Marantz 2230 panel lights flickering at power up

Riddley

New Member
Hi. I have very modest gifts in the repair department, although I can solder pretty well. My 2230 dial lamps and meter lamp started flickering for a few minutes after each power up. The unit functions normally, otherwise. Then, the meter light started going off for a few minutes at a time.

I just swapped the meter lamp but the flickering still occurs. Nothing else odd in appearance or sound. The old lamp does not look obviously broken.

I dream of finding a great tech to restore the unit (and a beloved 2270) for me, but haven't started looking yet. For now, is there anything obvious/easy to check while the cover is off?

The solder joints across the daisy chain of light bar wires strike me as a bit amateurish -- cold, with some voids here and there. I don't know that I want to put a hot iron around the dial pointer string etc. Not excited about taking the string off etc., though I'm sure there's tutorial help here. I have a bit of klutziness these days, a little arthritis in the hands. Maybe what I really need is a crack restoration specialist, who also happens not to be booked up through Christmas.
 
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Make sure the bulb is tight in the socket (fuse type), and make sure there is no corrosion on the socket or the bulb. If all is well there, and if the dial lamps do not flicker, the solder joints on the wires between the main lamp board and the meter are suspect. Try to identify the wires to the meter and wiggle them with something wood or plastic to see if you can create the flicker. The only other thing to do is reflow the solder joints of the wires going to the meter (again, assuming dial lamps are not flickering). If it's just the meter, I'm betting on a bad connection at the bulb, or possibly a bad bulb..
 
Make sure the bulb is tight in the socket (fuse type), and make sure there is no corrosion on the socket or the bulb. If all is well there, and if the dial lamps do not flicker, the solder joints on the wires between the main lamp board and the meter are suspect. Try to identify the wires to the meter and wiggle them with something wood or plastic to see if you can create the flicker. The only other thing to do is reflow the solder joints of the wires going to the meter (again, assuming dial lamps are not flickering). If it's just the meter, I'm betting on a bad connection at the bulb, or possibly a bad bulb..

Of course -- could be one of the other bulbs, not the meter bulb. I have enough bulbs to go around. Looks like I could swap them out without disturbing the cat's cradle.

I know from working on the car that I will start dropping parts into the innards by the second lamp. If I invested in one of those fuse grabber/pullers, which works best? There's one that's just a stick but I once saw a sort of tweezers that was extremely thin. I got the light bar to pop out and I can work around the string but it's super close. I really don't think I want to monkey with the dial string.

Anyone have a favorite fuse puller brand? Thanks!
 
I just use needle nose pliers to grab the fuse lamps. The led replacements are super-easy to handle like that. Wrap the tuning cord in aluminum foil to keep it safe if you’re soldering.
 
OK my fat fingers flew, and I re-lamped the thing. I eventually wiggled the light bar enough until I got it pointed upward, which was kind of a watershed moment :) Then I could compress the clamps a bit for a tighter grip. (Boy are they soft.) It still flickered so I tapped gently at the daisy chain of wires (purple mostly) along the way with a plastic thingy and heard a tiny zzzzt, and it stopped flickering. If I were smart I'd close it up and quit while I'm ahead. But what needs to be done is to melt the solder on those ten or so connections. It looks like if I de-solder that resistor over on the right, that holds it to the panel, it would likely spin the other way, and present the wires on top.

This is a little finer work than I'm used to with the iron. Gonna think a while and maybe go for it.
 
Flickering lamp dial and meter lamps are usually the result of a failing power switch. The little zzzt you heard while tapping could have been the switch arcing.

The dial lamps are powered off their own wire pair from the transformer. Those are the green wires coming to the lamp boards. Before the transformer is the power switch, then the line cord. The switch is the weakest link.
 
This old thread solved a problem I was having.
I could figure out why my lights were flickering and there was a faint sizzling sound.
Deoxit in the power switch...FIXED !
Thanks guys
 
I don't trust a Deoxit fix in a power switch. If it bad enough to need Deoxit, it probably should be changed. Deoxit is great in low voltage switches, but I don't trust it in line voltage switches.
 
I don't trust a Deoxit fix in a power switch. If it bad enough to need Deoxit, it probably should be changed. Deoxit is great in low voltage switches, but I don't trust it in line voltage switches.

I very much agree with you Steven.
That solution probably won't last long 'til the same problem occurs or get even worse.

The main thing about the arcing in the power switch is the contact pressure.
Fixed an old Akai AM2400 with that problem. Used very fine sanding paper to clean the contacts and bended the contact a tiny bit so the pressure was back again.
IMHO, using Deoxit or any other common contact cleaner you could attract dust or dirt which you do not want to have in a power switch. Contact resistance is power dissipation causing heat development.
 
I very much agree with you Steven.
That solution probably won't last long 'til the same problem occurs or get even worse.

The main thing about the arcing in the power switch is the contact pressure.
Fixed an old Akai AM2400 with that problem. Used very fine sanding paper to clean the contacts and bended the contact a tiny bit so the pressure was back again.
IMHO, using Deoxit or any other common contact cleaner you could attract dust or dirt which you do not want to have in a power switch. Contact resistance is power dissipation causing heat development.
And the fact that a new switch costs something like $12 makes it a no brainer IMO.
 
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