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Fisher 500B First Steps

Stuff that's horribly broken can still serve as an iron donor. So long as the transformers are good the rest can be fixed or abandoned as needed
 
zackthedog said:
I have to agree with some of the others here that the 500B is a heck of a first project to try to tackle, especially if you have absolutely no previous experience with tube equipment. There's a LOT that probably needs to be done and it needs to be done expertly if the unit is 1) going to work properly and 2) retain its considerable value. Even if you were able to get it running, it's not going to sound the way it should until it has some restoration work done.

If you are in the Mid-Atlantic region, contact Bruce Wenger at BWS Tube (bwstube.com). He's in VA. He has repaired, restored and/or upgraded dozens of 500's. He can give you a choice of just getting it working or upgrading the unit.

If you are not in that area, ask in the Fisher forum for the location of a skilled tech near you.
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PS. I'll just add that I've repaired or rebuilt my fair share of basic tube integrateds and monoblocks--Scott, Pilot, Heathkit, H-K--and even I would hesitate to crack open a Fisher 500.
 
Thank you! I deeply appreciate every response. From personal safety to complexity of a 500 as a first project and encouragement to learn with the understanding that I could kill myself and/or ruin an otherwise valuable piece of vintage gear, I have a lot to think about.

I guess I'll start by watching the videos and inquiring about tube techs in Minnesota in the Fisher forum.

The spectrum of responses has been more than I could have hoped for! Again, thank you everyone.
 
I've rebuilt both a 400 and a 500c along with a Sansui 1000a. Receivers can be a bit complicated but taken bit by bit not terrible. Start with the power supply, then the power amp and work backward to the preamp section. The Fishers were a bit complicated as I followed Dave Gillespie's improvement articles which included quite a few changes/improvements. The results were great and worth the effort. The Sansui was complicated by the fact that the older Japanese amps and receivers were an rat's nest of components and wiring.

Have fun, go slow, and do it bit by bit checking your work after every session.
John
 
Mr Boochie said:
Welcome to the site! :thumbsup:

The first thing I would do is find the best tube tech near you. You have one of the more complex tube receivers that was built in numbers. If you try to DIY this puppy as the first rodeo, you're likely to get frustrated and fail.

The other thing to consider is that most good techs that I know do not like working on "basket cases." Units that are torn apart with all kinds of mods, and may have parts in boxes.

Don't rush to get this unit working. Take your time and think about things before whipping out the soldering iron and wire cutters.

Here's a link to download the schematic. Do this first to get a better feel for what you may be tackling.

Just a little public service announcement. ;)
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Thank you for the schematic. Is there any chance you have access to one for the later builds? Mine has a serial number in the 37,000 range. I'm not at all sure I'll end up trying this myself, but pairing the receiver with its schematic might help whomever gets this thing back to making music.
 
jfalv said:
Thank you for the schematic. Is there any chance you have access to one for the later builds? Mine has a serial number in the 37,000 range. I'm not at all sure I'll end up trying this myself, but pairing the receiver with its schematic might help whomever gets this thing back to making music.
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No, that is the best schematic that I could find on the 500B.

If you decide to tackle this, the first thing that I would recommend is to make a list of what needs to be replaced, all the problems the unit currently has, and where you want to go with this project.

It will become a test bed for you, so if resale is one of your endpoints, you could get more money selling it as-is, than if you have a half-finished, non-working unit.

If you don't mind the possibility of a half-fixed unit that may need to be put on hold for a while (or longer), then that is okay, too.

Good luck!

:thumbsup:
 
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I have the service manual for serial numbers 20001 to 39999. I can email it but it is too big to attach here. You can also download it from HiFiEngine but you have to sign up for an account.
 
The Fisher 500/800 series receivers are somewhat complicated as mentioned above. But that's not a game stopper. Fisher used good coupling capacitors (Unlike HH Scott, one of my favorites) and they are almost never leaky. As others have mentioned, slow progression... And, yes that power switch is know to be a high failure rate. If it is the issue, please don't cut the cord and put a switch in it. Rather, use a power strip with a switch.
 
jfalv said:
Thank you for the schematic. Is there any chance you have access to one for the later builds? Mine has a serial number in the 37,000 range. I'm not at all sure I'll end up trying this myself, but pairing the receiver with its schematic might help whomever gets this thing back to making music.
Click to expand...

This is for a 500-B, serial number 36500+

http://www.wwdsltd.com/files/Fisher 500-B Schematic sn 36501.jpg

The limits of the thumbnail sizes allowed here diminish the resolution to a nearly unusable image. The linked file is clear enough at 13" x 15" @ 300DPI
 
That is part of the thread with details about a 500B rework.

https://audiokarma.org/forums/threads/broken-on-off-control-in-800c-options.910067/post-13688424

And another good thread to review as reference:

B

Thread 'Fisher 500B Tube & Component Questions'

Over the weekend I ended up buying a 500B for what I though was a fair price.

It looked dirty but I could see the real jewel lurking beneath the dirty exterior. Since it was a very busy weekend, I just now had some time to look it over and write things down.

My main questions are about the tubes and does it appear to have any service work/component repair done. I noticed a repair shop sticker on the back of a transformer but the shop is closed permanently. Nothing really jumps out as new on the underside but I’m not knowledgeable at all with Fisher items.

The second question was...
 
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