My ultimate Fisher acquisition (1800 receiver w/ box and manuals)

The 1800 powered up and showed pretty good voltages along with producing great sounding music. The FM worked briefly, then lost all reception, I plan on checking those tubes and socket connections before digging deeper. I hope it's something simple, I haven't had much success fixing FM problems. :(

20170507_103302.jpg 20170507_103307.jpg 20170507_103409.jpg
 
After checking the tubes in the FM section, I found the 6BE6 tube to be very weak. I had a NOS RCA 6BE6 to replace it with and the FM section is now working great. I will have to adjust the dial though since it is reading about 8 notches off. All temps are looking very good, and tubes are running between .27V and .29V on bias, I'd say it gets a clean bill of health now! :thumbsup:

20170507_111411.jpg 20170507_111424.jpg
 
Finished up today, dial pointer is spot on now, took the glass out and cleaned both sides very carefully, and did a thorough cleaning of the face plate. This parting shot shows one beautiful 1800 that's ready for action. I will call it finished!

20170507_124133.jpg
 
I was going to say wiggle the 6gk5 and 6AQ8 1st but you found it. I'm a bit surprised it was the 6be6 as it's in the AM section, and you lost FM. Oh well, it's fixed for now. You wanna trade??? Got a very nice '58 C-800 contemporary :D Just kidding. I'd have to be 1/2 crazy to give that one up.
 
I was going to say wiggle the 6gk5 and 6AQ8 1st but you found it. I'm a bit surprised it was the 6be6 as it's in the AM section, and you lost FM. Oh well, it's fixed for now. You wanna trade??? Got a very nice '58 C-800 contemporary :D Just kidding. I'd have to be 1/2 crazy to give that one up.
I was running the variac at 117, so with the CL-80 installed it was most likely getting 115 V when I was taking voltage readings, so I will recheck them at 120 V to verify.
 
Damn that thing is just flat out gorgeous. It's a definite AUDIO WET DREAM.
 
On the 1800, is the headphone left and right channel reversed like in many other Fisher receivers? My 400 headphone jack is reversed. One of these days, I'm going to open mine up and swap/resolder the headphone channels.
 
They are all reversed, at least all of them I have and have worked on, including the consoles that have headphone jacks.
 
Looks great. What method did you use to clean the glass to avoid damaging the lettering?
I used glass cleaner and an eye glass wiping cloth for the front, and on the lettering side I used my hot breath to create a bit of steam, then used a different wipe to lightly polish.
 
On the 1800, is the headphone left and right channel reversed like in many other Fisher receivers? My 400 headphone jack is reversed. One of these days, I'm going to open mine up and swap/resolder the headphone channels.
I never use head phones so I don't usually bother with it.
 
I used glass cleaner and an eye glass wiping cloth for the front, and on the lettering side I used my hot breath to create a bit of steam, then used a different wipe to lightly polish.

Thanks. So on the lettering side, after breathing on it, do you just blot it with a microfibre cloth or actually wipe the surface?
 
Also, on the 1800, is the lower dark brown part of the faceplate anodized like the champagne upper part? Or is the lower half part silkscreened? Can the lower part be cleaned with a damp cloth or would it damage the brown coloring?
 
Also, on the 1800, is the lower dark brown part of the faceplate anodized like the champagne upper part? Or is the lower half part silkscreened? Can the lower part be cleaned with a damp cloth or would it damage the brown coloring?
I actually had to scrub a bit on the back of the dial, but only in certain areas that didn't seem to come clean. I kept holding it up to the light to make sure I didn't have any smudges. The brown area on the 1800 seems like silkscreen to me, it fades over time from sun light, you can see after removing knobs that it's darker underneath. I used a lysol wipe which seemed to work very well, then a damp rag before wiping dry.
 
On the 1800, is the headphone left and right channel reversed like in many other Fisher receivers? My 400 headphone jack is reversed. One of these days, I'm going to open mine up and swap/resolder the headphone channels.

The old standard was right channel on the tip, left on the ring. This was an actual published standard but I can no longer find the source. This was reversed sometime during the 70s and there appears to be no published standard today, though it appears that the "standard" is now left channel on the tip. Koss (allegedly the experts) did not respond to an inquiry. They still produce a variant of the PRO-4 and it would be interesting to find a modern pair and see if they reversed it over the years.
 
I've got both the Pro-4A(1969 bought new) and the new Pro-4AA (bought last year). Both have Left on Tip. The Pro-4AA is one of the VERY FEW headphones Koss produces that still have a 1/4" Stereo plug on the cord. Everything else is 1/8"(3.5mm) and they give you a 1/8 to 1/4 adapter with them.
 
My Pro-4A was a bit earlier than 1969, but after 1965 and was right on tip. In fact, I was in the process of rewiring the jacks on the late 80s Harman Kardon equipment until discovering that the standard had been reversed.

I did find some reasoning for the current standard. Right = Red = Ring.
 
Sounds like someone got a nautical bug up their a__. Buoys in a channel are green and Red. RED=RIGHT=RETURNING So buoys are green on right, you're outgoing, and red on right returning to port.

Crap. I forgot I finagled KOSS into rewiring a new cable and jack on the pro-4A's about 12 years ago. That might be why it's Left Tip. D-'OH!!!
 
Fabulous find and kudos! Love to have me a Fisher one day. Perhaps my Marantz might grow into a Fisher soon...LOL
Thanks, most of my family were all in the military and brought home killer stereo units after being discharged, so I have a soft spot for the 1800 model knowing they helped our servicemen while on assignment. I have to wonder how many other tube units were specifically made so they could be used overseas, and sold in Military PX's. :idea:
 
Back
Top Bottom