IIRC all Zenith rectangles with high focus used a stick rect. Later
roundies also I think but it has been a loooong time.
I like sticks myself. No more reliable but easier to fix. Always hated doing
filament winding & sockets on tube jobs.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

I transfered the tire from a CTC15 flyback to the frame of a burned CTC16 flyback and kept the original pulse winding assembly. Worked fine, just need to remember the short plate cap lead when lifting the cage cover!

My only experience with a tube Zenith rectangular set was one we got from a friend, that started arcing badly one day. When you're 10 and that happens and you're alone, you don't think much beyond yanking the cord out of the wall...

ISTR peeking in the back and seeing a TALL HV box. Beyond that, I don't know what was in there...

When the HV rect winding arced out, I used to just cut away the winding and use, what they referred to as a "Solid Tube".
I assured the customer that it was less expensive to do it that way. :thmbsp:

Fly 277
 

There one on ebay right now. Wants $235.

How did you get the tire off? Does the core come apart in the middle? I don’t see how you can get the tire off the core

The RCA ones come apart quite easily. Straighten the one tab at the top of the frame above the stamped numbers and pull. Sometimes there are spacers between the 2 core pieces, have to be careful to put them back.

Question on using a new silicon diode for the focus rectifier vs original tube diodes. I like the idea of removing the heater current from the flyback, is there any concern around an increased focus voltage or the change in reverse resistance?

To further "lighten" the load on the flyback is there any reason not to use a silicon diode for the HV rectifier too? Note I understand there is a line to where you should just get a modern TV, but flyback transformers are getting hard to find.

I have also seen they use to make solid state devices that plug into the tube socket but I had thought I read they are prone too fail and it is just better to keep using a tube, not sure if that is because they were selenium, wrong ratings, or just 50+ years old.

You would get a higher voltage output going to a solid state doide, not much but the regulation would be tighter given the lower resistance. 1N4007's, are good for 1Kv each and the focus is about 3 to 5Kv, add another for good measure.
You could do the anode side as well with a long string of 4007's, the only issue is the 1N4000 series of diodes are not exactly fast, the 15.734Khz horizontal might be too high for them and a failure is almost guaranteed to burn up your flyback. Personally I'd stick with the original tubes, my Magnavox T940 runs a 3CN3 for the HV, 480ma heater which comes out to be just over 1.5 watts at 3 volts. It put up with 3 of us kids and never had a flyback issue, its still running with the same HV tube today.

These are good for 5KV. https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...BIClpyBQ%3D%3D

I use them all the time for boost and focus in color TV. I've even strung 5+ in series as an HV rectifier substitute.