How to clean a tuner (analog)

Tuner not tuning (help!)

I'm currently restoring a 1961 Penncrest (JC Penny's) console hi-fi and followed all the good advice here for cleaning. Fortunately, everything on this unit worked pretty well before I started so I have no real repairs to make (thank God).

However, I have created a new problem; I have blown the dust out of the unit with air and shot the switches with non-residue contact cleaner which worked great. After running the tuner all the way up and down the band range, the tuner knob is now spinning without moving the indicator. Inside the unit there are 3 wheels and pulleys that guide a string which moves the indicator up & down. The indicator has stopped moving because the string is slipping over the brass pulley connected to the tuner knob. When I turn the knob, it spins without grabbing the string to move the indicator. Please forgive my ignorance if this has been posted before. I'd be very grateful for any advice on how to fix this.

Thanks!
 
I did a cleaning and the problem returned after a couple of minutes.:tears: I also did a Dexoit on the swiches for what it's worth. Maybe they need some more cleaning. I guess I'll need to keep trouble shooting this thing. The good news is the case is HUGE, so there's a lot of room inside to see what is going on.
And for the record the Lloyds stuff didn't damage any plastic, but I wouldn't recommend it. It sprays way too much cleaner. I'd guess 4 times what a can of Deoxit sprays on the high setting.

Thanks for the help.

I spoke too soon. It cut out a couple of times, but then worked for a few hours without dropping sound. But it now has a slight drift. I put a very small amount of d5 on the bearings. Should I just re-clean it and leave out the d5 step?

Thanks!
 
I'm currently restoring a 1961 Penncrest (JC Penny's) console hi-fi and followed all the good advice here for cleaning. Fortunately, everything on this unit worked pretty well before I started so I have no real repairs to make (thank God).

However, I have created a new problem; I have blown the dust out of the unit with air and shot the switches with non-residue contact cleaner which worked great. After running the tuner all the way up and down the band range, the tuner knob is now spinning without moving the indicator. Inside the unit there are 3 wheels and pulleys that guide a string which moves the indicator up & down. The indicator has stopped moving because the string is slipping over the brass pulley connected to the tuner knob. When I turn the knob, it spins without grabbing the string to move the indicator. Please forgive my ignorance if this has been posted before. I'd be very grateful for any advice on how to fix this.

Thanks!

Put some beeswax on the cord. Works wonders!
 
I spoke too soon. It cut out a couple of times, but then worked for a few hours without dropping sound. But it now has a slight drift. I put a very small amount of d5 on the bearings. Should I just re-clean it and leave out the d5 step?

Thanks!

Putting d5 on the bearings isn't going to hurt anything. It won't help anything either. The place you want to clean and treat with Faderlube is the contacts. Re - read the procedure.
 
Putting d5 on the bearings isn't going to hurt anything. It won't help anything either. The place you want to clean and treat with Faderlube is the contacts. Re - read the procedure.

Thanks. Will do.
I think I'll try and get a picture up next week of the inside of my tuner. Just to make sure I'm hitting the correct spots. I think my understanding of tuner terminology is a little off.
 
Thanks. Will do.
I think I'll try and get a picture up next week of the inside of my tuner. Just to make sure I'm hitting the correct spots. I think my understanding of tuner terminology is a little off.

So I finally had the chance to re-clean and give it a listen. I also took some pics of the insides.
So it still has a slight drift on FM. Not so bad that it sounds bad, just that the "Tuning" needle moves a little bit after a while. The "Strength" needle holds strong in the same place. After four hours the station was still tuned in fine, so maybe I'm being a little OCD about it. Like I said it sounds good, except the background hiss on a particular favorite station. But that's a different problem for a different day.
Anyway, with the pics below, can you tell me where I should be cleaning with the non-residue cleaner?

Thanks again!
 

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Anyway, with the pics below, can you tell me where I should be cleaning with the non-residue cleaner?

Thanks again!

Every place that the shaft passes through the walls in the body of the cap, there are brass contacts. The arrows point to those places. spray the contacts.
 

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Thanks! That's where I sprayed the last cleaning, so at least I'm on the right track. It seemed to help. I guess I need to try another cleaning? Also, is that the same spot where I dribble the Faderlube?
I think the part I screwed up before was thinking that I needed to dribble D5 there after the cleaning when I should have used Faderlube. I think I was thinking Caig MCL=D5. Oops.

Thanks again.
 
Drift

So I finally had the chance to re-clean and give it a listen. I also took some pics of the insides.
So it still has a slight drift on FM. Not so bad that it sounds bad, just that the "Tuning" needle moves a little bit after a while. The "Strength" needle holds strong in the same place. After four hours the station was still tuned in fine, so maybe I'm being a little OCD about it. Like I said it sounds good, except the background hiss on a particular favorite station. But that's a different problem for a different day.
Anyway, with the pics below, can you tell me where I should be cleaning with the non-residue cleaner?

Thanks again!

Station moving after a while....from what I've been able to read, this is true "drift" and is caused by things warming up and it really (REALLY) tricky to fix. Something about hand picked matching capacitors and trial and error and black magic or some such. I was convinced to just live with it.
 
Thanks! That's where I sprayed the last cleaning, so at least I'm on the right track. It seemed to help. I guess I need to try another cleaning? Also, is that the same spot where I dribble the Faderlube?
I think the part I screwed up before was thinking that I needed to dribble D5 there after the cleaning when I should have used Faderlube. I think I was thinking Caig MCL=D5. Oops.

Thanks again.

No dribbles, please, JUST a drop, or you will leave puddles that will collect dust, and detune the rf circuits. The drift can be caused by the previous contamination with D5, if you used too much. In that case, the fins of the cap and the board should be thoroughly flushed out with the non - residue cleaner. If everything is clean and you still get some drift, it is being caused by a defective component in the oscillator circuit. I suggest you live with it.
 
I'm going to try and give it another cleaning and if that doesn't work I'll try and live with it. Like I said before it still held the station for at least four hours, so it is still usable as a tuner. I was planning on doing a recap and maybe some of the mods at the fm site, if I could get this issue resolved first. But I'm not sure if I want to put too much time into it if the drift issue is beyond my talents/patience. I'll report back when I can get at it and do another cleaning.
 
Dr* Audio,
You Da man,
Just finished, per your instructions on cleaning my tuner "Pioneer TX-9500 II"
Thanks you for walking me through it, who would have thunk it.
What an improvement, it holds the station rock solid, it's a joy!
It had a some little crusties at both ends, witch cleaned up nicely.
Cleveland Rocks
 
My 2252b's strength pointer jumps around when on a station sometimes it can jump 1/4 of the way. Does it sound like it needs a good cleaning?
 
My 2252b's strength pointer jumps around when on a station sometimes it can jump 1/4 of the way. Does it sound like it needs a good cleaning?

Also you should have a proper antenna connected to the FM Antenna terminals, spread out in a T shape, and attached to the wall behind the receiver, not just laying in a pile behind it. Ideally you should move the antenna around and attach it where you get the best reception, but this isn't always practical.
 
I sprayed non residue cleaner on the brass areas that the shaft passes thru and after letting it dry it made a world of difference. stations come in alot clearer then before and alot stronger.
 
Dr*Audio,

My Rrealistic STA-90 has this 3.25" area next to the plastic dial with thick and thin fins front and back. Is this whole area in need of spray with the syringe drop on the thick plates? New territory for me.

Nice Rickenbacker, btw. Like early John Lennon's black one.
 

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