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Forget flat panels

Who needs 16:9 when you can have pi.

Hopefully someone rescues it. Prolly needs to be recapped and whatever burnt tubes and resistors replaced.
 
Wow that is nice, I love mine, it took five months to restore, but I treasure it now and I love to watch my old B&W shows on it...

tv2b.jpg
 
beautiful - but

These old babies have more than one TV-Techician notched on their belts. I wouldn't even dream of trying to fix it unless I knew exactly what I were doing - and even then would be extremely careful.
Definitely condensers, high voltage is out...
If I had the time, I'd buy it...but would only work on it following safety procedures *exactly*.
That turntable is a "Cobra" by the way - one of the first true automatics capable of playing various sizes and even shutting off after the last one.
At least it can use parts from later VMs...
 
Yes--the HV is dangerous-with some simple precautions it can be worked on.You will have to stay away from the HV connection on the picture tube and the HV rectifier section in the set.I used to work on TV's years ago-tube ones like the old Zenith-those were easier to work on than solid state sets.If you can get the schematics-or Sams Photofacts on the machine-it isn't too difficult.Now I work on very high powered SW broadcast transmitters-the caps in those store LETHAL voltages.Have to use the ground stick on those.Like the TV the transmitters have tubes in them and hard to get parts.We manage to keep 'em running.I did fix a "Cobramatic" TT in another Zenith Hi-Fi-needed an idler tire-the person who owned it liked slot cars--guess what made a good idler wheel for the TT-A racing slick slot car tire!! worked perfectly.Was a later model than the ones shown.The times I did get zapped by the picture tube HV I was thrown across the room-luckly the current there is very low-but voltage high.It could also be compared to getting zapped by a stun gun.The HV and current levels in transmitters I deal with are higher-esp the currents.You won't walk away from those.One xmitter here has one tech under its "belt"Am VERY careful with that box when working in it.Use the ground hook on EVERYTHING in it!!
 
Panthera.....

Hate to tell you this, but that was one of the most dreadful changers ever made! The cobra changer that you are looking at did not automatically shut off after the last record. By the way, that cobra changer was often referred to as the RUMBLE MATIC!....and are very difficult to service....and when they are running, they're not that great. Zenith finally let VM (and later, Webcor/Webster) make some changers for them. With all of the wonderful research that Zenith had, their record players were never that great. Magnavox always knocked them out of the water when it came to record players. Mark
 
If you take the time to study up on vintage electronics its perfectly safe to work on these wonderful old TV's. I've restored five of them now and use them to watch my favorite old TV shows on. I studied old tv repair books for a few months first and learned all the safety tricks.

Restoring this took about five months of work but it was so worth it. Here is a time-lapse picture of the progress I made with replacing all 60 capacitors in my blonde porthole Zenith...

zenith1.jpg
 
Finally An Improvement

As a child, the TV always had the back off, we were constantly taking tubes to the grocery store and testing them there, buying replacements as needed,
The TV took several minutes to warm up. It always rolled and required constant adjustment.
The UHF tuner was always in shades of near tuning and often had a screwdriver putting pressure on the tuner knob to hold it just right.
When a tube and adjustment wouldn't do it, we had to call Harry's TV and wait for the taciturn, cranky man to show up.
The advent of a color TV in our house in 1964 only made it worse. A Curtis Mathes for 1,200.
Today, I can buy a 27in Flat Screen Phillips for 179.00 My current Magnavox was purchased in 94 and it plays daily and perfectly. It tunes itself to perfection. It has never needed a repair. If it did, it would be thrown away and replaced.
It is almost impossible to find anyone who repairs TVs anymore.
Kelly
I truly lament the decline in quality and performance of most appliances, but the TV of today is a marvel of modern technologies.
Kelly
 
I wanted to add that the Cobra Cartridge used in the early cobra changers was great technology for the time. It works as sort of an FM modulator and record wear was quite low, again, for the time.

Also, these early changers have continuously variable speed.

I have one here that I rebuilt and it plays quite well.

Ken D.
 
Ken: glad someone is still making TT parts-great site and supplier.I replaced the tire in that one about 30 years ago,and the toy car tire was just the right size.The wheel in that CM was too far worn for cleaning-most of the time the alcohol cleaning does it-works on most of the broadcast TT's I fixed.Then--stations went to DD Technics TT's.These were harder to fix under "home remedies"One time a disc jockey spilled a Coke into a Technics TT-platter would jitter instead of turn-guess it would be good for those "scratch" sessions disc jocks loved to do-just keep LOTS of spare styli for that-and that poor "Coke" TT-took it apart and cleaned the circuit boards and motor-then let it dry for two weeks-put it back together and it was fine.The station wanted to get a new one.
Love the term "Rumble matic"one Broadcast TT QRK I called them "Rumblemasters" when they had worn or dirty idler wheels-that rumble or WF could trip AM transmitter OL relays in the modulator section.
 
Mark,

you are, of course right - I was thinking of the later ones. The cobras did have some interesting features, though. I just got confused. Haven't seen one in...32 years! Nobody - least of all me - contests that the Collaros were better built. But the cobra was an attempt at something better, and I think that is neat.

I am glad I'm not the only paranoid member here. Before our Meister would even let me into the repair shop back when I worked in used appliances, we had to go through the two-week electrical safety course every technician has to take. And that was just to be permitted to /enter/ the shop. (He was from Israel and had the best tea in the place, no offence, but German tea is as bad as the coffee is good.) So it was worth it.
 
Variable speed Cobramatic TT-the one I worked on years ago-the motor shaft was Horizontal instead of vertical under the platter.the idler wheel in the Cobra TT moved along the cone shaped motor shaft-thus giving you the variable speeds.I also worked on a Bogen TT(was part of a Bogen PA system)that worked the same way-the Bogen TT was not a changer.It was a manual single play TT.In both the Bogen and Cobra TT's the idler wheel was Vertical instead of horizontal like in other TT's.And in both of those-the idler wheel was wide instead of thin-looked like the racing slick slot car tire.I would have to agree-the Cobra TT's were sort of hokey-Other TT's were much better.
and at where I work we have to watch videos on electrical safety here-and another thing that is emphasized-the wearing of flash protection gear-the helmet with tinted visor to protect eyes and a suit to protect the skin from intense heat from the eletrical flash and for UV protection.Intense electrcal arcs can cause UV and heat burns to eyes and skin.We have to wear those items whenever we go into a transmitters transformer vault.-also would have to wear those suits when we work on the switchgear here.High powered electrical systems are VERY dangerous!
 
Robert:love the "Leave It To Beaver" scene on the pix tube screen in your set.Was watching episodes of LITB before going to work!Have both 1st season and 2nd season DVD box sets.Remember first watching these as a kid on a green screen Hoffman TV and later a BW Zenith "bucket" model Zenith table model set.The Zenith had a bucketlike metal cabinet-but that set was still working when my mother traded it in towards an RCA color set in the late 60's.Your Zenith would be an appropriate TV to wacth LITB on!
 

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