Should i bother restoring a zenith?

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by DaveWM

try moving the HV filament leads around. The insulation may be breaking down on them, and they run right next to the cage.

I turned the lights off to look at the source of the corona arc and all I could see was a blue glow inside of the rectifier tube. I don't recollect rectifiers glowing blue inside. I was thinking that they are normally dark. But I don't spend a lot of time looking. Anyway, I was just looking through the slots in the bottom of the H.V. cage since I have the set on its side.

Hope I can get it to stop. It's not an actual arc or loud snap, but more like a hiss which is still an arc of some sort, just not the really bad kind.

[old_coot88]

Do you smell any ozone from the HV area?

[Phil Nelson]

Maybe you have already done this, but I always clean the inside of the HV cage -- and everything inside it -- with isopropyl alcohol. Great for removing any grease or black soot. Even if it doesn't magically cure your hiss, it might make it easier to see what's going on.

Phil Nelson

[kramden66]

Good job , now like stated make sure everything is clean including the pins in the tube sockets , also post when you start tackling the color issue.
btw the glow inside my rectifier is blue/green in color.
mike

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by kramden66

also post when you start tackling the color issue. mike

Just a side note, I have had my eye on a certain notorious for failing "bumblebee" capacitor for a swap out just for general purpose. But before doing that I wanted to see what circuit that it involved. Turns out that it is a .01 600V cap (C117) that looks to be in parallel with what looks like 3 grids maybe inside the c.r.t.

So, I'm missing color but I don't think that this is the cap that would be one that would take it out leaving behind a good black and white picture. I probably still should get rid of the cap just based on the failure rate. I guess right now I am in the stage of repairing the set as opposed to just jumping in there and replacing every cap with no regard for actual troubleshooting. But even when I get it right I do plan on replacing most of the caps. I may keep the multi section cans as I have found them to be pretty darned tough.

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by old_coot88

Do you smell any ozone from the HV area?

No, can't say that I smell anything. Just hear the hiss and see the blue glow inside of the rectifier, and of course the resultant interference on the screen. I only mention the blue glow inside of the rectifier because I expected to see something when I turned out the lights, but that is all that I saw.

Perhaps it just wasn't in a viewable area. I have had a number of sets through the years to have sharp solder joints or whatnot causing arching, not a hiss, but actual arching. Seems like a long time ago I had an old color set like this that was doing this and it was just moisture around the H.V. lead to the C.R.T. Perhaps I should check that just to be sure. They are in close proximity, so maybe I mistook the sound's origin.

[Phil Nelson]

If you have a length of flexible plastic tubing, you can use it as a sort of stethoscope to track down the source of the noise. Sometimes it's surprisingly difficult to pinpoint a noise source.

Phil Nelson

[marty59]

A HV Rectifier tube that is glowing blue is getting gassy. 3AT2's are cheap and hopefully you have some spares to compare. Gassy rectifiers will take out flybacks!

[old_coot88]

If the HV rectifier is gassy it will run hot. See if it feels inordinately hot (after you discharge CRT of course).

[kramden66]

oops on my end I was referring to the 6BK4