1950s or '60s vintage Zenith TVs, Need some info

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

I have seen factory non-remote power tuning Zenith's a few times before and they do work without the remote chassis. Based on what I have seen of the SC600 combo set I own I believe the tuner motor can operate without the remote chassis (as long as you connect it to a source of 120VAC). I'm planning to try it out soon without the SC chassis to test the motor.

You may want to decide the letter suffixes on the model number. My 1959 Zenith wasn't optioned with a remote, but the cabinet and chassis had provisions for one such that I could add one easily.
IIRC in 59 they had a U model suffix for the cabinet and an R suffix for remote. (There would also have been a suffix for non-remote power tuning). Note I may not be remembering the exact letter used to designate the option.
Basically the model number for example cabinet with base options of manual VHF only tuning would be something like B2506 (B being the year) and if you liked the cabinet but wanted it with UHF and remote you would order a model B2506UR. Some TV only sets also offered "HI-FI sound" which was a set of tone controls...IIRC those also had a suffix.

OK, that makes more sense explained that way, I'm familiar with Zenith products but mostly their tube radios and record players, and their later Solid State TVs and their VCRs (which were rebadged JVC and Goldstar VCRs) but I'm not as familiar with their TVs from the 1950s and 1960s and how they worked and how they were or weren't equipped.

My bigger Zenith TV, the Model number is L2717U3 and the Chassis is 15L22 (at least according to the back cover).

So According to your explanation the "U" Suffix meant "UHF" so the what did the "3" Suffix after the "U" suffix refer to?

Also you said the the Letter Prefix at the beginning of the model number referred to the year the TV was made, so then what year does the letter "L" represent? Also My TV does have a tone control on the front of the cabinet in the "pencil box" compartment does that make it a "hi-fi" model or does it have to have both a bass and treble controls for that and not just a single tone control pot?

Also can the yoke still work properly without the plastic cover over it and without the centering ring?

I'm asking because the plastic cover that goes over the yoke on the big Zenith had more or less crumbled in several spots resulting in the centering ring falling off.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

OK, that makes more sense explained that way, I'm familiar with Zenith products but mostly their tube radios and record players, and their later Solid State TVs and their VCRs (which were rebadged JVC and Goldstar VCRs) but I'm not as familiar with their TVs from the 1950s and 1960s and how they worked and how they were or weren't equipped.

My bigger Zenith TV, the Model number is L2717U3 and the Chassis is 15L22 (at least according to the back cover).

So According to your explanation the "U" Suffix meant "UHF" so the what did the "3" Suffix after the "U" suffix refer to?

Also you said the the Letter Prefix at the beginning of the model number referred to the year the TV was made, so then what year does the letter "L" represent? Also My TV does have a tone control on the front of the cabinet in the "pencil box" compartment does that make it a "hi-fi" model or does it have to have both a bass and treble controls for that and not just a single tone control pot?

Also can the yoke still work properly without the plastic cover over it and without the centering ring?

I'm asking because the plastic cover that goes over the yoke on the big Zenith had more or less crumbled in several spots resulting in the centering ring falling off.

L would have been the 1964 model year introduced in late 1963 (like car model years are).

The option code leters I don't actually remember which letter goes with which option. My 1959 Zenith had notation on the tube chart that made it obvious what letter was used for UHF and what was used for remote sets, but it's been over a decade since I looked at it and that set is covered in a mountain of junk presently.

The High Fidelity sets always had bass and treble knobs, sets without that option often had a single tone control.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

L would have been the 1964 model year introduced in late 1963 (like car model years are).

The option code leters I don't actually remember which letter goes with which option. My 1959 Zenith had notation on the tube chart that made it obvious what letter was used for UHF and what was used for remote sets, but it's been over a decade since I looked at it and that set is covered in a mountain of junk presently.

The High Fidelity sets always had bass and treble knobs, sets without that option often had a single tone control.

Ok, thanks, I apologize for all these questions I'm trying to familiarize myself with how these old Zenith's work because while my dad's side of the family (specifically his grandparents) were big into Zenith products and thus my dad was as well I'm more familiar with the more modern Zenith sets from the 1980s and 1990s and the Zenith Radios from the 1930s-1960s, but this is my first time working on Zenith TVs from the 1950s and 1960s.

Aside from the old Meck and RCA TVs I've worked on and resurrected successfully I don't have as much experience with Vacuum Tube based TVs as I do Solid State TVs.

[vortalexfan]

OK, so I know that in the early days of FM Stereo Multiplex that often times manufacturers, like Zenith, Magnavox, Motorola etc. would design a radio that was "FM Stereo Compatible" meaning that it had a provision on the radio for an FM Stereo Multiplex Adaptor to be installed by a factory trained serviceman if one so choose to do so later on (specifically the old console stereos from the late 1950s and early 1960s).

I was wondering if that was also the case with the remote controlled TVs from that time period, that they made the TVs with a remote control sub-chassis installed from the factory if one chose to do so (the same was done with FM Stereo Multiplex early on) but then one could also get a TV that was "remote control capable" where the TV was provisioned from the factory so that a remote control sub-chassis could be installed later on by a factory trained serviceman?

If so I wonder if that was the case with my TV?

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

OK, so I know that in the early days of FM Stereo Multiplex that often times manufacturers, like Zenith, Magnavox, Motorola etc. would design a radio that was "FM Stereo Compatible" meaning that it had a provision on the radio for an FM Stereo Multiplex Adaptor to be installed by a factory trained serviceman if one so choose to do so later on (specifically the old console stereos from the late 1950s and early 1960s).

I was wondering if that was also the case with the remote controlled TVs from that time period, that they made the TVs with a remote control sub-chassis installed from the factory if one chose to do so (the same was done with FM Stereo Multiplex early on) but then one could also get a TV that was "remote control capable" where the TV was provisioned from the factory so that a remote control sub-chassis could be installed later on by a factory trained serviceman?

If so I wonder if that was the case with my TV?

I haven't heard of aftermarket remote on Zenith sets (it certainly was possible on some models).
Packard Bell on the other hand did not build a single set with factory remote (despite most of their TVs being remote ready) instead the remote was a dealer installed option...I believe they kept the interface standard for several years so you could ask for remote from new or save up for it after you've enjoyed your TV for some time.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

I haven't heard of aftermarket remote on Zenith sets (it certainly was possible on some models).
Packard Bell on the other hand did not build a single set with factory remote (despite most of their TVs being remote ready) instead the remote was a dealer installed option...I believe they kept the interface standard for several years so you could ask for remote from new or save up for it after you've enjoyed your TV for some time.

OK, I was just wondering.

The good news is that the Zenith Bugeye TV should be a pretty simple resurrection/restoration, because its mostly ceramic disc caps I only counted 13 paper caps in the whole set, and the good news is that it seems like the main filter cap is still good yet (possibly a later replacement) but the rest of the electrolytic cans are either shorted or open according to my ESR meter, (one's a 3 section and one is a 4 section) which means that the hum I was hearing through the speaker may have been from one of the other electrolytic cans that had failed, in fact I might possibly be able to get the set to "work" ("resurrected" to borrow Shango's terms) by just replacing the failed electrolytic cans with new individual electrolytics.

[Notimetolooz]

I wouldn't put much stock in what Shango says.
He is an outlier as far as I'm concerned.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

OK, I was just wondering.

The good news is that the Zenith Bugeye TV should be a pretty simple resurrection/restoration, because its mostly ceramic disc caps I only counted 13 paper caps in the whole set, and the good news is that it seems like the main filter cap is still good yet (possibly a later replacement) but the rest of the electrolytic cans are either shorted or open according to my ESR meter, (one's a 3 section and one is a 4 section) which means that the hum I was hearing through the speaker may have been from one of the other electrolytic cans that had failed, in fact I might possibly be able to get the set to "work" ("resurrected" to borrow Shango's terms) by just replacing the failed electrolytic cans with new individual electrolytics.

I hope you are counting Bumble Bee caps and those tubular white ceramic bodied Elmenco caps as paper caps because they are paper dielectric and despite looks are just as prone to failure.

Also Shango himself on many of his 'resurection' videos comments to the effect of "this is just to see it run. If you plan to use it you want to change all these caps."

When you loose a power transformer, flyback, etc doing a quick resurrection you'll learn that's not the way to go.
I'll do a resurrection when I want to confirm key unobtainium works, but as soon as I know it works I progress into a full recap... Atleast if I plan to use something or sell it as working.