Well, almost done repairing:
An otherwise excellent condition Bryston 10B electronic crossover that the previous owner had hacked up the rear connector board, presumably to "improve" the XLR jacks. He tore up a bunch of traces, damaged the sockets he ended up putting right back in, created a ground loop with his bodged wiring. He even drilled new holes in the board for the rear XLR ground pins that didn't connect to anything. Just had solder blobs on the pins. He drilled other holes that appeared to have no purpose. He then clipped out the sockets, permanently destroying them. Amazing.
I didn't really want to reconstruct the traces, and got lucky; Bryston had an old stock board, mostly complete. I'll have to do a little parts swapping and mill down the taller standoffs, but no biggie.
The power supply needed new caps, as the original 31-year old caps were bulging and way out of spec, but now it's quiet and works as designed. Cleaned up the rotary switches, tested the boards, and now just waiting for the new back board to complete the project. Total parts cost will be about $110 - much better than a new one for $5,300 or a used one for about half that.
An otherwise excellent condition Bryston 10B electronic crossover that the previous owner had hacked up the rear connector board, presumably to "improve" the XLR jacks. He tore up a bunch of traces, damaged the sockets he ended up putting right back in, created a ground loop with his bodged wiring. He even drilled new holes in the board for the rear XLR ground pins that didn't connect to anything. Just had solder blobs on the pins. He drilled other holes that appeared to have no purpose. He then clipped out the sockets, permanently destroying them. Amazing.
I didn't really want to reconstruct the traces, and got lucky; Bryston had an old stock board, mostly complete. I'll have to do a little parts swapping and mill down the taller standoffs, but no biggie.
The power supply needed new caps, as the original 31-year old caps were bulging and way out of spec, but now it's quiet and works as designed. Cleaned up the rotary switches, tested the boards, and now just waiting for the new back board to complete the project. Total parts cost will be about $110 - much better than a new one for $5,300 or a used one for about half that.
Attachments
Today one of my outdoor faucets was going to be used to wash my car, since our snowmageddon has passed now. When I reconnected the hose and opened the valve, it started to leak from the gland/packing.
Being a recent replacement for an aging frost proof valve, I was not pleased. Luckily the rubber washer had just come out of its seat, and was easily reassembled.
Unfortunately the entire hose was frozen solid, so no car washing.
Being a recent replacement for an aging frost proof valve, I was not pleased. Luckily the rubber washer had just come out of its seat, and was easily reassembled.
Unfortunately the entire hose was frozen solid, so no car washing.
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Hi George,
A company called Northern Performance built my engine. I just made a couple decisions, they made the rest and I paid around $4,000 for it back in 1978. It was worth every penny. The cam was aggressive, but had a long enough duration so that I had normal or slightly higher power at low RPM, but man, when you got into the power band you could really feel it! You were very firmly pushed well into your seat.
I think the third year I ran that engine I cracked the block in the winter. Didn't get all the water out of the jacket.
That was entirely my fault, and I really should have used antifreeze instead of running pure water. Not only did the frost plugs release as they should have, the block cracked right along the side linking up the frost plug holes.
Maybe if that engine had survived, I would have killed myself in that car, so a good thing I destroyed that engine?
-Chris
A company called Northern Performance built my engine. I just made a couple decisions, they made the rest and I paid around $4,000 for it back in 1978. It was worth every penny. The cam was aggressive, but had a long enough duration so that I had normal or slightly higher power at low RPM, but man, when you got into the power band you could really feel it! You were very firmly pushed well into your seat.
I think the third year I ran that engine I cracked the block in the winter. Didn't get all the water out of the jacket.
That was entirely my fault, and I really should have used antifreeze instead of running pure water. Not only did the frost plugs release as they should have, the block cracked right along the side linking up the frost plug holes.Maybe if that engine had survived, I would have killed myself in that car, so a good thing I destroyed that engine?
-Chris
Marantz 300DC with voltage regulator problems (output too high and not tracking well). I got a chance to play with a bunch of resistors! Lucky me. Now the voltages are correct and the circuit tracks and regulates well.
Now for the full rebuild, but first, a pair of Pioneer receivers for rebuilding and repair.
-Chris
Now for the full rebuild, but first, a pair of Pioneer receivers for rebuilding and repair.
-Chris
Hi Chris...
Have you ever done a full-on restoration/recap of a Pioneer SX-1250 receiver yet?
Those are fun.......
.........but profitable.
Hi wiseoldtech,
Yes, but I don't enjoy working on Pioneer receivers. They are not that well designed and the performance isn't the equal of some other better brands. Most of the money in the budget went to advertising in these units.
I'm working on an SX-1280 right now. Previous tech was in panic mode and he/she wasn't a very good tech. ICs swapped out for other types, regulator pass transistor isn't really an acceptable replacement. Driver wasn't even tested yet the zener was replaced with two zener diodes. Thing is a bloody mess and I was considering returning it to the customer. However, he thinks its a good set so I'll undo the damage the idiot tech caused, then repair the FM section. I don't take kindly to surprises, the owner should have said it was in somewhere else before, or that he just bought it FM section not working.
So those replaced ICs will be replaced with good ones. I'm not going to play around trying to troubleshoot a chip with one function defective. Labour costs a lot more than the chips. I am worried about the PCB traces and pads.
-Chris
Yes, but I don't enjoy working on Pioneer receivers. They are not that well designed and the performance isn't the equal of some other better brands. Most of the money in the budget went to advertising in these units.
I'm working on an SX-1280 right now. Previous tech was in panic mode and he/she wasn't a very good tech. ICs swapped out for other types, regulator pass transistor isn't really an acceptable replacement. Driver wasn't even tested yet the zener was replaced with two zener diodes. Thing is a bloody mess and I was considering returning it to the customer. However, he thinks its a good set so I'll undo the damage the idiot tech caused, then repair the FM section. I don't take kindly to surprises, the owner should have said it was in somewhere else before, or that he just bought it FM section not working.
So those replaced ICs will be replaced with good ones. I'm not going to play around trying to troubleshoot a chip with one function defective. Labour costs a lot more than the chips. I am worried about the PCB traces and pads.
-Chris
You guys are opening my eyes to a world I didn't know existed. There are people with fat wallets and a fetish for 1970's stereo receivers? Who knew!
-Gnobuddy
Oh, most definitely!
That last SX-1250 I worked on, slaved over, cost the owner...... $1060.00 for all that I had to do, including researching parts.
But the guy was thrilled, and actually told me he had ANOTHER SX-1250 that he wanted to bring in to me..... UGH!
I remember many years ago trying to fix a car that had engine misfire.
The service manager came in and started disconnecting plug leads until one made no difference. I thought he was brave grabbing a spark plug lead !
He told me to have a go and the first one I touched gave me a massive shock.
It wasn't until years later that I realised what had happened was I was leaning on the wing and the plug was discharging through me into the wing. He hadn't been leaning on the car.
The service manager came in and started disconnecting plug leads until one made no difference. I thought he was brave grabbing a spark plug lead !
He told me to have a go and the first one I touched gave me a massive shock.
It wasn't until years later that I realised what had happened was I was leaning on the wing and the plug was discharging through me into the wing. He hadn't been leaning on the car.
I just sold an old Pioneer receiver, a 1080, that has funded a whole bunch of stuff and I still have a couple hundred left over!
I picked it up for $20 at a thrift store years ago, and had actually thought that I had donated it, when one day it appeared inside a cedar chest. I listened to it to see if it sounded any better after all the years, but unfortunately no...
Today I fixed a flange/coupling for an associate’s turbo wastegate.
I picked it up for $20 at a thrift store years ago, and had actually thought that I had donated it, when one day it appeared inside a cedar chest. I listened to it to see if it sounded any better after all the years, but unfortunately no...
Today I fixed a flange/coupling for an associate’s turbo wastegate.