Zenith Remote Control

[VA561]

Took remote apart to inspect and clean. Pictures are before I used contact cleaner to carefully clean any gunk out. Inside looked surprisingly clean. After cleaning it still does the same thing. I noticed inside the remote section there looks to be a possible sensitivity adjustment? Have noticed when I hit the channel higher button, I hear nothing in the remote section as I do with all of the other buttons. Volume/on-off button makes a sound in the remote section like the rest of the good buttons but does nothing.

[Findm-Keepm]

Agree on the cleanliness - spotless! Be careful with any adjustments - I'd follow the alignment procedure for the remote chassis - do you have a Zenith manual for the remote chassis? Sams is awful with their alignment procedures for remote chassis (at least for RCA and Magnavox...).

If that is indeed a sensitivity control - be careful - too sensitive and some features will quit working, as the gain is increased to the point of saturating the amp, and causing the control pulses to widen. Also, too much sensitivity can cause it to respond to other sounds - keys jingling on a key chain, the phone, etc.

Cheers,

[VA561]

Don't have the zenith manual for the remote chassis. You would think that if it was a sensitivity issue that none of the buttons would work or all would work.

[reeferman]

and want to see if the remote is working, get out your key chain and shake vigorously in front of the set. If the tuner or any control moves, you can bet the rest of the functions work. At least that was the way it was in the 60's when we serviced the things. Great way to change the channels at home if the remote isn't handy.

[VA561]

Tried the key jiggling method. Nothing.

[VA561]

I tried to use the remote about an hour ago and nothing. No buttons worked. Tried it again a few minutes ago and the same buttons that worked before worked again. Why would it stop working all of a sudden and then start working again? Sams wants an additional $22 for the remote chassis photofact, 705-4A.

[EdKozk2]

Originally Posted by VA561

I tried to use the remote about an hour ago and nothing. No buttons worked. Tried it again a few minutes ago and the same buttons that worked before worked again. Why would it stop working all of a sudden and then start working again? Sams wants an additional $22 for the remote chassis photofact, 705-4A.

PM me your email if you need a copy of 705-4a. It's four pages.
Ed

[drh4683]

This isn't the same chancellor set that Captainmoody had it is? If so, it was mine before Dwight got it.

Fine tuning issues is one or two things. This era of Zenith used an "O-ring" as a drive belt for the fine tuner. Typically, the original O-ring breaks due to age. A simple hardware store replacement works just fine. The 2nd issue is that the fine tuning gear that's attached to the shaft (inside the tuner) that is driven by the O-ring belt develops a small hairline crack and the gear spins on the shaft, thus not enabling fine tuning. It's a splined shaft that the gear is pressed over. It doesn't actually need to be replaced, but rather, remove the fine tuning gear, find the hairline crack alone the gear tooth (typically easy to find), add a drop of super glue in the crack and spin the shaft to spread the glue until the gear adheres to the shaft and you're good to go.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Findm-Keepm

If that is indeed a sensitivity control - be careful - too sensitive and some features will quit working, as the gain is increased to the point of saturating the amp, and causing the control pulses to widen. Also, too much sensitivity can cause it to respond to other sounds - keys jingling on a key chain, the phone, etc.

Cheers,

No kidding. That reminds me of what happened in the storage room with my Sanyo. I don't recall exactly what I was doing but it caused a pile of remotes to take a spill, and boom, the TV came on. I checked the remotes I knew I had tried batteries in, none had any.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Jon A.

No kidding. That reminds me of what happened in the storage room with my Sanyo. I don't recall exactly what I was doing but it caused a pile of remotes to take a spill, and boom, the TV came on. I checked the remotes I knew I had tried batteries in, none had any.

Response to randomly generated ultrasonic tones is the nature of the beast....My SC600 Avanti comes on by it's self any time I vacuum in the room it is in.

[drh4683]

Glad to hear the set found a good home! I found that set at an estate sale in a very large stately old home in the wealthy suburb of Hinsdale, IL back on 9-21-2013. Here's a photo I took of the set when I found it at the sale, still in the living room. The water rings on top were always there. That model and also the "Emperor" which was it's rectangular screen counterpart are the heaviest combos I too have ever moved. The original owner, Mr. John Webber was an accountant if I remember right. His wife Dorothy still seems to be with us at age 96. From what I recall, she moved to assisted living when they had the estate sale. They had another Zenith combo in the basement, a '67 model, but it was badly water damaged from the floods we had in the Chicago area during an April 2013 rainstorm that dropped 7" of water in less than 8 hours. Anyone who lived here had some form of water in their basements during that event. It was terrible.

DSC02916 by drh4683, on Flickr

[VA561]

Thanks Doug. Its really nice to know the history of a tv. You've given me a lot of good technical advice also. Much appreciated. The set will be well taken care of. I was just watching an Ed Sullivan color show with the original commercials. It looked really good on this set. As you already know, these vintage sets are a work in progress. Just trying to preserve a little tv history.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

Response to randomly generated ultrasonic tones is the nature of the beast....My SC600 Avanti comes on by it's self any time I vacuum in the room it is in.

Yup and they can be defiant buggers too. Triggering them deliberately without a remote is very hard in my experience.

I should vacuum that room soon... perhaps I will pull the Sanyo's main power switch beforehand to see if anything happens. I vacuum the main room fairly often - I have to as I frequently make a mess working on stuff - but my Heathkit GR-2000 is never powered on by the sound.