Sharp Optonica RP-114VL - HELP

[MRL_Audio]

Up front I'll state this is a novelty piece. It was a mid to lower end unit in it's day and remains so today. I picked up two of these a couple of years ago as I was trying to collect vertical tables at the time. I am blown away by the escalation in the price of these units. I paid less than $200 for each one and they are fetching $650+ on the bay. There were two, maybe three models in the 114 family. 114VL, 114H & 114C. There were other Optonica verticals as well. I have been successful at refurbishing one. The 114VL. Thankfully have a service manual for that one.. The "H" version is international and has a switch that allows for switching between 110, 220 and 240. Of course being in the US I have it selected for 110. When I push the power button she lights up. At least the lights on the front light up as they should. Beyond that when I try to execute basic functions like getting the motor to run to spin the platter nothing happens. I have checked that the power cord is delivering ~120v to the unit. That the fuse is good and provides continuity. That the transformer is providing 18v to the board. Beyond that I am at a loss on where to go from here.

It's great that it lights but the rest of it leaves me confused... any thoughts on next steps on how to diagnose where my problem may be? Thanks for looking...

 

[bimasta]

Your avatar shows you are mature enough to handle this on your own.

 

[MRL_Audio]

Huh...?

 

[Markoneswift]

Are your door interlock micro switches good ? There's a lot of similarities between this deck and the one in the Sharp VZ-3000 that I successfully repaired a while back. I'd say they are a bit more than a novelty, I though the deck in the VZ sounded really good although I've never heard a 114.

On my VZ deck, I had to replace the door open and door closed switches. I also had to adjust the toner arm position switch, where the cam wheel interacts with it. After that, I had to replace a transistor which drove the side A / B selector solenoid and I had to replace the A / B signal path relay. Worked nice after all that - oh and all the lamps were out so had to replace those too

 

[Markoneswift]

VE have a schematic for the 114C but it is just a schematic, no description of the circuits at all. If you have power, that's a good start ! You're going to have to be very methodical and follow through all the functions to see where the issue is.

For example - again going on my VZ experience, if the CPU thinks the door is open the motor will not run. If the door open switch is working, but the door closed switch is broken, again the CPU will not run the motor.

I would have a good sniff around the door and check there and also around all the CPU pin voltages and look for anything unusual.

Does the eject button open the door ? The door will only open if power is being received properly.

 

[Markoneswift]

An excellent basic repair and walkthrough of the RP-114 by British Youtuber 'Techmoan' (Matt). Gives a good clear look inside the machine, belt replacement etc.

 

[Markoneswift]

Here's my VZ3000......



and the resto thread.......

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....oth-sides-play-linear-tracking-system.724041/

 

[perryinva]

Any chance the OP still has a copy of the service manual for the 114? I could sure use it!!!! PM me please! I was given a couple of audio pieces by a friend that said “I heard you like old stereo stuff, and I got a bunch of stuff from the widow of a friend that begged me to take it because it was her husbands favorite stuff. I don’t want it, so yours if you do. “ He told me the guy hadn’t used most of it for quite a few years as he was over 80 when he passed away.

So of course I took it : Optonica 114VL, Sharp 117, JVC R-X80 receiver, BSR Q-3000 Eq/analyzer, Sony K555 cassette deck, and a Tandberg 64X RTR. All the gear, except the Tandberg 64X dust cover is in superb cosmetics. Guy really took care of his stuff. Need service manuals for the 114 and 117, but they appear to just need platter belts. The rest I found.

 

[WaynerN]

Here is a stupid question. This unit is a belt drive...correct? If so, did you check the belt?

 

[perryinva]

Yes, I said they appear to just need belts. Meaning once I replace the belt, it should be fine. But if it’s not, the manual would be nice to have around. The 114 belt is easy to replace, as shown in the youtube. Also, the 117 is considerably more difficult to access the belt, and the drawer does not stay closed, so a manual for either may be helpful as they are the same company and will have similar constructon methods. Both stil have styli bit their age and wear would be suspect. I doubt they are originals, as both have Audiotechnica symbols on the styli, so they may still be fine for occasional novelty use or even resale.

 

[MRL_Audio]

Perry will send them when I can on Saturday.

 

[perryinva]

Absolutely no rush whatsoever. At your convenience. That would be great. Found the gear is split on the pinion for the drawer of the 117. Looking at getting one printed.

 

[MRL_Audio]

Buy one on eBay. Great seller to deal with. There are also the oft broken switches for the drawer that signal open and closed available there. Different seller. Amazing that they are available.

 

[perryinva]

Thanks! Already ordered gear, switches & belt. You’re right, that was a shocker those are available at all! I suppose the styli on LP gear are the only ones available?

 

[MRL_Audio]

Can’t recall. Just remember they were not hard to find.

 

[MRL_Audio]

Perry sent you 5 emails worth of info. Some large files in the mix. Let us know how you get along.

 

[perryinva]

Got the emails and all parts ordered. Belts actually showed up. yesterday. Gears and switches in a week. Looks to be a fun diversion from the usual. I found where the replacement styli are listed at 2.2 gr so not actually that bad for a conical on a linear. If the W&F are good for these almost platterless units it will be a fun novelty and for the wife to use without taking up “valuable” furniture top real estate in the living room.

 

[perryinva]

Just to resurrect this thread, I did actually rebuild the 117 and it is a blast of a novelty to use. I actually didn’t get around to the 114VL until this past weekend. While a much more BPC design, it’s performance surprised me with the original elliptical AT styli in it. This unit had basically never been used, according to the man’s widow. He bought it for her to use because it was very easy to use and played both sides. She claimed she only used it a few times, them it went back in a box in the closet during a move, where it stayed until he died.

it certainly appears to be the truth. New belts, one new cap, and it was playing quite well, except for a distinct quality and level difference between Side A & B. Investigation showed they used a 221d012 12vDC DPDT open contact relay directly between the cartridge leads to switch the output from Cart A to Cart B. This is the exact same notorious relay used in some Nakamichi tape decks of the same era (1982), notably the 1000zxl, that causes all kinds of problems. I swapped out a sealed Axicom relay with a homemade adapter made from a 16pin IC socket to match the original relay footprint, and the difference was astounding. It REALLY sounds excellent!! Absolutely worth the $5 and an bit of time with the soldering iron to make both sides very commendable for this type of unit. I can post pics of the relay with adapter if anyone is interested. It really is a hoot to use, too, with my lesser records. I will still be selling it, I just have too many tables and not enough room, but it will be closer to the holidays I think, while I play with it, LOL.

 

[perryinva]

Here are the pics:

 

[perryinva]

On a similar note, prompted by the improvement the new relay made on the RP-114vl, I went back to the newer (1984/5) RP-117, which is a motorized front loading both side player from Sharp that uses the original 4066 cmos switch to switch carts. I went ahead and swapped that with the better, lower distortion and more linear Maxim MAX4066acp+ chip and it made a nice improvement in the sound. Better bass and clearer highs. Still a novelty player, for sure, but any improvement helps. I had already installed new styli on it, which actually made the biggest difference. I think the replacements are just a smaller diameter conical than the original.