I wish you lived near me. I have my first HF radio that I bought new (I had junky used rigs before) a Kenewed TS-690. The PA went bad and I reported it, but had a stroke almost two years ago and I can't put it back together. I wanted to change some electrolytic caps, and align it. Unfortunately, at this point I'm unable to do so. The radio is sitting on my workbench for 2 years I would really like to try to get back on the air.
I love your videos Peter. It is so good to have you back making videos on RU-vid! You attention to detail and explanation is wonderful. Thank you for sharing your expertise with all of us who love radio and working on radios. 73! de Nick K9XN
Much love for this nice rig. Still a good radio in a compact body, worth saving it. A good mobile radio and perfect for holiday use. Nice work and a good video for sure. Still have a pile of commercial Kenwood VHF and UHF radios here, up to 110W, beside my TS14oS, that is back in service. 73, all the best, Peter. Kenwood Deutschland ist ja QRP-Revier für Dich;-)
Great work as always Peter, looking good too!!! I am also a Kenwood fan...looking forward picking up the ts990s in a cpl months, anything I should watch for with that one?? 73 and stay well WD8JM
Great video Peter. I have a TS-50S in my collection and I went through it almost 20 years ago and replaced any suspect looking electrolytic capacitors. You so have to be careful buying any radio from 90s... it might have been well looked after in the shack, covered when not in use, but inside it is being eaten alive by leaking electrolyte. My original TS-50S fault was an AGC circuit that was slow to settle down after the radio was in TX mode. You can certainly smell the acidic electrolyte when you heat it with a soldering iron... good to see you using fume extraction. I have also repaired several TS-450S and TS-690S radios (similar vintage) that have failed and leaking conventional electrolytic capacitors. I also have an Icom IC-2350H that was doing strange things... I ordered and replaced ALL of the SMD electrolytic capacitors (just to be sure) and it started working like new again. VK5LN/VK5ZEA
If this was an early 2000s vintage radio, there was a case of industrial espionage that resulted int a LOT of bad caps flooding the market and could be the reason. I had lots of customer equipment fail during this time frame as a result. If not, please ignore this message.
Hello Peter, I have owned a TS 850s from new, I was worried the internal battery was going to leak, I opened up the radio and it looked fine. It still measured 3volts, I changed it anyway. I thought that it was amazing it still gave the same voltage as the new one after 30 years. Regards Mike G4VQH
It is always good to test batteries with LoZ feature to get a better picture. Normal DMM's have 10Mohm inner resistor which is no load for a batteries even it is old..
I don't think you need a meter to check that capacitor, it was well and truly shot. The S.M.D. capacitors appear to leak at the slightest opportunity they get. You just caught that one in time or it would have eaten all the tracks around it and maybe a bit more.
Excellent, totally professional. It has been a great help in the repair of one that I have in my workshop that has given me headaches. My respects and admiration for you. 73 from Dominican Republic.
Ser gut Peter. Very well done repair. Thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge with us! I just wish your subscriber count was much higher. Seems odd to me. Your videos are really good. 73 de kb7ici.
Thanks for video TRXlab.. >>What kind/brand gel-flux are you using, or recommend? (..up until now myself have used 'liquid' mildRosin/mra-flux, but can also see the benefit of having a gel-type. The liquid-type tend to float too wide around, and when touching up multiple joints in one go, all of it evaporates to quickly while touching only the first joint.) ..//Thanks gain for video TRXlab. Its very enjoyable and knowledge-increasing. //br, from norway.
After seeing this video i will do my kenwood ts-50 re cap it still works very well i just didn't realise it 30 years old. Better re cap it now better than sorry. Thanks for the video Peter 73. Darren
I was given a tm-255 that had similar issues. C23 on the display board blew it's load. Replacing it made the radio startup but display brightness was flickering and the analog inputs were wacky. Analog supply voltage was low and wavering. Turns out the via feeding ground to the pre-driver for the analog supply on the board was eaten away. I didn't repair the via but just tied ground to c23 low side with a piece of enameled wire. Works great now. Replaced all the polarized caps on the display board and the control board with ceramics just for good measure.
Great video again. Thank You so much for all the work you do. I have a 50S. I'm going to replace these caps an see if it goes back up to full output. It's not lacking much maby 15w. My most favorite is my 1 owner 680s. Im the 2ed owner an still have orginal bill of sale..Love to find a nice 690s to sit beside it. Tnx again. Nice job!!
Thanks for the video, very interesting! I used to have a TS-50 back in the 1993-94 and still missing it. This rig is still taking a high place in the portable/mobile class, since there is not so many non-QRP rigs in this market. I still have another rig, the TS-130S as an antique radio and not going to sell it. It still is in a pretty good working condition, but thanks for the info on Kenwood electrolytic caps, I think I gotta take a look under the hood of my '130 now! Good luck! 73! Linas LY2H
@@PhantomWoIf Sure, I have it. Installed in my Go-Box, it makes a fully autonomous quickly deployable 100W field unit with integrated battery pack and logging computer. 73! Linas LY2H
Great Peter you saved the owner a fortune as if had been going the way it was going the owner would have needed a new board goes to show what damage leaking caps can do as you say a nice old radio working again.
Good evening Peter. Well done again for this video! I didn't make a video but I did the same as you. Two years ago I bought a new ts-50. Knowing the esr of cms chemical caps, I changed them all. None had yet sunk! I put in very small normal non-SMD chemical capacities, the job is perfect. 73's SEB F5SSL
I've had a fair few TS-50's over the years , And they are great little rigs , They can be a real pain to work on , But when working are a very nice radio .... It would be great if Kenwood brought out the same model again but using modern parts , But keeping the style of the older rigs ... I really like the look of the older rigs , TS450, 870, 950, 850 etc ... I still have my TS-850 sat , What a great radio it still is , Even though it's old , It's still holds its own again more modern radios .... Gw0wvl 👍
After careful consideration I have come to the logical conclusion that Capacitors Suck. LOL. They are a necessary evil unfortunately. Good video as always. P.S. If time question. Is that what you might call a 'hot' running radio? The temps inside are rather high due to small size?
whoops this bad elco problem comes back over and over again in all kind of equipment. They go faster out my stock then I can get new😯 Thanks for take us with you in this repair.
Hallo Peter, ich habe ein KW Gerät bei dem die PLL nicht mehr einrastet, könntest Du es reparieren ? Schaltplan und Service Manuel ist komplett vorhanden...
hi peter great video again, thank you for making it and putting it online very much appreciated. Small question though what do you use to clean te pads with and how?
Excellent job as per usual Peter! Old electrolytic caps contain "The Devil's Juice" and account for so many faults in older equipment. Well spotted on the damaged via's, even with the aid of a microscope, not the easiest thing to spot!! Continued success Peter and stay well, 73 Brian
Hello Peter, hope you are keeping well... Nice video as always on ts 50. I have the same problems with my ts 50.when i'm tx on ssb the full output power fall down for a few seconds an then rising, so i suspect the capacitor.... After more then 20 years. Wath's your suggestios. Thanks in advance Peter
I see 'spares or repair' rigs on ebay and am suspicious that they are part of a number of boxes that are passed around (at enormous prices) to people who hack around inside it with a soldering iron and little knowledge before putting the covers on and selling it again for the same ridiculous price. In other words I do not want to touch any second hand rig especially at the enormouse prices asked at the moment. Am I being realistic or pessimistic?
I think this radio needed care 5 years ago to save it rather than drastic action by a superlative operation master to save. When first showing any symptoms would have been the time to fix it by normal techs.
pH of baking soda is ~9 & boric acid is ~6, so it might help neutralize the leakage. I understand some electrolytics use boric acid as part of the electrolyte. Just a thought.
Hi Did the TM 702e suffer from the same sort of problems do you know . I also have a TS 790e that i have just taken off air for a while i am taking a break from radio for a while selling some stuff storing some the Kenwoods i am keeping for sure.
Tantalum could work quite well. Careful though when installing them, they really don't like voltage spikes above their rated voltage and the stripes on tantalum capacitors typically are at the + side.
Very nice video Peter, TS-50, together with TS-450 and TS-850 (all Kenwood) have SMD capacitors leakage. Some time ago, I repaired a TS-50 with issue on TX-power; power went up and down suddenly, with no PWR controller. The problem was on ALC negative volt zone where there are some capacitors !!! All bad capacitors ! Thanks for sharing dear my friend, 73s de IW0HEX Pasquale.
One of my favourite TRX, still today. Replacing the Elkos is an known issue of Kenwood. But once it is done you can have fun on and on with your Kenwood TRX for another 20 years without dealing with these Problems. My Radio Doctor also installed a battery clip which makes the Replacement of the Backup Battery a whole lot easier for the User / Operator himself. Super beautiful job, Peter. I like what you doing. You are an real Tech Expert. Happy weekend and keep up good work. 73's
I like to remove the resist back from the via and bend the wire 90° to lay flat on the track away from the via hole. As sometimes the track to via ring goes open circuit as well. Also give the wire a better machenical joint.
I have a TS50 that I used in the mobile for a while until it quit working properly. It has been in storage for a while and I hope its not too far gone to get revived, some day.
Nice job Peter again. If it were my radio and I didn't know how old that lithium battery was I would have just replaced it anyway. I recently checked my lithium battery in my old HP 8591E Spectrum Analyzer from 1995 and it still read about 3 volts. I changed it anyway because I was in and it sure can't last much longer anyway. Thanks for the great videos, always good! 73s
Back in the days it happened to be industrial espionage for the electrolyte and a wrong formula has been used for the caps. All that should be solved today...
Schön, dir wieder zusehen zu können! Frage mich bei all' der nötigen Arbeit, wie es zu den Preisvorstellungen einiger Verkäufer auf den Kleinanzeigen kommt. Da kaufe ich mir abseits der Nostalgie doch eher nen Xiegu G90 und werfe den nach der Halbwertszeit weg. Genauso die alten 2/70 Schinken.
Danke Bernd!. Nun die Preise die in Kleinanzeigen und anderen Plattformen gezahlt werden sind nicht realistisch. Viele ältere Geräte müssen nachgearbeitet werden. Persönlich habe ich auch nichts gegen Produke aus China. Ich benutze ja auch Messtechnik aus China und bin froh das erschwingliche Preise für hohe Qualität am Markt sind. ABER: Ich mag keine Produkete unterstützen die keinerlei Dokumentation liefern und sich auch ABSOLUT GAR NICHT um Ersatzteilversorgung kümmern. Mir ist klar das dadurch die Preis steigen würden, aber für rundrum gute Produkte zahle ich gern etwas mehr. Hierzu wäre noch sehr viel zu sagen, lässt sich hier aber nicht abarbeiten...
@@TRXLab I realize that. Although our FCC says that you are making a common mistake, thinking RADIOS are mobile phones. They say "smartphone" is a misnomer, those are indeed radios. But more to the point, they all involve electronic components and circuit boards with crud on them. Or are discrete components so vulnerable? I am reminded of Kon Tiki after it broke apart, and the seawater soaked radio worked fine, after a fresh water bath and thorough drying.
