Have a chance to pick up a 2245 that was serviced by a good shop near me. They did about $185 worth of service, including replacing transistors, but no recapping. I asked why and they said that during their testing assessment, the caps were all in good shape and that recapping a 2245 is cost prohibitive bc worth more than the value of the unit... I'm really looking forward to finding one of these in solid shape... throwing it out to ask if a 2245 that's had full diagnostics and "no need to recap" is asking for trouble with a 40 y.o. tuner? Or are Marantz more reliable in this area?
Marantz 2245 recap necessary?
- Thread starter Alex_S
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tyeeslayer
Super Member
Everything said was true especially "recapping a 2245 is cost prohibitive bc worth more than the value of the unit...".
However for LONG TERM reliability recapping is necessary. Also it will sound better ....like new..... with new caps.
Oldsansui441
Super Member
The shop is correct in saying a recap would be worth more than the 2245 itself. It is doubtful however that all of the electrolytics would have been tested esp since many would have to be removed from the circuit to test. I am in no way having a dig at the mentioned repair shop but to check all capacitors would be very cost prohibitive, just better to put this labour towards a recap in my humble opinion.
It all depends on your plans for the receiver, if you want to recoup 100% of your outlay for any vintage unit then prob a recapped unit or getting a unit recapped may not be plausible, but if you are after a particular unit for yourself that you plan to enjoy for many years and are not that concerned with what it might owe you, then yes a recapped unit would be ideal.
As tyeeslayer mentioned, it should sound noticeably better after recap and also be reliable into the future.
In saying all this l have recapped some of my units and others have been left original and still perform reliably, so you may find an original unit still go on reliably for a few years yet, but it most likely doesn't sound like it did when new.
It all depends on your plans for the receiver, if you want to recoup 100% of your outlay for any vintage unit then prob a recapped unit or getting a unit recapped may not be plausible, but if you are after a particular unit for yourself that you plan to enjoy for many years and are not that concerned with what it might owe you, then yes a recapped unit would be ideal.
As tyeeslayer mentioned, it should sound noticeably better after recap and also be reliable into the future.
In saying all this l have recapped some of my units and others have been left original and still perform reliably, so you may find an original unit still go on reliably for a few years yet, but it most likely doesn't sound like it did when new.
I haven't worked on a 2245, but looking at pics on the 'net, there are several boards where one can't even do an in-circuit test, something that would increase confidence greatly. There are also a lot of caps, so statistics are not in your favor. The usual performance tests don't always show up every possible bad part, but if the shop did them, the unit is likely in at least OK shape... for now. It's old enough to be on the rising side of the failure curve. Ultimately it needs the recap.
The 2245 is my favorite receiver and worth the investment of recapping if you plan to hang on to it. I just had mine that i purchased in the 70s recapped even though it still sounded wonderful, and it still did after. The tech did find a few bad caps. Electrolytic capacitors do have limited life and after 40 years the chance of having some bad ones is probably more then not. The power supply board is probably the most likely to go bad first so i would suggest at least having that done and it usually gives the most improvement
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Brycecb750
Active Member
If it's for you, recap. I'm about to start on one myself.
Brycecb750
Active Member
I just did a recap on mine. It had a hum in it so I just replaced every electrolytic, put WIMA's films in the tone board, and PIO west caps in the phono and other coupling, couldn't be happier with the resualts. I did it to fix the hum, but the overall improvement is just the bonus.
blhagstrom
Mad Scientist, fixer.
At shop prices, you won't see a re-cap unless you spend a small fortune.
It's a lot of labor.
Truth is, we don't really know how long the caps will last because we can't see the future.
My "guess" is they will continue to "work" a long time, perhaps the rest of our lives.
Are they working right? Well?
Chances are, No.
Will it explode?
No, but it could develop problems and may quit working completely (when? don't know).
I do know that many shops, even some good ones, insist that the caps are good.
Documentation from actual capacitor manufactures do not support that claim.
Electrolytic capacitors are a wet chemical system and do vent moisture. They age, period.
Once they dry out, the chemical system that makes them work well is not in place and they will not perform as designed.
IF the unit is a serious long term love, having it re-capped is a smart move.
Much like an old car.
It may work.
It may work a long time.
To get the most pleasure out of it, restore it.
It may still have an issue over the years, but that's just vintage.
It's a lot of labor.
Truth is, we don't really know how long the caps will last because we can't see the future.
My "guess" is they will continue to "work" a long time, perhaps the rest of our lives.
Are they working right? Well?
Chances are, No.
Will it explode?
No, but it could develop problems and may quit working completely (when? don't know).
I do know that many shops, even some good ones, insist that the caps are good.
Documentation from actual capacitor manufactures do not support that claim.
Electrolytic capacitors are a wet chemical system and do vent moisture. They age, period.
Once they dry out, the chemical system that makes them work well is not in place and they will not perform as designed.
IF the unit is a serious long term love, having it re-capped is a smart move.
Much like an old car.
It may work.
It may work a long time.
To get the most pleasure out of it, restore it.
It may still have an issue over the years, but that's just vintage.
