Fair price for a 9090 with iffy channel?

[akahn]

Fair price for a 9090 with iffy channel EDIT: How do I fix my 9090's right channel?

There's a Sansui 9090 up on CL with a problematic right channel. Other than that, the thing is in good condition; the guy even claims it had been serviced a year ago. What would be a fair offer to make? (For reference, the guy wants $250 for the receiver plus 'matching' speakers.) Thanks!

 

[nosirrah]

9090

If you don`t get killed on freight it may be worth about $50...if the condition is good, lots of parts units around for it, I have some parts and no 9090 as yet...
Casey :yes:

 

[akahn]

This is a semi-local item so I'd be picking it up. But don't you think the buyer would balk at a $50 offer considering he was asking $250 for the receiver and speakers together?

BTW, here's the email he sent me after I asked about the condition, etc:

Hmm... I hadn't thought about a price for just the receiver. I'll have to
think about it -- make an offer. The right channel is cutting in and out
like it has a bad connection. The power meter for the right channel
when its out doesn't respond, so maybe its mainly dusty/loose. A
year ago when I had it worked on the protection circuit was tripped
and a few things there had to be repaired. (I had the work done at
the audio place in the garage in harvard square).

And I'm familiar with the shop he's referring to, several MA AKers trust it.

 

[vintagestereo]

This is a semi-local item so I'd be picking it up. But don't you think the buyer would balk at a $50 offer considering he was asking $250 for the receiver and speakers together?

BTW, here's the email he sent me after I asked about the condition, etc:

And I'm familiar with the shop he's referring to, several MA AKers trust it.

It may just need a decent shot of De-Oxit. If that's all, then it's well worth $250.00 in decent condition. The Seller would be NUTS to give it away for $50.00.....unless he just doesn't give a *$#%. If I were that cheap, I'd hide my face behind a piece of paper too!! :lmao:

 

[akahn]

If I were that cheap, I'd hide my face behind a piece of paper too!! :lmao:

I don't understand. Who's being cheap? A piece of paper?

I guess the trouble is that I'm not sure if it's just some DeOxit that this piece needs. And I agree that this thing is worth more than $50, even if it's not working.

 

[vintagestereo]

I don't understand. Who's being cheap? A piece of paper?

I guess the trouble is that I'm not sure if it's just some DeOxit that this piece needs. And I agree that this thing is worth more than $50, even if it's not working.

OK...now we're on the same wavelength!!!

 

[dr*audio]

I just fixed a 9090dB with the same problem. There are several things that can cause this, none serious:
1. Dirty controls.
2. Dirty speaker relay contacts.
3. On the one I workd on, there are many feedthrus on the Dolby board to connect the 2 sides of the cicuit board. Sansui had trouble with these early 2 sided boards and the feedthrus become intermittant. You just have to solder every single feedthru on the Dolby board.
4. Another problem this receiver had is there are 4 flat flexible cables connecting the Dolby board and the switch board. The darn cables are very short, making it difficult to remove the 2 boards to clean the controls or work on them. This makes the flat cables prone to damage. The cables can then become intermittant, requiring replacement. Of course you'll never get the original parts so you can use ribbon cable, available at Digikey. This gives you the opportunity to replace the cables with a longer length cable so the boards can be easily removed in the future.

I agree on the price, I wouldn't pay more than $50 for anything that wasn't working.

 

[akahn]

AFAIK, this isn't the DB model. That would rule out the Dolby related problems. The other problems are ones I think I'd be able to handle. Well, I offered the guy $120 about 2 hours ago, waiting to hear from him.

 

[LBPete]

akahn,
It may be as simple as dirty controls. Sansui function switches are notorious for bad contacts. I have a couple of 9090DBs that I use on a very regular basis. They have both been thoroughly cleaned but still occasionally drop a channel until you jiggle the function or Dolby switches. Then all is right with the world. It's a minor annoyance that must be tolerated in vintage equipment. (By the way, anyone can see that it's not a piece of paper, its a 45 dust jacket.)

For anyone out there that have none working 9090 or 9090dbs, I'm interested in what you might have and depending on the shipping cost can pay more than $50.

Warren, do you have a part number for that digikey ribbon cable? Does it have the same spacing between the leads as the original flexible PC boards that Sansui used? I've used the typical grey computer ribbon cable and just skipped every other strand to get the right spacing. It is a real pain in the ass to strip the insulation on that stuff.

- Pete

 

[nosirrah]

9090

Pete, I have a non DB 9090 that is truly parts only, and I bought it for $25, thought I`d keep it against getting a 9090 someday, it has no tuner section, the previous owner was a kid who took the tuner section out as it was INOP and used the unit as an amp, I robbed the case for use on my 8080, and I gave a friend a couple knobs...the faceplate glass is broken as well.
If there is something specific you need let me know, otherwise it will remain in the overhead storage in my shop till I get a 9090 that needs something.
Casey :yes:

 

[LBPete]

nosirrah, thanks for the offer. I very much need a function switch for a 9090 (non-DB) to replace one with a busted wafer. Any chance it's still there? I'll PM you.

- Pete

 

[dr*audio]

Warren, do you have a part number for that digikey ribbon cable? Does it have the same spacing between the leads as the original flexible PC boards that Sansui used? I've used the typical grey computer ribbon cable and just skipped every other strand to get the right spacing. It is a real pain in the ass to strip the insulation on that stuff.

- Pete

No, I used the computer stuff, too, but I didn't skip wires, I just split the ends apart. If you make a longer split in the middle, 5 wires on each side, you can easily manipulate the wires to fit the wider spacing.. Theoretically you should be able to find something with similar spacing. I went to Electronics Surplus here in town,. and I was looking through their ribbon cable. I found one with the correct spacing but it only had 9 conductors. About a mile down the road on the way home I realized I could have just used 2 groups of 5 to make the 10 conductors I needed. Oh, well.

 

[akahn]

The seller accepted my offer of $120. I'm going to try out the receiver later this week and if it seems like the problem is simply dirty pots/switches, I will buy. If I end up buying it, this will be my first 'big' receiver.

 

[akahn]

Well, I picked up this unit today and the right channel wasn't working, but when we turned up the volume, some scratchy sound came in. I took the top off... now how do I get at these pots? Can someone direct, me please? (I've only done this once before.)

 

[akahn]

Okay, well, I did a bit of exploring in the 9090, took away the upper part of the faceplate to get at the pots. I sprayed a bunch, twisted a bunch and I'm thinking... is this something more serious than dirty pots? Seems like it might be/probably is.

 

[Balthazarr]

Blow it out if you have access to compressed air.
Then spray.
Try the easy stuff first.
If no go, then check for broken solder connections etc.

 

[akahn]

Thanks for the reply. That makes me feel a bit better about not having to bring this to a shop (though if it was worth it and necessary, I think I'd bite the bullet and pay the fee).

About the air... this thing appears to be immaculate inside. I'll blow some air in there, but it looks pretty good already. I guess there's probably plenty of invisible grime, too.

I think I could use some tips on cleaning the pots & switches, especially the switches... namely, what part of the behind-the-switch area do I spray? I know where to spray a pot, but not a switch (or a push-button, too).

Thanks again, I'll keep at this!

 

[LBPete]

You need to take the bottom panel off. That will give you better access to many of the pots and switches. What you can't get from there need to be accessed with the tuner assembly removed. To do that you need to remove the face plate and then the 8 or so screws that hold the tuner assembly down to the main chassis. It's pretty streight forward if you are comfortable taking stuff apart (and putting it back together).

 

[dr*audio]

You need to take the bottom panel off. That will give you better access to many of the pots and switches. What you can't get from there need to be accessed with the tuner assembly removed. To do that you need to remove the face plate and then the 8 or so screws that hold the tuner assembly down to the main chassis. It's pretty streight forward if you are comfortable taking stuff apart (and putting it back together).

Pete, as my algebra teacher used to say, "That's like going to Chagrin Falls by way of outer Siberia!"
You don't have to take the tuner out to get to the pots. If you remove the front panel you can get to the nuts and screws that hold the tone control board, volume control board, Dolby board, and switch board. I think he said this one is just a 9090, so no dolby board to remove. Anyway the boards come out from the bottom.
Make sure you clean the switch for the speakers also. don't forget the obvious; the jumper on the back for preamp out to poweramp in could be missing for one channel! Also on the bottom is the speaker relay. Wiggle that and see if the channel come back in; could be the contacts need cleaning.

 

[akahn]

Thanks for chiming in, guys.

dr*audio, could you describe what the speaker relay looks like? I'm not sure what I'm looking for...