Sometime ago I bought an old Sansui Au-D5, very cheap. First thing I noticed was the smell coming from the amp. It was so bad that I had to put it outdoors because it was impossible to live with that.
I thought … maybe, if I let it turned on outdoors for a week the smell goes out …
Wrong thought … the smell went on, but not so strong.
Maybe some days in the sun could help … wrong idea, after a week, all open … the smell is still present.
What about give it a month of air exposure (open) and then connect it … no results!
With a brush and 2 liters of alcohol I washed every pcb and left it "on" for 4 days now. 😱
Well, the smell is still present. And I cannot identify the origin of it. Is it a part? A capacitor? The protective lacquer of the pcb?
Problem is … the sound is good. It’s a good amplifier, so, anybody has a hint on how to deal with this. I would like to keep it…
Thanks
I thought … maybe, if I let it turned on outdoors for a week the smell goes out …
Wrong thought … the smell went on, but not so strong.
Maybe some days in the sun could help … wrong idea, after a week, all open … the smell is still present.
What about give it a month of air exposure (open) and then connect it … no results!
With a brush and 2 liters of alcohol I washed every pcb and left it "on" for 4 days now. 😱
Well, the smell is still present. And I cannot identify the origin of it. Is it a part? A capacitor? The protective lacquer of the pcb?
Problem is … the sound is good. It’s a good amplifier, so, anybody has a hint on how to deal with this. I would like to keep it…
Thanks
Can you describe the smell? Cat ****? Solvents?
Edit: What, the word **** gets censored? That ****es me off! 😛
Well, I guess the worst part of censorship is ****
Edit: What, the word **** gets censored? That ****es me off! 😛
Well, I guess the worst part of censorship is ****
Last edited:
I very much doubt that it's any PCB laquer. It could be the smell of hot leaking electrolyte from an electrolytic capacitor, though i'd have thought you'd notice the leaking on the PCB.
Here's a suggestion (might appear mad but you might narrow it down), take the amp outside with the lid off & power it up. Block one nostril & with a plastic straw to your other nostril take an olfactory trip around the amp until it smells at it's worst. You should be able to get pretty close to finding the trouble before wretching
Here's a suggestion (might appear mad but you might narrow it down), take the amp outside with the lid off & power it up. Block one nostril & with a plastic straw to your other nostril take an olfactory trip around the amp until it smells at it's worst. You should be able to get pretty close to finding the trouble before wretching
I would use a vac set on high exhaust blowing air through the unit. It's probably animal excreta of some kind - we get mostly roaches in our part of the world, and that stuff stinks to high heaven.
Other possibilities are lizard eggs, cat urine, spider intestines (or their victims'), and solid waste from rats or other rodents.
It is usually lodged in the space between capacitors and the PCB, or in the tiny holes left by component legs not fitting completely into the PCB mounting holes. Terribly messy and practically impossible to clean, though a mixture of high pressure air, alcohol and a hot air gun should be able to remove the most offensive odours.
Good Luck!
Other possibilities are lizard eggs, cat urine, spider intestines (or their victims'), and solid waste from rats or other rodents.
It is usually lodged in the space between capacitors and the PCB, or in the tiny holes left by component legs not fitting completely into the PCB mounting holes. Terribly messy and practically impossible to clean, though a mixture of high pressure air, alcohol and a hot air gun should be able to remove the most offensive odours.
Good Luck!
It could be the phenolic Pcb wich were used extensively
in these amps and were sometime built using inadequate
chemical processes..
I had an amp using such a Pcb, and it s true it smell horrible.
There s nothing to do about it, it will last until the Pcb has
completely evaporated !!
in these amps and were sometime built using inadequate
chemical processes..
I had an amp using such a Pcb, and it s true it smell horrible.
There s nothing to do about it, it will last until the Pcb has
completely evaporated !!
You could also look for the hot thing. Something might be burning up. If it keeps stinking for that long there must be a Lot of stink left to go. Anyone with some experience might be able to tell exactly what it is by the smell, so if you know a tech, give them a call. If it takes a long time for the stink to get going maybe it's coming from a component with a large thermal mass, like the power transformer. You could have a shorted turn, or an oscillating amplifier. The possibilities are almost limitless. It could be as simple as a bad connection. Visual and temperature inspection could probably nail it.
Hi.
I've had this problem too.....
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/everything-else/98356-help-smelly-circuit-board.html
I sold the amp at an open air sale !!!!!
Andy
.
I've had this problem too.....
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/everything-else/98356-help-smelly-circuit-board.html
I sold the amp at an open air sale !!!!!
Andy
.
Thanks guys
Believe me, it smell,s bad. Hard to describe but is a mixture of electronic smell with some organic thing decomposing. It’s not a faint smell! If I cover the amplifier for a week (not letting the air flow at all) and then uncover … man, my wife almost throw me out with the amplifier…
In fact, i can’t find the origin of the smell because it seems to be everywhere.
My first thought was maybe an electrolytic capacitor but I can’t find any leak.
I tend to believe that Wahab can be right although, it’s hard to believe that a factory could use a pcb that later will evaporate intoxicating everyone around. 😱
Believe me, it smell,s bad. Hard to describe but is a mixture of electronic smell with some organic thing decomposing. It’s not a faint smell! If I cover the amplifier for a week (not letting the air flow at all) and then uncover … man, my wife almost throw me out with the amplifier…
In fact, i can’t find the origin of the smell because it seems to be everywhere.
My first thought was maybe an electrolytic capacitor but I can’t find any leak.
I tend to believe that Wahab can be right although, it’s hard to believe that a factory could use a pcb that later will evaporate intoxicating everyone around. 😱
Old leaky[ed] electrolytic capacitors. Change them all...final clean the circuit board, smell goes away and for the $50 to $75 you spend on that the amp will run cooler and be back in spec, thus sound LOVELY AGAIN.
Oooh,oooh that smell...will be gone!
Oooh,oooh that smell...will be gone!
Thanks Andrew
No part is getting abnormally hot and the amplifier is working without any flaws ( I adjusted bias current and offset) except for the smell. However I will take out the power electrolytics (there is no visible fluid around them but…) The pcb’s have no visual burns. I have to do this in an open garage… my wife won’t allow that thing inside the house. 😀
No part is getting abnormally hot and the amplifier is working without any flaws ( I adjusted bias current and offset) except for the smell. However I will take out the power electrolytics (there is no visible fluid around them but…) The pcb’s have no visual burns. I have to do this in an open garage… my wife won’t allow that thing inside the house. 😀
I know this problem.
I want to hurt nobody again on the world.
But the electronics products of the Soviet times reeked.
Onto so much, that the skunk came, and pleaded for the prescription crying.
And the best French perfume does not help this.
And here now from the then new products there is a word.
The concentrated morass itself was their machine grease anyway.
What is a fact is a fact.
Wacky
I want to hurt nobody again on the world.
But the electronics products of the Soviet times reeked.
Onto so much, that the skunk came, and pleaded for the prescription crying.
And the best French perfume does not help this.
And here now from the then new products there is a word.
The concentrated morass itself was their machine grease anyway.
What is a fact is a fact.
Wacky
I've had them leak around the terminals and between the PCB so you couldn't see it, but usually by the time it smells that bad it's dripping all throughout the chassis, stuff is corroded, and they get real hot. Since it's so hard to find I'd be interested to see what you finally determine.
The smelling amp i once had, i ripped it apart for the components ,
i still have the mini PCBs of the pots , phone connectors and a few
others, all in an hermeticaly sealed box..
I just opened it a few seconds before sending this post, and i can
testify that the smell is left unchanged in its intensity two years
after i did closed it and opened it a few times for verification purposes.
i still have the mini PCBs of the pots , phone connectors and a few
others, all in an hermeticaly sealed box..
I just opened it a few seconds before sending this post, and i can
testify that the smell is left unchanged in its intensity two years
after i did closed it and opened it a few times for verification purposes.
I will proceed with my investigation because I’m curious about this. I managed to separate the back half of the amplifier from the front half with a card board and tomorrow I will try to find out if the smell comes from back side, front side or both. Maybe tomorrow … today I just can’t tell smells apart anymore.
If not conclusive I will take a small pcb out, put it in a closed box and try to find out if the smell is there.
Thank you all for your help
If not conclusive I will take a small pcb out, put it in a closed box and try to find out if the smell is there.
Thank you all for your help
Cigarette Smoke
Old amp playing in garage.
Smells bad/old after warming up. Thought it might be cigarette smoke. Can't say it is electrical.
Old amp playing in garage.
Smells bad/old after warming up. Thought it might be cigarette smoke. Can't say it is electrical.
Is the smell there even when not powered on? I've smelled stinky solder, wire insulation, plastic and rubber parts, epoxy, protective coatings....
Smell is there even when it is turned off, but much weaker. The worst case is when it is turned off 2 or 3 weeks and then turned on.
I saw once a television belonging to a friend of mine (smoker) that also smells bad, but this one is diferent (worst) and far stronger than that.
I saw once a television belonging to a friend of mine (smoker) that also smells bad, but this one is diferent (worst) and far stronger than that.
Could it be an overheated transformer? Some of the real old ones were potted with
a tar like compound that sometimes leaked out when overheated and that could realy stink!
a tar like compound that sometimes leaked out when overheated and that could realy stink!
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