How do you hook up the leads of the O'scope to the components? do you hook them to the RCA jacks or do you use the probe to test the different areas of the boards? Thank you
Amazing lesson! I did buy a pioneer sx626 with the right channel cutting in and out.....looked around inside and found a leaking capacitor on the power amp board. 44 cents and a little solder and now it works fine. Its hard to believe 1 small thing can cause a big problem
BTW, my first attempt at a restoration project was a few years ago, I decided to do some work on a Marantz receiver (2235 I think ?). NOT a good project to start with, as you suggest in the video. It was a complete disaster. I took the faceplate off and sprayed Deoxit into all the switches and pots. They all seemed to be moving much better, so I put the faceplate back on and started up the amp. It seemed to be running well. About an hour later I smell smoke in my house. I look over at the Marantz and there is smoke pouring out of it. I'm not talking about a few wisps of smoke, I'm talking about a Kurt Russell "Backdraft" type situation. I was considering calling the fire department ! I shut off the amp and let it cool. The transformer was so hot it took 8 hours to cool to room temperature. After that The Marantz didn't run at all and I didn't feel like I had the skills to attempt fixing it. I sold it as a non working fire damaged unit and still got $150 for it. Do you have any idea what could have caused such a catastrophic incident ? Also ... as an aside, while there was smoke pouring out of the Marantz it still sounded great !
Oh Man.....That's crazy. I've had some issues but not to that level. It's amazing that it was still operating. As to what caused it? I really don't know but an arching power switch could of caught it on fire. You should not spray a power switch with deoxit. I'm not sure if you did that or not. As you just used deoxit before your fire I'm trying to tie that to your fire.
@@vintageaudioaddict Ah ok, I think I did spray Deoxit into the power switch. So I guess I won't be doing that again. If that's the case I am really surprised a fuse didn't blow before the amp caught on fire.
@@vintageaudioaddict I'm confused by these "sprays" i.e. conductivity. I screwed up a receiver with an electronics cleaner from Radio Shack. I cleaned switches thinking there was nothing to be concerned about since it was "for electronics" - after turning the receiver on, it burned out. I took it to a repair shop. The guy immediately said "It smells like WD-40". On the spot, I couldn't explain all that I presummed; I just said that it was me. Yes, it shorted something out. So now, I don't let cleaner get all over everywhere and shoot the areas with air. I'm still a bit wary of what to do.
When you spray deoxit or any other type of electronic cleaner let the receiver sit for awhile to let the liquid evaporate and then power up the receiver.Cheers
Thank you for the tips and tricks .. the more the better for use that are just getting into repairing a piece or three, for the hobby and enjoyment of it !
Watching this video convinces me I got no business troubleshooting audio gear. I have a reliable restoration guy that has serviced my components for some years now. All my stuff excluding CD player is pre-1985 and original purchase by me. Competently repair/restoring audio gear ain't no joke. Vintage audio can save lotsa dough on great sound but as always, caveat emptor.
Great video! Regarding the experience you need to get I totally agree! At the moment I'm working on some vintage equipment from the early 90's, some of them are (hopefully!) going to be a part of a vintage "back to the 90's" christmas present (it all started with "I want to make a mix tape for her like we did in the old days"). I'm working on it for months, slowly. I wanted to take my time with it, to do proper research whenever I discover new problems, to get all the necessary repair tools and replacement parts. Luckily I also bought not only the recorder I want to give as a present, but also a smaller one for myself from the same brand and time period (+/- a few years). I liked that small recorder, because I had this one as a child and the sound was, for what it is, great. I cleaned it up, fixed issues with the volume and other knobs, changed the belts, adjusted the speed of the motor with a test cassette and a simple sound analyzer app on my smartphone (there're great apps for free that work pretty well through the internal microphone! But you need to check several apps! with my phone one app was off by 1-2 Hz while the other worked perfectly). But then somehow I destroyed the cassette mechanism anyway... probably because the grease in the mechanism got washed out somehow by my wrongly handling cleaning lubricants. The mechanism got stuck, I stupidly used force (NEVER use force on mechanics in audio equipment! N E V E R ! ! !) to push a cassette inside and the cassette got stuck. Play was possible, but the stop mechanism didn't pull the head out of the cassette anymore. I couldn't even push the stop button down anymore. I somehow managed to take it apart again to hopefully find the bent metal parts, but no luke. I've no clue how to take the cassette mechanism apart without damaging it further and the service manual for that recorder, a Panasonic RX FS-430, is not very helpful for me either on this problem so far... I can take the mechanism out, but not apart. I will most likely end up buying the same recorder again, if I can find it, and start all over again: cleaning, knobs, replacing the belts, adjusting the speed of the motor. The lesson I learned the hard way: NEVER use any strong force on delicate mechanism!
Update: In the end I actually managed to take the cassette mechanism apart. I carefully took it apart piece by piece, taking pictures of every little step so, by watching the pictures in reversed order, I could put it back together after I found and fixed the problem(s). It is strangely satisfactory to see and hear it working again the way it did almost 30 years ago.
I really like the way your going with your tech vids. I watched the first restoration vids you put out but thought they were missing more first hand work and less voice overlay, but I came to appreciate your plan. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I’ve restored several pieces and they all turned out ok. Wish I could have had these lessons first.
Thank you so much for your kind words. As you can see from my videos I'm not a public speaker or a video recording expert. I'm just trying to put together information that I hope people will find helpful or interesting. Feedback like your's helps me going forward. Thanks again.
Thanks! Old Radio Shack manager from the eighteen getting a hankering for some high quality stereo equipment of that vintage. Man is it expensive now! Thought I'd brush up and improve my repair skills, but better start slow. I'll be checking out the rest of your videos and thank you very much for thseds great tips!
Newbie here. Is a frequency generator the same as a signal generator? I have a nice frequency generator I bought it to heal a broken bone that would not heal. Don’t laugh: it worked. I’m an electrician so the only thing I don’t have is an oscilloscope. Just picked up a capacitor tester and transistor and diode tester. This channel is great. I’m watching this a second time. There’s so much great info here and it’s presented so nicely.
Thanks so much for your kind words and for watching. Yes, a frequency generator is the same as a signal generator. As long as the device can generate audio equipment frequencies you should be good to go.
Excellent documentary photos. In my first bigger fix attempt on a cas. deck, I used a signal generator from my smartphone app and bought a hand-held type o-scope (just for observation of presence of signals). It did work. I did "fix" the deck although the "thorough" troubleshooting was wrong (I replaced the Dolby chip after seeing signal in and no signal out) - it actually seems to have been a oxidized trimmer pot (I still don't know how the Dolby chip measured the way it did). It remains a "hack" fix since a test tape and calibration procedures are at the next level - at least it plays now.
Thank you very much for your kind words. Good job getting deck going! Like everything in life experience is the key. Now your ready to tackle a new project.
Thanks for some great videos. Just came across this channel a few weeks ago. I have a JVC AX500 with a bad right channel that I need to take a look at. these videos are boosting my confidence to get in there and give it a go.
This is incredibly helpful for me. I am "decent" with electronics. Not an engineer but I've built many hobbyist systems. Wanted to get more into audio equipment repair and this is the best introduction to it I could find anywhere. Thank you!!!
Really enjoy your videos, I am currently learning electronics and understanding how all the components work together. I have learned valuable information from your channel. Keep up the good work!
Thank you very much for your kind words and for watching the video's. It's a lot about experience so dig in there and you will find much of it is not that difficult.
excellent video. You have touched on an issue that I am having with my Sony SQD 2020 4 channel decoder. It takes its main input from my Sony STR 7035. The decoder randomly drops out the front left output. I originally suspected the reciever was the problem because I could snap the selector out from and back to fm radio and occassionally the signal would return. Finally with a little process of elimination, connected my reel to reel into the decoders own 2 channel input, the issue remains. Do you think it may be a capacitor problem? I bought this system, complete with a TA 1055 integrated amp for the rear channels in the mid 70s. And kept it all these years.
I will say learn basic electronics. Vintage books are plentiful and stupidly cheap on Ebay. Going in and blindly recapping a unit instead of diagnosing through probing and common sense rarely solves problems. Case in point I had a friend blindly recap a small Realistic STA-15 receiver he had found at a thrift shop (low end unit but like you said, that's how we learn) with no sound. Turns out that an output transistor was shorted. No amount of changing capacitors will ever fix that problem. Again, troubleshoot!
Instead of buying expensive equipment and buying a white coat use simple logic, swap the phono cables, if distortion switches to the other speaker then replacing phono RCA cables could fix the problem. if still bad check the connections of speaker cables at amp end and speaker end, take them OUT and check there are enough strands for a good connection, refit carefully, if still bad check the speakers, the easiest way is to switch phono cables if it is still the same speaker distorting/ dropping out then its the speaker !!! if no good check the amp, again switch LEFT RIGHT CABLES if say both connectors are distorted on one channel of the amp and the other amp connection gives good sounds from both cable connectors then its the amp !!!! then and ONLY THEN buy expensive equipment and a white coat or take it to a repair shop !! on mine it was simply poor speaker wire connectors.
Your welcome and thank you for watching. I've listed below some other videos that you may like. Troubleshooting Failures In Vintage Audio Equipment - Vintage Stereo Repair - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-N3e9C4mUui0.html Phono Repair And Troublesome Transistors - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lkcP1z-KcPA.html Hakko 808 Desoldering Tool A Must Have - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NtSn_HPT-sE.html Hazards Of Reel To Reel Tape Deck Repair - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KvXwN5igzDg.html No Audio In Vintage Equipment - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pKqxlT9sgZY.html Troubleshooting In Vintage Equipment - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xk5gjq5ehK0.html Reforming Speakers - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ttbgeDagRus.html Checking DC Offset On Vintage Amplifiers - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZvBoxhpa-v8.html Replace Old Electrolytic Capacitors - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RaWrYJ6amcA.html
Excellent video maybe if you can make a video of all the capacitors and parts list from Mouser that is the most common that you have in stock that you use because i have many vintage audio equipment that i have to get to maybe it could help other people that are ordering parts.
Hi there. May I ask a probably very sily question? Why would you expect a dc voltage very close to 0 from you speaker output sockets? Please forgive the ignorance, I am new to all of this and trying to understand how things work without any electronics knowledge! Looking forward to your reply. All the best
Loved the video very informative. I am very new at this just starting out want to work on my own equipment because here where I live in central Arkansas it's getting harder and harder to find anyone that wants to work on this stuff and the people I do find tell me I've got a six or eight month waiting. That's a long time. So I want to buy a few pieces of equipment work on it myself I need to know the type of tools I need to work on this most importantly I would like to find out from you what type of oscilloscope I need should I buy a new one can I get a decent used one what do I do and how much can I expect to have to pay for one that's decent. Thank you very much.
Fantastic information. Perhaps you've given the info elsewhere, but I have two questions regarding amplifier repair (I need to repair a NAD3080). To get the consistent signal from the function generator, do you apply eg 500hz to Aux or Phono? And at what voltage? My Tech TE22 Audio gen doesn't go below about 100mV (with lots of noise). And do you have to put a load on the spkr outputs when doing the faultfinding?
Do you use other test equipments that you use besides the variac, Tektronix 465B, Siglent signal generator and Sound Technology audio analyzer? Thanks!
@@vintageaudioaddict I have a Dynaco 410 amp. Should I use a Variac to power it up? If so, what voltage stages? I know folks use then on the Dynaco Stereo 70 tube amp (one of my other projects) Thanks!
Just got a Kenwood AM/FM radio for free. Seemed to work fine, but I'm noticing that after 15-20 minutes the signal starts to cut out then dies off completely for all channels. Any idea on where to start? Is there a part that could be heating up too much and shutting everything down after it can't take it anymore?
Hi V A A I have a pioneer VSX-9300 receiver that keeps turning off and turning back on while I have the on button on.What could be the problem ? Thanks.
Can you help me please i have a vintage Yugoslavian record player with germanium amplifier. And when i plugged it one channel made a loud buzzing noise. I pulled out the amp and started testing on my bench power supply. On my power supply it doesn't buzz like crazy but that channel is distorted and quiet and sometimes starts to make some sort of oscillating noise. I replaced the capacitors and it did not help. There is no diagram available.
Could you do a video on how to connect a O'scope and signal generator to a piece of gear so we can get an idea on how those pieces of test equipment are used?Thank you. Awesome channel!
Ive developed this incredible urge "want" to learn how to work on audio stuff. I've slowly gotten better over the last year but I feel like ive hit my ceiling in terms of what I can teach myself via videos like this and simply digging around on sites like audio karma. I flip audio gear and have built a respectable rwputation as the go to guy in my home town for good vintage working gear. Im able to repair about 60% of stuff I squire and I set the rest aside for "later". But my get to it when I figure it out "later" shelf is getting outta hand. I cant read schematics and I dont have a scope or generator but want to obtain all. Do you have any suggestions for me regarding any how to books or sites I may use to learn more? I have a pioneer SC 850 and a sc550 I really want to get up and running The 850 power indicator is on and I hear the relay click but no sound from speakers. The 550 does nothing. I think the 550 needs a new cap on the power board. There's 2 caps for left and right that are slightly bigger and next to them is 1 single cap i assume is thr culprit. Would I change all 3 to solve this? Or just the 1 solo power supply cap?
I'm worried my vintage Marantz receiver has been damaged. A friend decided to "help me" by hooking up my home stereo for me while I was not looking. He had it powered up when he connected the CD player which was also powered up. There was a horrid POP from the speakers and ever since then, the receivers volume output has been LESS THAN HALF of what it was before. Is it the receiver or are the speakers more likely to have been damaged?
So that you can prevent damage to the unit in case there is excessive current being drawn by it. You monitor the current being drawn as you increase the voltage so you do not risk a "smoke test"
@@vintageaudioaddict I've read several articles about the use of varivacs with vacuum tube vintage gear, slowing raising the voltage and your comment about watching the current draw. Over a period of several hours (which has been described by an audio store in N.CA specializing in vintage gear) to reform the electrolytic caps and same time so the tubes are not blown hit by full line voltage, on a 1st start up.
eBay is the largest site for vintage gear but google "vintage audio for sale" and you will find a lot of sites large and small that may have the equipment you are looking for.
I have a Sony TA-F60 with the right channel issue : the voltage at the C of Q213 and Q214 is always -8,0V, so the protection relay do not work. I turn the RT201 to maximum but it can not reach 0V. All orther voltages are ok. Could you please advice me some solutions? Sorry for my bad English Thank you in advance. TuTrong from Viet Nam. I have the service manual of TA-F60. If you need I will send you via email.