Onkyo T-4040 tuning issue

Skwrlus

New Member
Hi all,

I have an Onkyo T-4040 that only pulls a few stations, and I'm in a major metro area with lots of strong signal. I've tried a variety of antenna configs. It sounds great on the few stations it pulls, but I can get more stations in my car or my 1950s Zenith than this thing. Can anyone suggest a starting point for cleaning or maintenance to get it working better.

Thanks in advance!
 
Looks like this

If you're in an area with a lot of strong signals and it's not able to receive them, and it's an analog tuner, it clearly needs an alignment. Something you can't do yourself unless you have a lot of specialized equipment [rf signal generator, high frequency oscilloscope] and a technical background.
 
Hi all,

I have an Onkyo T-4040 that only pulls a few stations, and I'm in a major metro area with lots of strong signal. I've tried a variety of antenna configs. It sounds great on the few stations it pulls, but I can get more stations in my car or my 1950s Zenith than this thing. Can anyone suggest a starting point for cleaning or maintenance to get it working better.

Thanks in advance!
You can tune them in pretty well just by sweeping the adjustments. It helps if you have a service manual, but not even necessary. Try sweeping each trimmer-cap and tuner coil starting at the lowest numbered adjustment on the board. They usually start at '1'. This will be starting at the antenna and front end and working inwards. While sweeping each adjustment back and forth, watch the signal meter and center it on the highest level. It helps to have a manual to know what points are AM and what is FM, but it can be done by process of elimination by making notes what each does. Some adjustments will have a "hard" edge one way and a "soft" edge the other. It will fade slowly in one direction(soft edge) and get clear right before it turns to distortion(hard edge) the other direction. You want to get it in the clear amplified stage before the distortion. If you have a good ear you can get some of these pretty much right on. Just repeat the procedure as many times as necessary to make sure one stage didn't negatively effect the ones you just tuned before it.
This should at least tell you if it just needs an alignment. If something is broke, you will need the proper equipment to diagnose and properly align it. I have had tuners go from receiving no stations at all, to the best reception of any tuner I have tried by doing this. I would focus mostly on the trimmer caps and coils though. The potentiometers on the board can be for filters and stereo separation, which may be hard to hear and set right. Also a couple pots. usually for the AM and FM meter levels adjustment as well.
Let me know if it comes back to life!
 
Last edited:
^^^^^^
Above is a recipe for really messing up your alignment. Adjusting willy nilly to peak the signal meter for a peak my make one station come in good at the expense of other area's on the dial. Trim caps should be adjusted at the upper end of the dial. At about 106Mhz, Trim Coils at the lower end. The local oscillator adjustment is typically farthest from the antenna and can truly mess up where stations appear on peaked at one station.

If your going to play with the pots, mark them. So you can return them to originally position. They rarely need more than an nudge. Sweeping from FCC to FCW will likely cause more issues, unless you know what you adjusting.
 
^^^^^^
Above is a recipe for really messing up your alignment. Adjusting willy nilly to peak the signal meter for a peak my make one station come in good at the expense of other area's on the dial. Trim caps should be adjusted at the upper end of the dial. At about 106Mhz, Trim Coils at the lower end. The local oscillator adjustment is typically farthest from the antenna and can truly mess up where stations appear on peaked at one station.

If your going to play with the pots, mark them. So you can return them to originally position. They rarely need more than an nudge. Sweeping from FCC to FCW will likely cause more issues, unless you know what you adjusting.
Well it works for a guy who doesn't have access to the proper equipment. And yes multiple stations on the dial should be tried and listened to and original position and turns should be noted, etc. Oscillator trimmer is the most likely to be corroded and in need of a cleaning. Working it can sometimes fix the entire problem. If you can't hear the difference, then your hearing isn't good enough to warrant an alignment. I have tested many old tuners this way and it has always improved the signal strength and quality of sound. It is a diagnostic approach that can determine what condition the tuner circuit is in and verified with a proper alignment afterwards. It takes a few minutes to do. Tuner doesn't work at the moment, so what is to lose? Needs an alignment anyway.
 
Back
Top Bottom