X202 Down for the count

walyfd

Well-Known Member
I must be cursed. No sooner does one thing get fixed and something else goes. This time it's the X202 in the console.

Played it all Christmas weekend--radio, tapes and phono. Performed flawlessly. Last night, turn it on and nothing. Barely any output on radio with volume control at max. Nothing on phono or tape... switching through stereo, reverse, left and right settings has same sound level on both speakers. Bass, treble, balance controls work as normal.

Didn't pull it out yet but no smells, hot transformers or strange looking tubes. No strange pops, hums or crackles. Even switched out the RK1 remote with the plug thinking it was that. No difference...

Not the way I was planning to spend New Years. I usually play the Guy Lombardo records and Lena Horne from the Waldorf that night.
 
I must be cursed. No sooner does one thing get fixed and something else goes. This time it's the X202 in the console.

Played it all Christmas weekend--radio, tapes and phono. Performed flawlessly. Last night, turn it on and nothing. Barely any output on radio with volume control at max. Nothing on phono or tape... switching through stereo, reverse, left and right settings has same sound level on both speakers. Bass, treble, balance controls work as normal.

Didn't pull it out yet but no smells, hot transformers or strange looking tubes. No strange pops, hums or crackles. Even switched out the RK1 remote with the plug thinking it was that. No difference...

Not the way I was planning to spend New Years. I usually play the Guy Lombardo records and Lena Horne from the Waldorf that night.

Could be as simple as a few dirty controls, try the tape monitor switch first. Hopefully it's something simple.
 
Pull and reseat the Reverb jumpers, and any other plug in the back or on top. Re-seat the tubes(may not be the problem tho). I'd also try cleaning the controls too.

You didn't play "Stormy Weather" before you shut it down, did you?
 
No reverb Jacks on the 202. I did check that the tubes were seated but no difference. With radio at full volume, flipping the tape monitor switch makes it go silent.

TPITA pulling this out of the cabinet...
 
Using the FISHER tube layout guide, check that V3 (12AT7) and V6 (12AX7) are lit up (using the Sam's literature, this would be V2 and V4 respectively). Both of these tubes service BOTH channels, so if either of these tubes fail, it will take out both channels. Additionally, the heaters of these two tubes are wired in series, so if a heater fails, then both of these tubes go dark, and again, both channels are down.

I hope that helps!

Dave
 
All tubes have power and bass, treble, balance, and tape monitor controls work. It seems the filters work as well. Still no volume on anything but radio and at full open, it is comparable to maybe 0.5...

I'll be pulling it out of the cabinet today... whatever it is came out of nowhere.
 
Sounds like the B+ voltage to one of the line amplifier stages has gone south, and the signal is passing backwards though a NFB loop around the dead stage. Once you open it up, I'd check the resistors connected to the can mounted to the upper deck......

Dave
 
It's out and i opened it up but didn't see anything out of place or burnt...

Hopefully have time to look at it tomorrow.
 
If any B+ resistors were replaced it could be as simple as a poor solder joint. The same applies to replaced electrolytic capacitor sections. Recheck B+ voltages to the Line Amp and Driver/Phase Inverter stages. If B+ is missing at the plates of any of these stages back=track to the supply resistors and capacitors and you should find the problem. The DC filament heated stages Dave mentioned may not be obvious, so double check to make sure their filaments are indeed on.

Joe
 
Here's some shots under the hood. Again, this came out of the blue after 3 years of fine performance. Plus it didn't croak while on--I turned it on 4 days after Christmas and the sound was gone...20180101_073904.jpg
 
If you're comfortable taking voltage readings with the unit all connected up and turned on up side down, the voltage readings at each of the four terminals (relative to the chassis) on the can cap of the upper deck (i.e., the deck with the Bias and DC Balance controls) could really help to isolate things. Looks like some coupling and bypass caps have been replaced, but the power supply can caps appear to be original.

Dave
 
Does the power switch have 4 poles with the power output split across the 2 different poles? I wonder if it's so, and possibly you have a bad switch.
 
Larry -- He has indicated that all the tubes are lighting up normally, and he does get some sound, but rather faintly.

Dave
 
Time to get the testing equipment out. Went over solder joints and even swapped out tubes. Hooked it back up and barely got anything from tape, same as before.

Also used both the RK remote and plug and both worked the same.

Have to go off the Sam's since my Fisher 202 diagram is barely legible. Guessing it has to be a resistor...

This is territory I'm not used to but I'll figure it out. I can't be without the console!

Suppose it's possible the marathon holiday workout killed off a weak resistor, it cooled off and that was it.
 
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