Guess what I found in my dumpster 12-3-24

[YY1]

Looks like a TV service kit for repair techs.

Has some Zenith brand, individually packaged IC's and transistors.
Also a tester with an interesting interface on the back, possibly to test various legs of those IC's.
...and a reference booklet listing models by "first built" date from 1972 to 1984.

 

[WileE]

Ok. Now come on over and fix my TV.

 

[YY1]

That era Zenith's were modular.

The easiest TV to service.

I've worked on a few back in the early 90's at the 1000 room resort I worked at that still had 1970's TVs in most rooms.

WAY easier to identify the circuits on a rudimentary card (and then swap the card to test) than follow the traces and try to identify components on other models and desolder/solder discrete components.

I'm sure it cost more to manufacture, though.

That's about as far as I got in that field.

 

[WileE]

Fine. Now when you coming over ? I'll watch.

 

[WileE]

I'll be on the lookout for your truck.

 

[YY1]

My best friend is a former Navy avionics tech (A-4 Skyhawks) and repairs TV's and radios from the 40's as one of his hobbies.

I know enough to sniff for smoke, and look for burns, bloating components, and bad solder joints.

 

[WileE]

So, what you're saying is, you'd be qualified to diagnose this ?

 

[YY1]

I'm pretty good at "miniature" mechanical stuff like...

I fixed a "silverface" Realistic CD player that had broken sled screw bosses.
I believe they were 00-72 screws but the towers they went into were gone.
I had some semi-tapping screws the right size and length to place the sled the correct distance away as if the towers were there.

Silverface CD players are somewhat rare, as most component audio was "blackface" when CD market share matured.

 

[Don Frelier]

 

[Bob Lynch]

I was my Dad's remote control back then !!
"Son, go change the channel"

 

[3sloppydogs]

The quality goes in before the name goes on

 

[eldubb440]

 

[3sloppydogs]

I have the remote control manual for a zenith TV hanging from from shop TV

 

[Budnicks]

Sometimes dumpster diving pays off a lil'

 

[YY1]

Sometimes dumpster diving pays off a lil'

I could write a book.

 

[YY1]

A search for "guess what I found in my dumpster" should yield quite a few interesting anecdotes, most with photos.

 

[Detective D]

I'm pretty good at "miniature" mechanical stuff like...

I fixed a "silverface" Realistic CD player that had broken sled screw bosses.
I believe they were 00-72 screws but the towers they went into were gone.
I had some semi-tapping screws the right size and length to place the sled the correct distance away as if the towers were there.

Silverface CD players are somewhat rare, as most component audio was "blackface" when CD market share matured.

I have a small collection of CD players.
The first couple generations and then going into the 90's, CD players had to have their own DAC built in so it actually mattered what brand you bought and how it was assembled.
Nowdays all the stuff is digital anyway, and if you actually need a DAC it is built into the main receiver unit.
I STRONGLY prefer 90's and older audio stuff, including CD players. I am not some audiophile 30 grand stereo type, I don;t even subscribe to the "vinyl is best" club. But I like physical media and a lot of older music was recorded to be played on era-correct devices, and many times were not edited to be recorded onto a CD from an older source. So the DAC is very important then.

 

[MarPar]

The quality goes in before the name goes on

I actually have 2 functioning Zeniths. One is a small one from the 80's and one from the 90's. The 90's one is a big screen rear projector. My old man worked at the Rauland plant on North Ave and 25th St in Melrose Park in the early 80's.

 

[Scott Engelhardt]

I was my Dad's remote control back then !!
"Son, go change the channel"

Since your up, grab me a beer

 

[YY1]

My last CRT TV was a 27" Zenith Stereo.

I gave that to my mom when I bought a 55" rear projection set.

That 27 outlasted the projection unit by over 10 years.

I was kind of a Sony A/V guy so when Zenith bit the dust I switched to Sony TV's for a while.

For decades I've been threatening to go front projection but could never stomach the nearly 10x cost.

When I started my current job, they had a big pile of inop Epson projectors in 2 different models.

I got more than enough of them working to fill their needs and avoid buying any new, so I saved a pile of parts for myself and pieced another one together.

I broke out an 80 inch screen I...wait for it...found in my dumpster about 10 years ago and hung on to.

It's been going for almost 8 years.

I now have plans to move it to the ceiling.