Zenith D-513-F

[electra225]

This is the parts set I mentioned in another topic. It has a broken cabinet and, until today, it also had SMD. This thing would barely play in Missouri. IT had the traditional, tell-tale lightning crashing noise, typical of SMD. Today, I plugged it in for the first time in a few years, no Variac, no dim bulb, just fired it up without any caution whatsoever. I got the crashing noise for about an hour, then it played perfectly the rest of the day and is operating just fine as I type this. SMD doesn't fix itself. This radio has been dropped at some point, on the corner of the cabinet. I'm beginning to wonder if it had a bad connection someplace rather than having SMD. It is going to be a tough diagnosis while it operates correctly. I may have to run it until it starts acting up, then do more troubleshooting. I have pictures when I get them loaded onto the computer.

[TC Chris]

OK, I like Zeniths because they made a lot of good radios, but what really caught my eye is all your test instruments set up on that new bench in the background.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I am not a fan of Zenith. It seems every Zenith radio I bought that was older than WW2 had rotten wiring and green crud in all the transformers. Their multi-band oscillator coils are horror shows to troubleshoot and repair. The ones after the war are infested with SMD. IF you get one to work, then they work okay. I have better luck with almost any brand than I do with Zenith. I thought I had sold this one, but was horrified to learn I still owned it when I unpacked boxes. I plugged it in without taking precautions, hoping it would smoke. No such luck. I will have to give credit where it is due. The thing sounds amazing for a small radio, with its big speaker.

I have test equipment set on the bench. It may not stay like it is. Depends on how it all works when I actually start using it. But, it is out of boxes and that is a major victory.