling dozens of them to the local Zenith dealer (who literally stayed in business doing warranty work). Not all the tv's went bad, but I swear every remote did. I learned they had bad solder joints and I would take home a sack full at a time and fix them myself to save us some money on them.

A couple of other things to avoid on any brand set from that time period. First, a practice called tiering started with the makers around the late 80's. The low tier was the cheapest quality and sold at Walmart and Sams. Stores like Best Buy and HH Gregg got mostly middle tier and some top tier. Specialty stores and the few old dealers left got top tier. If there's anyway you can find out where it was sold, avoid the Walmart versions.

Second, a number of stores specialize in "Factory Serviced" sets. These were sets returned from other stores with problems and sent to a reconditioning facility, which supposedly repaired them like new. I know from personal and business experience that they were a real crap shoot and often wern't worth buying. They usually had a sticker on the back saying "Reconditioned" or many of them had a "R" heat stamped into the plastic backs.

[Robb]

GOOD INFO.
I generally only collect smaller table top sets from 1970-1985-ish.
Any other sets from this time period to stay away from ?

[radiotvnut]

I recall many Panasonic/Quasar sets from the '80's with bad flyback transformers. I recall the TLF14423F flyback that was used in 25" Panasonic/Quasar and some GE sets that were built by Matsushita. The reason I remember that number is because I had to change out the flyback on most every one of those sets I got. Those Panasonic TV's from that era were also common to have weak CRT's and bad soldering. There was another Panasonic chassis that was used in some '83-'84 13" and 17" GE branded TV's (BC chassis) that were common flyback blowers. Also, the cheap brands from the '80's (Samsung, Goldstar, Emerson) were known to lose their flyback transformers. I recall those '80's Emerson TV's (13" and 19") that had the chassis mounted sideways in the cabinet and I was replacing flyback transformers in those when they were only a few years old. Even some Sony's from the '80's and '90's liked to eat flyback transformers.

OTOH, except for the RCA flyback fiasco of the early '80's, I don't recall RCA sets from the '80's and early '90's eating flyback transformers. The 13" and 19" NAP (Magnavox, Sylvania, and Philco) sets from that era also seem to be reliable.

There was one Sylvania chassis (also found in Magnavox and Philco) from the early '80's that had a problem with failing flybacks. The chassis was E31 for the 13", E32 for the 19", and E34 for the 25" sets. I own a 19" E32 that had a bad flyback when I got it and I managed to find a used flyback to go in it; but, I'm a little nervous about the used flyback failing.

[TVTim]

Wow, am I glad that I asked this question.

Lots of great stuff here. I will definitely be copy/pasting all this into a Word doc for safe keeping.

Thank you everyone.

[davet753]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I'd also avoid Mitsubishi's from the late-'80's on up. Ones from that era used not so great electrolytic capacitors that will literally leak electrolyte all over the PC board and eat the traces off the board. The last Mitsubishi I took in for repair was an early '90's 27" set that had no less than 25 capacitors that were bad in some way (many were leaking electrolyte). The customer didn't want to spend much on the set and I ended up junking it. The older Mitsubishi's up until the mid-'80's were great TV's and the CRT's usually hold up well in them.

You are so right. I had forgotten how bad the Mitsubishi sets were. I remember their projection TV's were the only brand that we refused to service.

While likely in the minority, I never liked working on Sony stuff. Their parts were not easily obtained (unless you were an authorized Sony shop) and the only thing higher than their retail selling price was their parts prices.

[TVTim]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I own a 19" E32 that had a bad flyback when I got it and I managed to find a used flyback to go in it; but, I'm a little nervous about the used flyback failing.

You did a youtube on this set, didn't you? I had a Magnavox that looked just like it. Donated them in 2000 when I moved to Pennsylvania. It was a decent set and I would love find another one of them.

Selling the the Sylvania??

[radiotvnut]

Yes, I did two videos on that set.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by zeno

Avoid most Sonys apx 1974-1977 12" 17" 19" & 21"

If you do not mind my asking, what is worse about this era of Sony color sets compared to earlier and later ones? I remember working on an absolute dog 12" color Sony set about 1983-84, but I think it was an earlier one (1970-72).

[DavGoodlin]

Egrand- thanks for the reminder about which stores got the good sets. That was going on with the RCAs, GEs and Zeniths sold at discount stores in PA as well. We knew without asking if it was a dealer set somehow.
The dealer I worked at in the early 80s sold alot of GE as their "cheap sets". The one knob tuner sets were not so good and neither were many of the late 70s YC, YM, though all were easy to fix they didnt stay that way.
I do remember the griplet sets (AA, AB, AC) as being very reliable ONCE you fed about 10 feet of solder into the griplets.

I didn't have much fun with Sharp and Sanyo sets of that period.

[davet753]

In the early 90's, Zenith and RCA both turned out models specifically for certain stores, but the only difference was often the model number. For example, Circuit City used to advertise a Zenith 19" portable for $199 retail that wholesaled to us dealers for $229. The only difference between the two was the model numbers, and theirs didn't include a remote control. The sets were exactly the same inside, theirs even had the remote sensor so you could actually get a universal remote and use it.

Zenith also limited the sales of certain lines to some stores. They had a "Sound By Bose" line that they only sold to certain "top tier" dealers. The local distributor got to select a hand-full of dealers in their area that could sell that line.

[TVTim]

this gets better and better.

Thank you everyone.

Still love the Sylvania - Radiotvphononut.

[zeno]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

If you do not mind my asking, what is worse about this era of Sony color sets compared to earlier and later ones? I remember working on an absolute dog 12" color Sony set about 1983-84, but I think it was an earlier one (1970-72).

The first Sony colors were not bad. The only thing odd
about them was they used separate HV & H sweep stages.
They switched to an SCR the SG613 abt '74 & they were
dogs to deal with. I did time at Sony service in '76 IIRC.
Even they couldnt reliably fix them. Most of them got the
whole H/V/HV board replaced along with the power supply parts
damaged. The customer would get a bill for a hand full of
small parts. No shop in my area would touch one, it meant 2
50 mile round trips to Boston if you had a dead one.
After that they switched to a conventional hoz design &
for the most part became as easy to fix as most sets.

73 Zeno