Why wasn't this Zenith roundie repairable?

[compucat]

From our perspective today as collectors and restorers, it is sad that what to us would be a simple and routine repair was not worth the bother to a tech or a customer back then. I do remember as a kid in the Seventies that after about five years most TVs needed frequent repairs and the prevailing wisdom was don't keep putting more money into it. The result was that a set that probably would have been good as new with an overhaul on par with what we do now rather than the patch-it-up for another six months type of repair designed to be profitable. Many of these old sets would have had longer service lives, stayed away from the landfills and more would be around today if they had a mini restoration every five to seven years or so. The disposable mentality was starting to take hold especially during the Eighties so repair was less of an attractive option or a first thought back then.

[Username1]

Originally Posted by compucat

From our perspective today as collectors and restorers, it is sad that what to us would be a simple and routine repair was not worth the bother to a tech or a customer back then. I do remember as a kid in the Seventies that after about five years most TVs needed frequent repairs and the prevailing wisdom was don't keep putting more money into it. The result was that a set that probably would have been good as new with an overhaul on par with what we do now rather than the patch-it-up for another six months type of repair designed to be profitable. Many of these old sets would have had longer service lives, stayed away from the landfills and more would be around today if they had a mini restoration every five to seven years or so. The disposable mentality was starting to take hold especially during the Eighties so repair was less of an attractive option or a first thought back then.

This is it right here..... The guy I worked for would try and talk people out of
repairs of tube sets saying he does not warranty work on tube sets because
of the higher frequency of repairs they would need..... Even on the same
items more than once..... He also would replace all the power tubes each
time they came in..... That usually was an extra $110. He would do the
work if they insisted, but the pricing was quite discouraging for people to
make return trips.... But we did not sell sets, so there was nothing gained
by him in encouraging new sets.... It may have been the right thing
to do.... The few tube sets we got were rca's and magnavoxes, and they
did come in once a year.....

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