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Zenith 7S363 - Printable Version

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Re: Zenith 7S363 - Jbaker - 02-03-2012

Nice work. I wish I had the patients and talent to do cabinet work!

Re: Zenith 7S363 - LedHed - 02-14-2012

It's Alive!

A quick recap... It was eating 6x5 rectifier tubes. Thankfully I had a couple spares around. After a little investigation I found a capacitor I had not noticed (a 16uF electrolytic) concealed behind the original which was left in place and I assumed still attached. Someone had the polarity reversed, which would explain why the set had a bad 6x5 and was sold as "not working." With a replacement capacitor for that one plus the other electrolytic and paper caps, it fired right up! I installed the new eye tube and played with it for a few minutes before shutting down.

My next move is to install a power resistor to drop the input voltage from 123VAC at my outlet to about 105VAC.

Just a little work left on the cabinet, and then it's reassembly time!

Re: Zenith 7S363 - LedHed - 02-14-2012

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RE: Zenith 7S363 - murf - 12-26-2012

Hi guy's
I will be picking up 2 of these zeniths this weekend.
One has a decent finish, where the other needs re-finishing.
ANyone know if the multicored wood is done with veneer, or is it faux wood grain?
Probably need to replace that 6x5 tube with the 6x5gt?
I think that's the one that has caused problems with transformers in these?
Anyway, good luck with your restore, and let us know what problems you encounter.
These are very nice looking sets when restored.

RE: Zenith 7S363 - LedHed - 12-26-2012

That's great murf! They are all veneer with NO photofinish whatsoever. Mine has been complete and a daily listener for six or eight months.

I replaced the 6X5 with a 6x5gt and haven't had any issues thus far. My project list includes a solid state replacement for that tube, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

There were no real pitfalls as I went along. I replaced all the resistors including the 1 Meg in the eye tube socket just to avoid and issues. Nice open chassis with lots of room to work on. It's nothing too spectacular for reception, but it does OK, sounds pretty nice, and looks great in the living room. It is wife approved!

I didn't fill the grain as I should have, so I eliminated most of the problem by spraying a ton of lacquer and blocking it repeatedly. I also chose not to use much toner. I know it isn't "correct" but I think it looks better that way.

Here is a link to my photobucket page for that set. After about 8 coats of lacquer I masked off the trim and hand painted the black accents. Again, I don't know how close it is to correct, but I matched photos as much as I could and I think it turned out pretty nice.

http://s1267.beta.photobucket.com/user/Ledhedsymbols/library/1939%20Zenith%207S363

RE: Zenith 7S363 - murf - 12-26-2012

Wow, that's a beauty for sure.
Will post pics when mine are done.
murf

RE: Zenith 7S363 - LedHed - 12-26-2012

Oops, didn't realize I forgot to put a couple complete radio pics in photobucket after I got it all together...

Check again for those photos.

RE: Zenith 7S363 - murf - 12-26-2012

Great job.
Due to our long cold weather here it's hard to shoot lacquer here.
If it ain't too cold, it's to buggy.
Therefore I use antique furniture varnish and do 5 coats. Light sanding between coats.
Makes a more durable finish too.
Did you take any pics of the under chassis after re-capping it?
How was the wiring?
Seems like I have had to replace alot of wiring on the old zeniths and rca's.
Thanks for the pics.
murf

RE: Zenith 7S363 - LedHed - 12-26-2012

I didn't happen to take any pictures after the re-cap. Sorry about that... There were only two rubber covered wires in the set, which go up to the eye tube. The rest of the wiring was cloth insulated and in good condition. I used some shrink tubing where components were close together, but had plenty of clearance under the chassis for the most part. I installed a 50w power resistor in line to drop the line voltage to about 108V. I used #12 machine screws and nuts to attach it to the chassis. It operates without a hiccup for a couple hours or more most days.

I also needed to replace the tone hooks and the station preset hooks as well as the tone control tabs. I got them from Alan Jesperson's website. They were a bit of a bear to replace. After I removed the tone control assembly, I used a coping saw blade to saw along the phenolic slider and then used a small screwdriver to remove the rest of the hook shaped buttons. A dab of 10 min epoxy and the new ones were in place.

This is another source for them that are considerably cheaper. I have purchased knobs and rubber parts from this outfit, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.
http://renovatedradios.com/parts.html