New to me Yamaha CA-810....happy !

[Bert 1100]

Hello Yamaha people,
I'm usually posting in the Marantz forum, but today I'm with you guys...
I bought this from our local auction site, I was the only bidder at around 200usd. Not a "score" but I'm happy.
The Yamahas from this period are quite rare here (Switzerland), so when I saw it, I thought hhmmmmm I have to get this !

It's in pretty good shape, needs a good cleaning though.
A small listening yesterday night showed everything is working well, apart from the ususal contact bugs, and bulbs are out, nothing unexpected....
I quite like the sound, it's quite a bit better than my CR-820 before I restored it.

All those controls are really nice to have, different frequency tone controls, adjustable phono stage, meters....

In time it will get a full clean-up and recap and leds and more if necessary.

I have to say it is quite an impressive looking piece, heavy, and just the right size !

Here alongside with my YP-211, from the same era....

Oh, one question while we're here, is the relay the same as in the CR-820 by any chance ?
If not does anybody have a part number for the relay ? Thanks !

 

[Mr. Yamaha]

Great piece you have there, I have one myself. Really nice sounding amp! This specimen definitely needs a deep clean

I recommend to replace the bulbs with LED's, so that it will be the last time ever to change the bulbs.

Placing the LED's in a CA-810 is pretty straight forward and I used the guide as found here: http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/37009-led-replacements-for-incandescent-lamps-in-vintage-gear/

The difference is I used warm white (2700k) LED's with a wide angle of 140 degrees. Also I used two 5 Watt 1.8 K Ohm resistors to replace the original resistors in order to feed the LEDs 25 mA.

 

[Bert 1100]

Thanks for the tip on the leds. I did my CR-820 with 3mm warm white ones, top sanded off, and I made a double one for the middle, where there was only one for two meters originally. It turned out very well.

 

[Mr. Yamaha]

Thanks for the tip on the leds. I did my CR-820 with 3mm warm white ones, top sanded off, and I made a double one for the middle, where there was only one for two meters originally. It turned out very well.

Very nice. I see you live in Switzerland. LED1.de sells pretty decent LEDs for us Europeans. The warm whites they sell do nearly have the same color as bulbs: http://www.led1.de/shop/lng/en/stan...adial-beam-warm-white-800mcd-weeww01-r1m.html

 

[Bert 1100]

I still have a batch I got from bright-components.co.uk a while ago so I'll be using those . But those in your link do look nice and appropriate, thanks !

 

[Bert 1100]

Thats how I did my CR-820 : a double led for the middle light

 

[avionic]

Enough dirt in there to plant carrots.

 

[Bert 1100]

The cr-820 had twice as much dust as this ! It's not that bad really

 

[avionic]

Oh, one question while we're here, is the relay the same as in the CR-820

No.

hhttp://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Panasonic-Industrial-Devices/HC2-HP-DC24V-F/?qs=sEN/kO1EG6bEHUd8n383Ug==

 

[Bert 1100]

Thank you Avionic !

 

[avionic]

Thank you Avionic !

Before ordering a new relay. Double check the part number on the original OEM relay.

 

[dksp]

How did you find out that the relay is not working anymore? If it is not sticking, maybe there's a problem elsewhere.

I recently had to replace the light bulbs, so I did the LED upgrade on my CA-810. I used " 5mm Ultra Bright LED Warm White Emitting Light Lamp 2 Pin" form the famous auction site. Took some time to arrive though.

You can see the results here:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....ct-810-and-ca-810-ac-to-dc-conversion.740527/

 

[Bert 1100]

How did you find out that the relay is not working anymore? If it is not sticking, maybe there's a problem elsewhere.

Where did I say there is a problem ?
It's working nicely, but I intend to give it life for another 40 years, and that includes a new relay....but that will have to wait, before the CA-810 I need to do a Scott 480A, a NAD 3020i, a Scott R75S and a Technics SU-3500

anyway, thank you for the attention...

 

[dksp]

OK… that's what I thought, but it wasn't clear to me. The original relay in my CA-810 is still working flawlessly every day in the office.
I have another Yamaha amp (A-1) at home which had problems with it's relay though. I just cleaned the contacts, and its working like a charm for a year now.

 

[Bert 1100]

Now, very odd with this link.....it has one too many h at the start (hhttp...)

hhttp://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Panasonic-Industrial-Devices/HC2-HP-DC24V-F/?qs=sEN/kO1EG6bEHUd8n383Ug==

if I copy and paste the link, the browser shows me there is an error, if I remove the h, I find the 24V relay.
If I just click on the link it will open the mouser site but it will show me the 12V version of the same relay.......very strange behavior...

Anyway, I know I need the 24V DC one, so no problem !

HA! and if I click on the link from the quote in this post, the 24V comes up....mad world !

 

[Bert 1100]

I did a little cleanup, blew out the dust, and tried to clean the top grilles. Someone at some point glued some very sticky tape on them, and there was some residue on them that would just not come off .
Alcohol would just not dissolve it, and I managed to get some paint off with acetone in the process. Now they are clean but with some matt parts due to the paint having come off.....so a little painting is in order.
It's a good thing they are metal and pretty strong, they are bolted AND glued down, pretty hard to take off....

And the relay actually IS acting up, at start up, if the volume is very low, only the left channel will come in. A quick flip of the volume and the right comes in and stays fine until the next start up. To be expected after 40 years of service !

Anyway, it's playing now and sounding pretty good for an unrestored unit !
And most importantly (especially for my wife...) is that it has no strong "electronics" smell, only a just a bit like old furniture....that will go after a while and after a good cleaning I hope.

 

[zaibatsu]

You can usually pop the top off the relay and carefully clean the contacts / buff them with some super fine emery cloth.
It'll probably be good for years after.

 

[avionic]

It'll probably be good for years after.

Maybe - maybe not .If a replacement is available go with new.

 

[Bert 1100]

You can usually pop the top off the relay and carefully clean the contacts

That's what I did at first with my CR-820, and it did work for a year before I replaced the relay while I was doing the recap and leds. As long as you're going over the whole amp/receiver, might as well replace the relay, it's part of the preventive maintenance.
Now, will the new relays last as long as the old ones ? I hope so...

 

[avionic]

Don't see why not. If not, buy a spare to have on hand in 20 years.