Zenith DTT901 - Page 57

Wow, 56 pages.... I don't know if anything on this had been mentioned but it would take me weeks to get through this thread.

I have 3 of these wonderful boxes, but don't get them in an environment below 65 degrees or they will become very cantankerous ... I have 3, & all behave the same & all from different manufacturing dates.

Upon turning them on, they will go on for a few seconds (blue LED), & go back off (red LED)... occasionally they will go on, then the LED will go purple for a fraction of a second then go dead, occasionally they just go dead with the power button applied (dead meaning no LED)... after unplugging then plugging in they come back, & sometimes will play the game all over again, eventually after a minute or 2 I can get them to stay on, & they will be ok for the duration I'm watching.

65 degrees seems to be the magic number here too, as my thremostat is right above it.

This started up as soon as the weather got cold at the end of '08 (naturally out of it's 90 day warranty) I called LG last year (hard to get someone that spoke good english on their tech support) & they were clueless & just suggested unplugging the box & holding the power button for a minute.... this never seemed to help.

Anyone else that has to chill their house when they are at work out of the necessity of high heating costs experiencing this problem too?

I don't remember reading anything in the thread about the problem you're having. Have you tried just leaving them powered on all the time, then lowering the room temp? If that worked it would be cheaper than running the furnace higher than you want while you're out of the house. Get them running above 65 degrees, then lower the thermostat. Then see if they act up after the room cools down. Also there's vents on the top, bottom, and sides-----you could selectively close off any or all, or part of, these vents, and maybe internal heat would keep it working. But you might also cook it.

Wow, that's poor design. As I recall they have a built-in power supply unlike many that use wall-warts. My Channel Master manual lists the spec as 32 to 140 deg F which is standard for indoor consumer electronics.

I would have to resort to a blow dryer start-up procedure since it only takes a minute or two. Covering it up with a towel or somesuch right after turning it off might work for a short period of time (beer run ).

I have let these on by accident (on occasion) & they seem to stay on when the temp is lowered (ie I may even leave it on to record off the VCR)... just when turned off & left idle for hours wih the house going cold.

I have tried that hair dryer trick a few times out of curiosity, a few times it seemed to work, a few times it didn't (although I'm unsure if I kept it on long enough those times).... usually easier to just play with it for a few minutes than dragging out a hair dryer. I usually keep the T-stat at 68-69 when home, though it stays a bit cooler upstairs & the boxes will have issues if it's 65 degrees or under.

These may be first runs on the DTT901 (May & June of '08, but like you said power supply issues, temps should be able to go much lower than this without problem.... & why all 3 & LG had no clue of what is happening?

Yeah my PC would not fire up at 47 degrees (had to vent tthe house for chemical fumes during a remodeling project once) & noticed my Sony TV (1995 31 inch model) takes longer to get a picture during the winter months too.

Might be a condensation issue.

The differences in temperature may not be that great, but it could be just enough to be causing some condensation. Hopefully the units permanently haven't been damaged.

Try covering the electronics with a cloth (like a terrycloth towel) when you're out and the heat is down, like Floydage said (that's what I used to do in an apartment I lived in when I had to do that).

That's what I thought as I suspect it's a turn-on problem. I've seen this kind of 'latch-up' on startup circuits the digital hardware guys designed (wasn't me, I was the RF guy - lol).

Good point on the condensation possibility, Ramm. I forgot to throw that in there after looking at the CM spec: Relative Humidity 10 to 90% noncondensing (I believe also standard for indoor consumer elctronics although CM looks to make commercial grade equipment). And that would be throughout the temp spec range.

Place never gets below 60 (usually @ 60 when I get home, & the furnace is running) & RH is @ about 20% (very dry.. in fact too dry) ... no issues with any fires keeping that towel over it? (LOL) I used to perform UL tests on industrial equipment (solid state drives, processors & such when I was back in my EE days... in much better economic times ) with cotton near the vents.

I usually don't turn on the TV until the room gets to the 65* mark, now I understand it must be a bit cooler near the floor or lower shelf where the 901 sits, & of course my upstairs is always a few degrees colder.

I normally have condensation issues with the CD player in the car during the winter months, and not to use it (miss them cassettes) ... but tonight strange being below 10 degrees it seemed to work (wasn't thinking & turned it on).

Yeah this takes only a couple minutes to correct this.. (more of an annoyance), but my other concern is why is this happening & will something eventually go out on this box... & again it always works in the summer months perfectly.

Unrelated (but similar) issue, during the colder months again the circuit on which my microwave is on (20 amp Square D Breaker) will sometimes trip during the cooler months. I thought this might be related to the furnace/heating circuit being on too but not the case. I've noted this will happen with the microwave being the only thing on this circuit, heating system needs not be on... but the box gets very cold inside from outside air, (& much colder than 60*) so I'm thinking this might be condensation related since you brought this up! ... again never happens in the summer unless it's an abnormally cold late summer night.

Yeah tonight it took about 4 trys the first I had to take power off the box to reset... since I have 3 doing this I'm surprised no other complaints(?)

I currently am an auditor in a class 2 electronics plant, I wonder of the issues of unsoldered but touching or insufficent joints that get past us cause, anyone know if these were manufactured in a class 1 or class 2 plant?

First off though I selected this Zenith/LG box as I thought it was durable, nicely laid out & logical remote, plus it outperformed the Silvania/Magnavox & GE boxes I had but returned (Pass through was terrible on the Sylvania & the Magnavox).

I'm very leery of the LG nameplate though, I am on my 4th LG Dehumidifier in 4 years (still under warranty, but not for much longer), plus my parents had a LG VCR/DVD combo that had issues early in life.... this makes me wonder now if their Insignia TV that they had so much trouble in the beginning with was an LG.

Other than keeping the converter on all the time, you might try replacing the electrolytic capacitors in the converter's power supply. The low end caps used in cheap consumer electronics are a common cause of flaky behavior.

I have a DTA901 that's been on since mid-2008 that's still working. (It feeds an old analog DVR, so stand by is not an option).

Possible but are they of all the same or close lots?
You could touch-up solder one as an experiment (lightly blowing hot air gun is fast but you better be good at it). I had a flaky tuner in a GE TV and that did the trick, Thomson stuff was notorious for poor solder joints.
The start-up problem I was referring to was a design issue; I believe improperly biased switching transistors.

I'd 'ice' one of these boxes down for ya and try it if I had one.
That's a little cool for most folks.

I haven't cracked the hood on any of these as of yet... often wondered why it has a standby mode anyway, what ever happened to on & off switches? My old Sylvania TV always had a faint hiss in the speaker even when off, I used to turn off the power tap as it got somewhat annoying.


2 from May '08, & one from June '08.

Freeze spray... sounds like a diode issue!

When I used to troubleshoot, I can across a few circuits where a couple of parts just plain would not work together (although out of the circuit or installed in another unit would work fine, just both on the threshold of tolerance limits. These boxes seem to be hard to find now & just not available at a store, & since I still have 4 older TV sets I really don't want to blow these up (at least just yet ), I think this CB program was a quick & temporary stopgap untill we all buy flatscreens!

I'm finding that Older electronics is better & more durable! My best TV is an old 19" Zenith (the one in the Old Spice Commercial Last year during football games... going back to 1985).. looks like new & has the best picture too! The tv that already has issues & will likely die first is my 2005 Phillips flat tube. No they don't build them like they used to.

Just wish it would warm up... sigh.

Nah - the place was normally pretty cold, and the stuff was on the top of the entertainment center out in the open, and it wasn't the kind of stuff that really got warm in the first place.

I also did it to keep the dust out. It's not like the towel was on there 24/7. I took it off when I was using it, which was probably the majority of time I was home and not asleep.

Turning off the power would require a switch capable of 110v, the way these things(and most modern electronics) are designed is the 110v is converted to a low voltage right away, then that low voltage is interrupted.
It means the power supply is operating all the time but it's safer to convert the high voltage to low as soon as possible. It's one of the reason modern electronics draw a small amount of power even when off.
AFA covering the venting holes, the Zenith(Insignia) boxes run very cool and I doubt they'd overheat. I wouldn't cover some of the other brand boxes which run warm to start out with but I think you'd be OK with these.

Hmm, I've used one of these for DXing (and some regular TV watching) out in an uninsulated shop for well over a year now, and I've never had a problem. I'm in Texas, so it doesn't get extremely cold here, but the Zenith has been out in 25* temps many nights.

BTW, Bismarck, I'm almost positive that the Best Buy Insignia TVs are in fact made by LG. At least, many of them used to be. (And for the record, I had a 2005 Philips 42" plasma that bit the dust a year and a half ago... Very frustrating...)

Those are pretty close together in date improving the odds of a mfg issue.

Yeah I experienced that part scenario during proto builds; very frustrating when I thought I had the design complete. Also made for some good ol' fun 'ribbing' fuel to be used by the mfg engineers.

Funny, I have a backup 19" RCA circa 1983. Had a problem picking up noise from some boxes though as the knob tuner was designed before heavy digital circuit use. Yeah me wonders how reliable these non-CRT TVs will be over the long-term.

Never crossed my mind thought in the past most electronics cut the 120 either by a relay or directly. A co-corker of mine has his house wired in low voltage & wanted me to trouble shoot some problems, now though the parts/relays are expensive if not impossible to find. Actually never seen this type of setup untill now.

Though I remember that they had what they called the 'instant on' circuitry in the early 70's some of those designs were deemed somewhat of a fire hazard from what I remember.

The Zeinth boxes don't really get all that warm at all, but considering they put these vents in by design they needed a cross ventalation & needed to be there. Must be some heat sinks in there that on the supply & such, gives the box some weight too.... as it was mentioned of the internal suppy I don't remember any vents on the other brands of boxes I tried out, all had the plastic cases & none had an internal supply either.

& no problems on start? I don't know if it;'s as much a storage in those temps, but on startup ... but think 60*-65* is not all that cold ... now I'm curious to refrigerate on of these boxes & see how it will react at an even colder temp.

I think they are on the 4th one (26" 2006 or '07 model), Best Buy told them it could be made by one of about a dozen manufactures (including LG) the first one they had was likely OK there was interference on analog 3 (all of them did this) that the old tube set was not picking up, Best buy suggested they return it, the second one died within a few weeks & the 3rd had a cracked LCD out of the box & put on quite a light show from what I was told.

Also still have a 1978 RCA 13" with very low milage that still works, mechanical tuner - used it for video games years back.

Leery of picking out one of these new LCD's (whenthe time comes) & I'm not one to get extended warrantys on anything.... the current sets I'm seeing (with that god awful 'piano black' finish) seem so cheaply made.

[quote=Bismarck440;19664998Also still have a 1978 RCA 13" with very low milage that still works, mechanical tuner - used it for video games years back.[/QUOTE]

Ah you beat me out.
I had a 19" RCA from somewhere in that timezone - was one of, if not, the first with a digital keypad tuner. I think it lasted about 15 years of heavy use.

Think I remember those direct entry models, nice sets for the time & extremely nice tuners for picking out good DX (Probably made in Indianaoplis too!) they degraded the tuners as everyone was drinking the Kool-Aid & subscribing to cable... no need for good OTA tuners anymore, a lot of shortcuts can be taken.

My RCA was manufactured in August of '78. My parents had a Magnavox Touch Tune (Built in Knoxville) from fall of '76 ('77 Model) only went about 10 years with very heavy use.... had an electronic tuner that was adjustable, yeah I also like the channel # display on the cabinet, was hoping for a converter box with a display.

Yep I remember the Indy stamp on it; that working backup RCA has it too. The tuner display was real cool at the time. But I remember my Dad thought the pic was 'breaking on noise' (he was an avionics tech but I was just entering college so it was new to me).

A friend back then had an old Zenith with mechanical tuner with a motor for remote control.

I think Thomson was the downfall of RCA (I bought two around '93 and they promptly broke although the one I resoldered the tuner is still working).

I'm on the lookout for a Sony 34" widescreen HD CRT:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FD_Trinitron/WEGA

Preferably the 960N or 960 (I heard that anti-glare coating hurts the pic quality so maybe why they eliminated it). The 970 is the last one out but that Super Fine Pitch tube has better resolution (I suspect that near the end cost became an issue vs the new technologies). The lower-numbered models may not have HD tuners and other features. With patience I think $100 or less (I missed a 970 for $50). These folks paid a small fortune for them not that long ago so they start off high but being the beast TVs that they are, no luck; and new TVs around that size aren't that expensive. Hard to beat CRT display speed/quality though.

My first TV (I inherated) was a 1961 GE 17" B/W (on it's last legs) ... had a remote jack for the mechanical wired remote... imagine it was motor driven


The downfall of quality was around the early 90's, but I guess it's who owns the nameplate too... I recently got rid of a 27" Sylvana console, great picture (black tube), though I could see the red was going (in a small sploch) near the bottom of the CRT... the Console was a 1993 model, & was purchased new in '95, was manufactured in Greenville Tennessee too, hard to imagine less than 20 years ago we actually made TV's in this country.... set was still working fine other than the sploch, I needed room to get the 32" Sony CRT out of storage.


But soo heavy, I had the Sony in storage for over 3 years & could not get it to my house for the lack of manpower... needed 3 to move it it as it was very front heavy, but true you can't beat the quality of these sets. The Sony seems to take several minutes now in the cold when I first turn on to get a picture... again no issues in warmer weather.

BOT, I'm not sure if it has been brought up in the prior 56 pages, but has anyone got an older universal remote to function with the DT901 or 900?

Wow that is old to have that function.

I remember my Dad always working on them old TVs and there was a tube tester at 7-11.

When I worked at Motorola a co-worker kept a Quasar going for fun (a little ironic being Mot). Works in a drawer, oh boy! At least the way I heard it that was our downfall - we designed problematic TVs to being easier to work on rather than having better quailty, which the Japs bought the designs and cured the quality issues and proceeded to kick our asses at our own game.

Actually had the owners manual, this was an option on the tv & the remote was very basic just an channel changer if I remember right... was watching movie recently that had this identical TV in it, but can't recall what the movie was.


Had an very small appliance repair store a walk to the corner, they had a tube tester, there there was al;ways Olsons, Layfaette & Radio Shack too... a few drug stores had them.

That 'works in a drawer' rings a bell now! That likely was the first wave of the modular sets..... suppose you can remember the TV repair man carrying the set off for a week or so when it was more than a simple tube swap, & since consoles were heavy... it made more sense to replace boards rather than carry in. We had a '65 Motorola Color with a black non glare picture tube (had a matte finish)... that set only lasted 11 years before the tube went, in it's first few years had light use, only on in evenings & for Saturday AM cartoons. This Motorola did not have the Quasar nameplate though.

I thinks after they refined Solid State these sets became bullet proof... almost too good & had to be cheapened up.... now throw away items that fill landfills.

BOT... covered the 901's vents with a towel, did not matter room temperature is room temperature.

One other quirk I noted this box to have is that the DST follows the old pre 2007 DST Dates, thus the DST auto setting doesn't follow the latest changes.... probably been discussed though. Did they correct this in later runs I wonder?

I don't think so; I bought my boxes late in the coupon game with a manufacture date of October 2008 and both have the DST problem. Otherwise they have been rock solid and I use both daily. Best TV picture I've ever seen over composite cable.

Yeah I had suggested that only for short breaks where it could keep its own heat in.

I kinda doubt any of these companies will provide much in the way of software updates, even on later runs, unless it was to resolve a major issue. Low profit-margin crud with no future sales they just want to get over with. I suspect the only hope is with Canadian version updates.

Yes it does seem to have the best PQ, only other thing it lacked (over the Funi) was the extended guide that sometimes went 6 hours ahead).


As long as these don't completely die, this is an annoyance for now, especially if I decide to turn it on, in the bedroom I sometimes have to get out of bed & play this reset game with the power cord.... for now they work great about 5 months out of the year at least. Much liked the hard power switch too over soft buttons that were on the Funi Models, ironic that the startup circuitry would be troublesome.

I was not expecting much support on this as being temporary fix for DTV, I just want to run my analog sets to the ground before I can justify buying a flat screen.

If I ever pick up a backup set or box, I may try to open em up & take a look at solder quality, or possibly put better caps in as suggested.

Might had got buried in a previous post, has anyone been able to use an older universal remote with this STB? Was possibly thinking someones Cable box code set may work.

I think the newer Universal remotes may be including STB's

The LG's can be controlled by some older remotes using an old, LG/DirecTV satellite box code.

Don't remember which remotes - you'd have to research way, way back here. I just remember that was the device the code was for.

There are other boxes which can also be controlled to some degree (at least on and off, channel up and down) - like the Channel Master, RCA and DTVPal (and maybe a couple of others).

I suspect this code may be too long for older U-remotes but the recent 3-device U-remote from Philips has a section specifically for these boxes and lists both the Zenith and Insignia as 1676; I picked it up about a month ago on sale at CVS and was free after ExtraBucks. If no good let me know how many digits and I'll look up my old U-remote manuals (any cable boxes of interest? I know the CM uses a Pioneer code).

You could always look into the used market now that these boxes are going cheap as folks are buying new TVs, then you could sell a Zenith or two to recoup your $. Some folks have a specific liking for them, I saw one or two ads like that on Craigslist. But believe it or not they're not the best PQ (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/e...es-ratings.htm) and of course they lack the extended EPG.

I never heard of a Funi and it isn't listed in the Wiki comparison site. What's the model number so I can look it up?

I've been looking locally to do the ol' buy/sell/recoup swap with my extra Zinwells. DTVPal or maybe an Apex 501. TRT would be sweet but that's a needle in a haystack.