Pulled an old Zenith TV apart last week and got a surprise

I took in a 1970s Zenith console from a customer in Oak Park last week, just needed a new power supply cap. But when I opened it up, someone had replaced the original flyback transformer with one from a completely different model, wired it in with speaker wire and electrical tape. That thing must have been running like that for decades without anything catching fire. Has anyone else run into a backyard repair job that made you shake your head?

2 comments

2 Comments

faith_perez4d ago

Didn't Angela Parker share a story about finding a washing machine motor being used as a fan inside an old stereo once? I swear I read that somewhere and it gave me the same kind of 'how is this thing still alive' feeling.

angela_park4d ago

Wow, that's impressively sketchy (and lucky it didn't burn down the house).