problem with an Insignia brand TV

Hi!

Ouch. (Looks over to June 1983-manufactured Zenith table TV that's still working great...)

It is.

Checking the capacitors and similar components is worth a shot. You might find a bad one and that could be enough to restore the set to life. Anything else is likely to be difficult unless you've got a lot of time and a desire to reverse engineer the circuit. Just be careful...TV sets utilize high voltage and there may be parts inside that are directly connected to the AC line. High voltage is mostly painful, the line voltage can easily kill.

Even if you wanted to take this TV to a repair shop, I am not sure that they would fare any better. It is said that service information for these sets is simply not available. I doubt the ones returned under warranty are serviced...they probably just pick another one off the shelf and eventually toss the old one.

William

Yes your right these sets ARE made from failed quality parts from major manufacturers, what I mean is they fail quality test by the major brands and are almost functional. I have NEVER seen one with a decent pix in my shop. If I'm right htis is a prety black cased monster. the problem you are having is caused by the digital board. part are available from prima of canada...But good luck getting them , and when you do the pix quality is so bad you think why did i bother put it back in the rubish PLEASE

Yes. The returns wind up on eBay - sold "As is where is".

My 1979 Zenith 25" is also working great - it's in daily use.

T o d d P a t t i s t wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

still

Ah, Zenith. "The quality goes in before the name goes on."

NOT ANY MORE on the Zeniths there made by LG lucky Goldstar and are CRAP

So is my 1972 Zenith. 25CC50 Chassis. An interesting mix of technologies in that one: One plug-in module with an IC on it, a handful of transistors in sockets on the hard-wired chassis, and 15 vacuum tubes. It was my parents' first color set, been in daily use since Nov. '71, except was stored for a year around 1995 when they replaced it and was waiting to be delivered to me. Other than badly needing a new CRT when I got it, it's never needed any other major repairs, and I never had any trouble getting tubes or other parts for it.

Mike WB2MEP

"Mike WB2MEP" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@i12g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

It's 34 years old! Have you replaced a lot of the tubes? Transistors? Capacitors? (How many times have you replaced the filter caps in the power supply?)

You are right! During the warrenty period, the customer is given a new set. The old ones are put to the crusher. They are absolutely not feasible to pay skilled technical staff and supply the parts to service them.

--

JANA _____

Ouch. (Looks over to June 1983-manufactured Zenith table TV that's still working great...)

It is.

Checking the capacitors and similar components is worth a shot. You might find a bad one and that could be enough to restore the set to life. Anything else is likely to be difficult unless you've got a lot of time and a desire to reverse engineer the circuit. Just be careful...TV sets utilize high voltage and there may be parts inside that are directly connected to the AC line. High voltage is mostly painful, the line voltage can easily kill.

Even if you wanted to take this TV to a repair shop, I am not sure that they would fare any better. It is said that service information for these sets is simply not available. I doubt the ones returned under warranty are serviced...they probably just pick another one off the shelf and eventually toss the old one.

William

On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:24:16 -0800, Mike WB2MEP Has Frothed:

I remember those, very interesting mix of components and reliable as hell.

All the tubes were gone by '79 - except the picture tube, and we're still running the original on that. Mine hasn't been totally trouble free - we had a bad cap (leaky and sound would decay away within 10 minutes, so you had to bump it up with the remote) and we lost a transistor in the vertical drive sometime in the 80's Then last year one of the pots on the blue drive circuitry needed to be replaced. The remote is ultrasound and still works perfectly - real switches, not the rubber membrane things that die after a few years. The only part we don't use is the rotating barrel tuner - we feed it with a TiVo and leave it on channel 3.

Hi!

Wow...I didn't know that comment was going to generate so many similar replies!

I actually found that TV on the curb, sitting face down and waiting for the garbage truck. It replaced a much newer Magnavox TV that still worked well but had no buttons in the front panel as they'd all fallen out.

It has only required one cleaning so far. Some kitchen grease got into the tuner and made the TV act rather strangely.

William

Yes, I've replaced most of the tubes, some more than once. During the 1st 12 years my parents owned the set, it never needed more than tube replaced every couple of years. I had a tube tester, so whenever I was in it I tested all the tubes and repalced any that tested bad. The set has a removable plate on the bottom, so you can access the Rs & Cs under the chassis just by turning the set on end and removing a few screws. I ESR test all the electrolytic caps any time I go into the chassis bottom, most of the power supply 'lytics have been replaced. It uses those multi-section cans, with 3 or 4 caps in each can. I replace bad sections with regular electrolytics mounted under the chassis. None of the transistors have been replaced, but I have had some problems caused by bad resistors. It was a very reliable set for its first 20 years or so, but like an old car, it's starting to show its age.

There is quite a group of guys on the audiokarma.org website into restoring vintage TVs. My set would be considered "new" by their standards. They have 3 separate discussion forums on vintage TV. You don't have to sign up just to read the forums. That's what got me interested in keeping this set running as long as possible.

Mike WB2MEP