SmokedPorter
New Member
I am not a technician and need advice on getting upgrades done on two CR-2020s. See “Background” below regarding the our two CR-2020s. Anything will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
A couple of days ago I dug out our two CR-2020 receivers to look further into the speaker protection relay issue. Neither of these units have had service bulletins performed or appear to have been in a repair shop. I’ve been aware of the service bulletin for years but haven’t had much luck finding a service provider in south central Wisconsin near Madison.
I decided to inspect the electrolytic capacitor boards in each unit for damage or loose solder joints. I carefully removed the huge transformer (4 screws and swing out of the way) to gain easier access to the electrolytic capacitor and power supply boards.
CR-2020 unit #1 without sound (no relay click) - visually did not appear abused. Nothing burned but slight darkening around the base of the regulator transistors. There were several solder joints on the electrolytic capacitor board that looked bad even from my inexperienced perspective. I grabbed my solder iron and touched up the joints. I reassembled everything and turned it on. Three seconds and the relay clicked. The unit played fine and sounded great. Then I noticed that I forgot to install the hold down bracket for the electrolytic capacitor board. Upon dismantling and reassembling again two wires disconnected from the top of the electrolytic capacitor board. I soldered the connections and put everything back together again. When I turned the unit back on, nothing. I do not have the skills or equipment to investigate further.
CR-2020 unit #2 also without sound (no relay click) - visually did not appear abused. Same thing, nothing burned but slight darkening around the base of the regulator transistors. Similar to unit #1 I noticed several solder joints on the electrolytic capacitor board that looked bad. Again, I grabbed my solder iron and touched up the joints. I reassembled everything and turned it on. Three seconds and the relay clicked. The unit played fine and sounded great. And it played and played. BlueTooth (test input) from my phone and the radio continuously including through the night. I’m listening to unit #2 right now and realize that it’s on borrowed time until the proper service updates are done.
Thank you!
Background
Initial exposure to Yamaha Audio
In 1978 I traded in a Marantz 2275 for the Yamaha CR-2020. About a year later the CR-2020 began having intermittent speaker relay issues. The receiver went into the local authorized repair shop three times with no resolution. The audio store where I purchased the CR-2020 from offered a warranty trade-in/upgrade to the new CR-2040. I still own the CR-2040 and it was beautifully repaired (channel) and recapped several years ago by an AK member. I play the CR-2040 every day that we’re home.
eBay CR-2020 (unit # 1)
Before the CR-2040 was repaired and recapped our older son took an interest in vinyl and in particular plugging his turntable into my CR-2040. I wanted to find a similar CR-nnnn for our son. I had a search going on eBay for a few weeks and one morning a very nice CR-2020 (Buy It Now $200) came up in my search results. As you can imagine, I hit the buy button immediately. Our son used the eBay CR-2020 for a few years until the speaker protection relay issue rendered it silent.
Brother’s CR-2020 (unit #2)
Back in the 70s my younger brother (Florida) purchased a CR-1020 which he still owns. He bought an immaculate CR-2020 about 15 years ago. Eventually, the speaker relay issue started in and my brother changed his mind about owning two Yamaha receivers. He shipped the CR-2020 to me as a gift. I used the receiver for a couple of years and eventually the speaker protection relay issue idled the unit.
A couple of days ago I dug out our two CR-2020 receivers to look further into the speaker protection relay issue. Neither of these units have had service bulletins performed or appear to have been in a repair shop. I’ve been aware of the service bulletin for years but haven’t had much luck finding a service provider in south central Wisconsin near Madison.
I decided to inspect the electrolytic capacitor boards in each unit for damage or loose solder joints. I carefully removed the huge transformer (4 screws and swing out of the way) to gain easier access to the electrolytic capacitor and power supply boards.
CR-2020 unit #1 without sound (no relay click) - visually did not appear abused. Nothing burned but slight darkening around the base of the regulator transistors. There were several solder joints on the electrolytic capacitor board that looked bad even from my inexperienced perspective. I grabbed my solder iron and touched up the joints. I reassembled everything and turned it on. Three seconds and the relay clicked. The unit played fine and sounded great. Then I noticed that I forgot to install the hold down bracket for the electrolytic capacitor board. Upon dismantling and reassembling again two wires disconnected from the top of the electrolytic capacitor board. I soldered the connections and put everything back together again. When I turned the unit back on, nothing. I do not have the skills or equipment to investigate further.
CR-2020 unit #2 also without sound (no relay click) - visually did not appear abused. Same thing, nothing burned but slight darkening around the base of the regulator transistors. Similar to unit #1 I noticed several solder joints on the electrolytic capacitor board that looked bad. Again, I grabbed my solder iron and touched up the joints. I reassembled everything and turned it on. Three seconds and the relay clicked. The unit played fine and sounded great. And it played and played. BlueTooth (test input) from my phone and the radio continuously including through the night. I’m listening to unit #2 right now and realize that it’s on borrowed time until the proper service updates are done.
Thank you!
Background
Initial exposure to Yamaha Audio
In 1978 I traded in a Marantz 2275 for the Yamaha CR-2020. About a year later the CR-2020 began having intermittent speaker relay issues. The receiver went into the local authorized repair shop three times with no resolution. The audio store where I purchased the CR-2020 from offered a warranty trade-in/upgrade to the new CR-2040. I still own the CR-2040 and it was beautifully repaired (channel) and recapped several years ago by an AK member. I play the CR-2040 every day that we’re home.
eBay CR-2020 (unit # 1)
Before the CR-2040 was repaired and recapped our older son took an interest in vinyl and in particular plugging his turntable into my CR-2040. I wanted to find a similar CR-nnnn for our son. I had a search going on eBay for a few weeks and one morning a very nice CR-2020 (Buy It Now $200) came up in my search results. As you can imagine, I hit the buy button immediately. Our son used the eBay CR-2020 for a few years until the speaker protection relay issue rendered it silent.
Brother’s CR-2020 (unit #2)
Back in the 70s my younger brother (Florida) purchased a CR-1020 which he still owns. He bought an immaculate CR-2020 about 15 years ago. Eventually, the speaker relay issue started in and my brother changed his mind about owning two Yamaha receivers. He shipped the CR-2020 to me as a gift. I used the receiver for a couple of years and eventually the speaker protection relay issue idled the unit.
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Glad its still serving you well.
