2240 Restoration Journey!

[Derek G]

1. First and Foremost, I want to give thanks to ALL of the AKer's out there that helped me along the way to bringing this old girl back from the grave. This receiver was handed down to me from a dear friend that lost his life. The value of it was far beyond any money value. Trouble shooting the fact that it had a blown thermal fuse in the transformer was the first step. Then replacing the P800 power board I snapped in half lol. (Thank god for eBay). After seeing her power up again I made a dedication to attempt a full restoration. It took me a little over two months to complete. Lot's of learning and soldering advancement along the way lol.. I want to give Catrafter a special shout out for walking me though the MPX FM board. Sure enough. It was the IC chip that was causing the no "stereo" light. Thank You. I replaced all the electrolytic capacitors, shed transistors, IC chip, and tantalum caps throughout every board. Mostly with Elna Silmic 2 and Nichicon KA in the audio paths. Panasonic FC and Nichicon UPM for the Power supply (built like a tank). New speaker relay. I upped the VDC on all caps by 25/50%. I used some polypropylene Wima and Panny films on the preamp (also a few Solen), Phono, and mpx board. I had issues finding some values here and there. The main caps are Nichicon Fine Gold 63V 10,000uf. I used Nichicon Muse caps in a few bi polar spots and a few Fine Golds here in there. Kind of a mixed bag really. Paid more in freight to mouser than parts I think lol. It was a learning experience lol. I ordered a black faceplate from Germany. The walnut case stateside. I must say. Nice touch. Upgraded all the lighting to led. New vellum paper. Cleaned everything throughout. Used Deoxit and Fader lube on all the pots and switches. Set all the Bias levels to factory specs. Didn't have the tuner professionally aligned after the re-cap on the FM board but she's pulling stations great. Thank goodness. So yeah, I have a new found passion in learning more about this trade. Its very rewarding. Thank you. Everybody. Hope you enjoy the pics.

 

[Derek G]

Continued....View attachment 1379840View attachment 1379841

Its tricky to get good front photo's with the leds. The camera really picks up on them as if their glaring. Overall, the unit has a nice uniform soft blue glow. It's very pleasing to the eye's. Night and day vs bulbs imo. Also upgraded the main speaker posts....

 

[tonebells]

Great job!

Tony

 

[cemerson]

Very elegant looking..... the silver buttons / knobs on the black face & the blue glow!

 

[Fairlane]

Great job, she is lovely.

You will think of your friend everytime you use it too.

 

[bktheking]

Hats off to you for doing the tuner boards, so many people skip these and IMO it's one of the most important steps in a full restoration. It's funny, the second unit I redid also had a blown thermal fuse in the transformer. Just a fyi , there's also vellum behind the meters if I recall.


Looks great!

 

[Derek G]

Hats off to you for doing the tuner boards, so many people skip these and IMO it's one of the most important steps in a full restoration. It's funny, the second unit I redid also had a blown thermal fuse in the transformer. Just a fyi , there's also vellum behind the meters if I recall.


Looks great!

Thank you. I didn't see any paper behind the meters. That I could access from the front anyways? The Vellum paper on this unit wasn't even that bad. Must have come from a smoke free home. With the led upgrade, the before and after was debatable. Since I was doing the cover plate I figured why not. Anyways. Yes. The Mpx board was by far the most challenging.

 

[bktheking]

There may not be, some have blue meter backing so they didn't use vellum but they were early prod. If you find the meters have hot spots you can always add some.

 

[Mike Sweeney]

I like those adapters on the back for the speakers. I've been toying with something along the same lines myself

 

[Derek G]

I like those adapters on the back for the speakers. I've been toying with something along the same lines myself

Thanks. Its fairly simple. Just size up a few square nylon grill grommets from the hardware store. They snap in the factory cut out real nice and you can space them perfectly. You will have to trim the back side of the grommets almost flush and shim with some plastic washers. I simply bored out the original mounting screw holes for the positive lugs. Again, shim with plastic washers which the lugs come with anyways. The oem plastic plate on the inside of my main speaker terminals was cracked in half. Rather than epoxy it or replace it, I decided to upgrade them. Its a nice touch imo.

 

[BrMR2270]

Nice work, the receiver looks great.

 

[Derek G]

Nice work, the receiver looks great.

ty

 

[rBuckner]

Great work Derek! The lamp housing wasn't all melted it looks like so I'd bet that and the condition of the vellum paper point to a low hours unit. That's always nice!

 

[Blue Shadow]

Great work Derek! The lamp housing wasn't all melted it looks like so I'd bet that and the condition of the vellum paper point to a low hours unit. That's always nice!

That seems to be the case as the 2240 I just did had vellum and housing that were much darker. The housing was not melted so the stock bulbs were used, maybe originals so there wasn't xs heat.

 

[Derek G]

Great work Derek! The lamp housing wasn't all melted it looks like so I'd bet that and the condition of the vellum paper point to a low hours unit. That's always nice!

Ty. I agree. Probably fairly low hrs. The only slot that was baked was the "Stereo" light. Go figure...

 

[Klaatu561]

How did you replace the vellum tuner? I'm trying to figure out the path of least resistance getting to them.

 

[Mike Sweeney]

How did you replace the vellum tuner? I'm trying to figure out the path of least resistance getting to them.

This is what I do. You need to take the front panel apart.. knobs off, metal front off. Then the plastic plexiglass dial indicator cover comes off with a small screw. Its attached to the vellum which is attached to the chassis so you need to be careful with a chisel tip xacto blade ( or other instrument of death) to lift and cut away the glue. I would recommend from the top to loosen up the dial indicator and flip it out of the way. I use contact cement to fasten down the new vellum and I use only a touch of it. I don't soak the paper.

This from a Marantz and you can see the lights pulled out and the remains of the vellum stuck to the metal. The incandescent bulbs are still installed at this point. This get replaced with LEDs.

 

[Klaatu561]

I guess what I was asking is about the FM Meter and Signal Strength Meter vellum. It seems one must take it apart to replace it. I can get the bulbs etc it is the pesky vellum in the mentioned meters I can't get too. Thank you for your help.