Oh boy... poor ol' 7100 [WARNING: this thread may hurt your sensibility]

[_Attila_]

Here is the story: for a couple of days, I bought a KA 7100 on an auction website. Clearly declared as defective as "a ribbon cable is sectioned and the power led is missing", besides having a nice patchwork of knobs... Until there, nothing wild.
So here are the original pictures of the auction:

Have you noticed something? Yes? No? Maybe?

Where should I start? Hmm, maybe the faceplate: did someone used an axe on it? It's not an scratch or a scar that you can see on the first 4 pictures... When looking at it, that's what you can see:

(the picture is not so good, I will make a better one tomorrow!)

Forget about the multiple and various scratches, I knew they were here, and let's come to the next point:

Yes, someone drilled the face to put some new power led here... Have you noticed this one on the first set of pictures? I hadn't... My mistake.

Now, let's open this poor baby:

--> sectioned ribbon cable as mentioned in the auction, that's ok...
Oh, but what's that?

Yep, some more sectioned cables as well as some poor grounding on the backside...

Let's get ride of the frontfa... ARGH!!! What's that!

Maybe it's a new type of volume control? Wireless, state-of-the-art... Nice, isn't it?

Something missing, huh?

Did I mentioned the missing foot? And that there was not one screw left to hold the front PCB? No? Well, now you know...

So, now they are 3 possibilities:
- dump the unit
- store it for spare
- bring it back to life

I made my decision! Dumping the unit is no option for me! This poor little thing suffered enough in its life! :tears: Storing for parts: hmm, no, I have no 7100 in my collection :scratch2: So, only one thing left: I'll have to bring it to life And well, maybe a full recap, why not?

So, I'm looking for:
- a full set of knobs (5 caps for the switches, a volume knob, the speaker selector one, the 3 for the tone and balance control, and the 4 for input, tape, loudness and mode)
- a ribbon cable (not a must be, I think I can replace with some different cable, have to search for something suitable...)
- most important thing: a volume potentiometer
- a foot, so Kenny can stand on his own feet
- pictures of your units to see where the ground cables should be
- tons of hope, as I don't know in which condition the rest of the amp is...

Sorry for the long post, I was a little bit sad because of the poor condition this unit is in... And really p!$$€d off when I saw the missing volume pot...

Cheers!

 

[gyrene]

Attila I think you have a very do able project there.Hopefully you did not pay too much for it but in my opinion it can be done.
Thanks for choosing the ressurection over storage or worse even...the dumps!

 

[EchoWars]

7100's a re great amps, but Fleabay is awash with them for cheap prices. I don't think I'd personally be inclined to put a huge amount of effort into it, but the experience gained in getting it working is certainly valuable.

 

[_Attila_]

Thanks gyrene. There is no way for me to throw it away! Price was okay, at least for a unit with only cosmetic problems and a sectioned ribbon cable: $36
with shipping...

7100's a re great amps, but Fleabay is awash with them for cheap prices. I don't think I'd personally be inclined to put a huge amount of effort into it, but the experience gained in getting it working is certainly valuable.

Yes, in the US... Here in Germany, they are not so much, and pricing is in the region of $150 with shipping for a working unit. For a recapped one, ad 50%, at least...
Plus, it's a hobby. Yes, I could buy only working or pristine units, but where would the fun be? And for this one, I'll try a deep cleaning with deflux and everything. At least, like you wrote, I'll gain some valuable experience.

Any tests I can do to check the condition of the rest of this unit?
And if someone has some spare parts (a volume pot...) or now some replacement for the pot, please feel free to contact me!

 

[Arkay]

I think it is good to restore something for the love of it and for the learning experience. You don't always have to make money on every project, and there is no harm in willingly putting in more time (or even money!) than a piece is "worth". After all, for most of us this is a hobby, not a business or livelihood. For the professional techs who earn their living from audio, such projects don't make sense, but for a hobbyist, it is fine.

What bothers me is that the original pics showed the little power light flange as present; the last pic just shows an empty hole, as if someone removed the light. :nono: It looks like some hack not only butchered it, but partially stripped it, prior to sale. Such people should be and you might have a claim to some partial (or full?) refund if the thing was misrepresented and not as pictured.

 

[_Attila_]

What bothers me is that the original pics showed the little power light flange as present; the last pic just shows an empty hole, as if someone removed the light. :nono: It looks like some hack not only butchered it, but partially stripped it, prior to sale. Such people should be and you might have a claim to some partial (or full?) refund if the thing was misrepresented and not as pictured.

Yes, I removed the flange to have a look at the hole. The unit came with this flange, but it's not original. Has been added to fit some led on the faceplate :thumbsdn:

But yes, I will contact the seller, as there was no mention of the missing foot and more important the missing volume pot (which has been replaced by some scrap just to hold the volume knob...). Want to see what he has to say to this :scratch2:

 

[gyrene]

Attila here is a link for you to look at:http://images.google.com/imgres?img...dual+concentric+potentiometer+100k&hl=en&um=1

If you can open it take a look about half way down the page to the Balance pots and then Stacked pots.
Maybe they will help you out?

 

[SoCal Sam]

If you are mad about another unsatisfactory transaction on THAT SITE, by all means fix the 7100. EW is right, the deal doesn't pencil out if you decide to fix. I would wait of a beater 7100 so you can swap parts and make one good one. At least you have a nice faceplate.

 

[devoid]

Good to see transcendence above dollars for the sake of recovering near lost labor in the manufacture of that piece and retaining the quality from the past which so often is so much more than what is produced these days. The results of a labor of love often end up doing more good to the pocket than setting out to make a profit. As far as that auction, I feel burned and I wasn't the one who bought it. That seller is one of the reasons I've come to see ebay as a cheap flee market full of trashy people with stuff even walmart didn't want to sell.

 

[gyrene]

I'm looking at one right now but the shipping charge kills the deal for me.
Darn...

 

[_Attila_]

Thanks to everyone for your answers!
Well, on this deal, I was aware of the beaten-up faceplate as well as of the sectioned ribbon cable and patchwork knobs. Fixing a cable isn't a big deal, the knobs are cosmetics, and I could have wait to find some. What's really p!$$1ng me of is the missing volume pot, which has be desoldered from the pcb and make the whole unit more or less worthless... I think I'll have a hard time finding a new one :cry:
If someone is planing to get a spare parts unit, maybe he can contact me so we can share the costs... You know which parts I'm looking for!

Oh, and if someone know which other kenwood units are sharing the knobs with the 7100, that would be a great help too!

 

[Bigears]

Parts KA-7100

I have a nice parts 7100 and you have a PM.

 

[_Attila_]

I have a nice parts 7100 and you have a PM.

You've got an answer!

 

[chet69]

Everything seems to be easy to get at on the KA-7100 so you should have an easy time recapping it. I think it would be worth it to fix it if you don't get into too much of a hurry. :yes:

 

[gearhead]

At least you have a nice faceplate.

This is nice?
How does this even happen?
Good luck, Attila, I admire your desire to save this unit.

 

[_Attila_]

Everything seems to be easy to get at on the KA-7100 so you should have an easy time recapping it. I think it would be worth it to fix it if you don't get into too much of a hurry. :yes:

Yes, easy to access, but finding parts for her in Germany isn't that easy!
Now I'm just waiting for the parts to come, do a quick test on the unit, to see if everything is working, and then go recap!

[...]
How does this even happen?
Good luck, Attila, I admire your desire to save this unit.

Thanks Gearhead!
How does this happen? Well, an axe, or maybe thrown away and dropped in a dumpster...