Old_Tech
Yer-isn't!
I use a glass cleaner on the case and panel. On wood I kust use a mild soap like Murphys. Use deoxit to get those rca connectors bright again.
How to clean a tuner (analog)
- Thread starter dr*audio
- Start date
I use a glass cleaner on the case and panel. On wood I kust use a mild soap like Murphys. Use deoxit to get those rca connectors bright again.
dr*audio
Fish fingers and custard!
To clean out contaminated fins, flush out well with a non - residue contact cleaner.
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/RAWN-11118-/20-2005
Allow to dry.
Certainly if you can see dust or animal hair on the fins, they should be blown clean with compressed air. If the tuner makes static or has areas of no reception when you turn the tuning knob, it needs cleaning.
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/RAWN-11118-/20-2005
Allow to dry.
Certainly if you can see dust or animal hair on the fins, they should be blown clean with compressed air. If the tuner makes static or has areas of no reception when you turn the tuning knob, it needs cleaning.
dr*audio
Fish fingers and custard!
How much restoration would this need?
That's like showing me a dirty car and asking me if the engine needs rebuilding.
Russellc
Addicted Member
Tried this treatment on two dyna FM 3 tuners. The tuning capcitor has a cover that not only bolts down to the chassis, but also has a little tab that goes through the chassis and solders to the board. That joint had to be unsoldered on one (factory wired) and just fell out on the other (Kit). Once off, I cleaned the areas where the shaft passed through with a non residue cleaner, then fader lube. Both of these tuners worked, but drifted, were crackley and static prone. Not now! I can hardly believe the difference this process made!
thanks for the tip,
Russellc
thanks for the tip,
Russellc
GreenChemist
Member
As an addition, Faderlube (along with DeOxit D5) is available at most Guitar Center stores. If you've got one local to you, this might be the way to go.
Bigkahuna
Well-Known Member
I too can confirm
I too can confirm that letting the tuner sit for a couple of days does something. I picked an old Rotel RX600a reciever from the early to mid seventies and decided I would give the tuner a good cleaning as well. I carefully injected the non residual cleaner at the ground contacts and spun that thing around like crazy then I washed the fins down and then using a syringe put a half a drop of fader lube at each point. When done I was very disappointed as I was hardly able to pick up any stations. After letting it sit for a couple of days all of the stations at the lower end come in strong but the ones at the high end are weak. This is remarkable as it was opposite before. I guess these things are pretty fickle. If my hand is any where near the tuner then the higher number stations come in much better!:scratch2:
I too can confirm that letting the tuner sit for a couple of days does something. I picked an old Rotel RX600a reciever from the early to mid seventies and decided I would give the tuner a good cleaning as well. I carefully injected the non residual cleaner at the ground contacts and spun that thing around like crazy then I washed the fins down and then using a syringe put a half a drop of fader lube at each point. When done I was very disappointed as I was hardly able to pick up any stations. After letting it sit for a couple of days all of the stations at the lower end come in strong but the ones at the high end are weak. This is remarkable as it was opposite before. I guess these things are pretty fickle. If my hand is any where near the tuner then the higher number stations come in much better!:scratch2:
jan_stevns
Super Member
sorry for quoting a ancient thing - i would say: If tuning a bit forth and back around a station gives a rumbling low freq noise ~ clean the thing
dumptruck. Two different processes, on two different areas of the capacitor assy.
You don't want any residue on the FINS! Hence the NON RESIDUE CLEANER.
NEXT: They are cleaning and oiling the bearing assy of the capacitor which includes the ground wiper, and using a bare minimum amount of "oily residue" for the ball bearing assy.
Kinda like spraying a NON RESIDUE cleaner(CRC Brake Cleaner) on your brake shoes (drum brakes) and drums to clean them, then dabbing Lithium grease or High Temp Silicone caliper grease on the shoe metal bracket where it makes contact with the backing plate. You don't want the grease on the shoe or the drum (no friction to stop) but you need the shoe to move without binding due to rust.
D-5 & F-5 have a lubricant (residue) that you don't want on the capacitor fins when you clean. Using a syringe to apply the faderlube to the bearing and ground wiper limits the amount of faderlube to the area and gets it in where it's needed, not everywhere else.
Larry
You don't want any residue on the FINS! Hence the NON RESIDUE CLEANER.
NEXT: They are cleaning and oiling the bearing assy of the capacitor which includes the ground wiper, and using a bare minimum amount of "oily residue" for the ball bearing assy.
Kinda like spraying a NON RESIDUE cleaner(CRC Brake Cleaner) on your brake shoes (drum brakes) and drums to clean them, then dabbing Lithium grease or High Temp Silicone caliper grease on the shoe metal bracket where it makes contact with the backing plate. You don't want the grease on the shoe or the drum (no friction to stop) but you need the shoe to move without binding due to rust.
D-5 & F-5 have a lubricant (residue) that you don't want on the capacitor fins when you clean. Using a syringe to apply the faderlube to the bearing and ground wiper limits the amount of faderlube to the area and gets it in where it's needed, not everywhere else.
Larry
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terra1
Addicted Member
I experienced the similar phenomenon even with my body approaching an STA-90. The red stereo indicator on the pointer would flicker.
I will post my experience with STA-90 cleaning in the next post, and I can believe letting contact cleaner do its work over a couple days steeping and dissolving crud may be true.
terra1
Addicted Member
it works ...
PROBLEM TUNER SECTION ON STA-90 RECEIVER:
THURSDAY: I picked up an STA-90 for $25 Thursday figured worth the risk. Signal strength travel is at most 1/4" probably less. And the pointer turns red ndicating stereo momentarily as I turn the tuning knob. It still sounds clear and loud although in mono. Manage maybe 2 or 3 stations to get steady red but requires rejiggling each time I move the pointer.
FRIDAY about 8:00PM: I turned it upside down to see if I could see any connection or contact problems. I noticed when I pressed the mono/stereo button I could see the red flicker. So I cleaned all the switches. Sprayed the tuning capacitor including screws on top. Yes the stations are affected and will move on the dial. As it dries more it will start drifting back and you'll notice this where the red stereo light goes out, but if you turn the tuning knob back from direction of drift the stereo light should come back. Also sprayed contacts on pc boards avoiding spraying into ferrite cores. Brushed excess with 1" paint brush, q-tips and cut up t-shirt .
SATURDAY 8:57am: This morning stations seem to have traveled back to where they were or close.
But this morning it seems if I lost stereo again from the stations I "recovered" from yesterday. But after spinning the pointer up and down the scale and jiggling I am getting steady red although I seem to have to jiggle it a lot. I don't know if some of this has to do with warm up time or reburning in the electronics if you believe in that sort of thing. And I'll try cleaning again, but ultimately, I think I may just have to bite the bullet and take it in let a tech check it out. I think it may be more than just a cleaning issue. But this may buy me some enjoyment time as the stations I listen most can come in stereo steadily albeit with a lot of preliminary jiggling at this time. Certainly worth it from the great sound I am hearing even with these problems and low signal strength showing.
Ok I gave the tuning capacitor another cleaning. Gave it another spritz of deoxit and blast of air. Used a toothpick to pick at some crud in between the grooves of the brass shaft. Used a wetted q-tip to wipe it off.
Still needed to do some jiggling to get steady reds. Noticed as the pointer traveled up and down the scale it would briefly flash red.
Went out to do some errands, shopping, yard work.
SATURDAY ABOUT 4M:
Came back and jiggled until I got a steady red on a favorite station and left it on for several hours. Still needed to turn knob to reposition pointer as red light would go out because of station drift.
SATURDAY 9:41PM:
It now seems to be holding red steady on many more stations up and down the dial - more than even yesterday - as good as might be expected. Maybe there is something to warm up and burn in? Or the deoxit/faderlube had time to soak and sop? We'll see tomorrow when it starts cold tomorrow morning.
But if this holds I may hold off on taking it to a tech.
The strength meter is still not traveling more than 1/4" but I'm thinking the problem is with the meter rather than actual reception which seems clear and strong to these ears.
SUNDAY 8:00AM
Turned on receiver and no drift. Pointer is immediately red showing stereo as well as other usually strong stations up and down the scale. In fact, better than some other receivers I have.
I now consider the issue of stereo reception fixed. I consider the signal meter although still not traveling more than 1/4" a problem with the meter itself and not a reception problem.
SUNDAY 10:00PM: Well the case of the signal strength meter is becoming curioser. I switched over to AM and the signal strength meter moved more than 1/4" and actually entered the optimum range. Well, I've ordered a service manual. Hopefully there will be some clues on the signal strength meter.
NOTE: In this case, the stereo reception was fixed with cleaning but this may not be true for other situations. I have an Onkyo T-9 where it was fixed by adjusting a trimmer on the circuit board and measuring the adjustment for 19khz on a corresponding chip. But since I did not have a service manual and the STA-90 did seem to respond to initial cleaning that is the route I chose here.
PROBLEM TUNER SECTION ON STA-90 RECEIVER:
- ERRATIC STEREO RECEPTION
- SIGNAL STRENGTH METER TRAVELS ABOUT 1/4"
THURSDAY: I picked up an STA-90 for $25 Thursday figured worth the risk. Signal strength travel is at most 1/4" probably less. And the pointer turns red ndicating stereo momentarily as I turn the tuning knob. It still sounds clear and loud although in mono. Manage maybe 2 or 3 stations to get steady red but requires rejiggling each time I move the pointer.
FRIDAY about 8:00PM: I turned it upside down to see if I could see any connection or contact problems. I noticed when I pressed the mono/stereo button I could see the red flicker. So I cleaned all the switches. Sprayed the tuning capacitor including screws on top. Yes the stations are affected and will move on the dial. As it dries more it will start drifting back and you'll notice this where the red stereo light goes out, but if you turn the tuning knob back from direction of drift the stereo light should come back. Also sprayed contacts on pc boards avoiding spraying into ferrite cores. Brushed excess with 1" paint brush, q-tips and cut up t-shirt .
SATURDAY 8:57am: This morning stations seem to have traveled back to where they were or close.
But this morning it seems if I lost stereo again from the stations I "recovered" from yesterday. But after spinning the pointer up and down the scale and jiggling I am getting steady red although I seem to have to jiggle it a lot. I don't know if some of this has to do with warm up time or reburning in the electronics if you believe in that sort of thing. And I'll try cleaning again, but ultimately, I think I may just have to bite the bullet and take it in let a tech check it out. I think it may be more than just a cleaning issue. But this may buy me some enjoyment time as the stations I listen most can come in stereo steadily albeit with a lot of preliminary jiggling at this time. Certainly worth it from the great sound I am hearing even with these problems and low signal strength showing.
Ok I gave the tuning capacitor another cleaning. Gave it another spritz of deoxit and blast of air. Used a toothpick to pick at some crud in between the grooves of the brass shaft. Used a wetted q-tip to wipe it off.
Still needed to do some jiggling to get steady reds. Noticed as the pointer traveled up and down the scale it would briefly flash red.
Went out to do some errands, shopping, yard work.
SATURDAY ABOUT 4
M:Came back and jiggled until I got a steady red on a favorite station and left it on for several hours. Still needed to turn knob to reposition pointer as red light would go out because of station drift.
SATURDAY 9:41PM:
It now seems to be holding red steady on many more stations up and down the dial - more than even yesterday - as good as might be expected. Maybe there is something to warm up and burn in? Or the deoxit/faderlube had time to soak and sop? We'll see tomorrow when it starts cold tomorrow morning.
But if this holds I may hold off on taking it to a tech.
The strength meter is still not traveling more than 1/4" but I'm thinking the problem is with the meter rather than actual reception which seems clear and strong to these ears.
SUNDAY 8:00AM
Turned on receiver and no drift. Pointer is immediately red showing stereo as well as other usually strong stations up and down the scale. In fact, better than some other receivers I have.
I now consider the issue of stereo reception fixed. I consider the signal meter although still not traveling more than 1/4" a problem with the meter itself and not a reception problem.
SUNDAY 10:00PM: Well the case of the signal strength meter is becoming curioser. I switched over to AM and the signal strength meter moved more than 1/4" and actually entered the optimum range. Well, I've ordered a service manual. Hopefully there will be some clues on the signal strength meter.
NOTE: In this case, the stereo reception was fixed with cleaning but this may not be true for other situations. I have an Onkyo T-9 where it was fixed by adjusting a trimmer on the circuit board and measuring the adjustment for 19khz on a corresponding chip. But since I did not have a service manual and the STA-90 did seem to respond to initial cleaning that is the route I chose here.
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terra1
Addicted Member
OK, will do. I will check Home Depot for
CRC Electrical Grade QD Contact Cleaner
as recommended by another post #46.
or order the following as you note in post #65:
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/RAWN-11118-/20-2005
I think I needed something stronger than Faderlube for my purposes.
Schanz
Well-Known Member
Thanks Dr*Audio.
Used these instructions on my newly acquired Pioneer TX500. It had really weak signal and the stations that did come in were about two numbers off. I used some Rat Shak non-residue cleaner on the contact points mentioned and followed up with some faderlube. After tuning it up and down stations slowly began to get closer to their correct dial position and stronger. I then found a can of compressed air and blew out the fins. There must have been some cleaner or lube still in there. Stations are very strong now and dead on. For a makeshift antenna, I used a strand of speaker wire hooked to one side and draped it across the room. Best antenna I ever hooked up.
Used these instructions on my newly acquired Pioneer TX500. It had really weak signal and the stations that did come in were about two numbers off. I used some Rat Shak non-residue cleaner on the contact points mentioned and followed up with some faderlube. After tuning it up and down stations slowly began to get closer to their correct dial position and stronger. I then found a can of compressed air and blew out the fins. There must have been some cleaner or lube still in there. Stations are very strong now and dead on. For a makeshift antenna, I used a strand of speaker wire hooked to one side and draped it across the room. Best antenna I ever hooked up.
