Zenith Transoceanic Y600

[funken]

Hi gang!
Have a question regarding my newly purchased Transoceanic.

This is my first time owning one of these units.

Okay here's the question. When I turn the set on the tubes do not light up and I cannot recieve shortwave. I can recieve Standard broadcast on one station. I'm using the telescoping antenna.

What is wrong or what am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

Funken

[Sandy G]

The 1.5 volt tubes in the T/Os won't light up. Could be the antenna connection in the set is broken.

[funken]

Hi Sandy!
Giving this set a closer look and examining the tubes I found that both IU4
Amplifire tubes are replaced with IT4s should this make a diffrance?

[Boobtubeman]

According to my tube sub book they should work

Ide rig a long wire outside and see if that doesnt help sw reception.

If not, have the 1l6 tested....

Steve

[funken]

Well guys now my set has no volume.
I'm wondering if this could be a tube or volume control issue.

I guess it's time to pull the chassi and run some test.

Funken

[Boobtubeman]

I think my dads 2 zeniths are suffering the same problems..

I need to re test the tubes and am planning re-cap jobs on both

Steve

[MarkM]

I recommend to try cleaning the row of bandswitches. T/Os are fairly notorious for having reception problems caused by them. Even if it's not the cause, I'm sure they would benefit from it. I doubt they would be causing the no volume issue though.

[MarkM]

I believe this set also has a selenium rectifier that should be replaced with a silicon power supply diode & a resistor if it hasn't been already. They really have a way of stinking up a room when they go bad & could be causing low B+ if it's still in circuit as their resistance increases as they age. Just be sure it has new power supply caps as a new diode would likely kill 50 year old caps.

[Bryantenn]

Funken, Before you dig in too far, I would hop over to Yahoo's forums and search for the trans oceanic fanatic group. These guys are serious about Zenith T/O's. All the advice here is good for starters, but you can get really detailed information as well as expert opinions about your problems there. I have two 600's and their input has helped me to rerstore these radios to nearly factory fresh condition.

The fact that your patient was "breathing" when you got it is very encouraging, and means that it fundementally is in working condition. Capacitors, as well as dirty contacts in the bandswitches,followed by selenium rectifiers are all common failure points. Tubes are actually one of the most reliable components in the set. I would pick up a schematic (available on many sites) and check in with the T/O group and then dive into your set. Good luck and enjoy!

Bryan in Tennessee

[Boobtubeman]

Yeah i dont speak "bumble bee" anyone got an underneath shot of the H500
chassis with a translation of the cap values?

Steve

[Bob E.]

Originally Posted by funken

Hi gang!
Have a question regarding my newly purchased Transoceanic.

This is my first time owning one of these units.

Okay here's the question. When I turn the set on the tubes do not light up and I cannot recieve shortwave. I can recieve Standard broadcast on one station. I'm using the telescoping antenna.

What is wrong or what am I doing wrong?

As was said elsewhere, the 1.5 volt tubes do not provide too much glow. If your set has the 50A1 ballast tube, you might see that filament glowing dull red...don't remember if the "Y" had that tube or not.

As for shortwave, did you try it at night? Lots better S/W reception after the sun goes down! Try using the wavemagnet for the broadcast bands, I think the telescoping whip antenna is the shortwave pickup. I was using a T/O before the sun came up at the last DeAnza electronics swap meet with a home-made battery pack, and I was picking up Sydney Australia loud and clear! When the sun came up, I couldn't receive anything useful.

--Bob