Fisher TA 600 Resto, anyone?

[dsndblm]

I have a nice, working Fisher TA 600. I have all the parts together to start the restoration so I can use it as a daily driver. I started this afternoon and man alive this resto is going to be a long process. It's so tight I can't get my soldering iron in a couple of places to replace the old caps. :drool: The amp section isn't bad but the preamp and radio sections are a nightmare. Has anyone else restored one of the TA-600's? If so, any tips?

 

[NYListens]

I have a nice, working Fisher TA 600. I have all the parts together to start the restoration so I can use it as a daily driver. I started this afternoon and man alive this resto is going to be a long process. It's so tight I can't get my soldering iron in a couple of places to replace the old caps. :drool: The amp section isn't bad but the preamp and radio sections are a nightmare. Has anyone else restored one of the TA-600's? If so, any tips?

Yup, the TA 600 is tight. Go slow, you will do fine. I did need to clip a few leads and bend them over instead of stripping them out and readoing at the joint. I have posted some photos of my work in here:


http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=186240&highlight=fisher

 

[dsndblm]

Thanks NYListens,
Nice work! Did you end up replacing all the electrolytics? I bought all new for mine, just don't feel right about using 50 year old power supply caps. I'll take your advice and go slow. My Fisher 400 and X-101-B were a piece of cake to work on compared to the TA-600. I can't wait to get mine restored. I powered it up slowly, checked voltages and listened to it for 10 minutes after I bought it. It sounded pretty darn good in it's current state.

 

[NYListens]

Thanks NYListens,
Nice work! Did you end up replacing all the electrolytics? I bought all new for mine, just don't feel right about using 50 year old power supply caps. I'll take your advice and go slow. My Fisher 400 and X-101-B were a piece of cake to work on compared to the TA-600. I can't wait to get mine restored. I powered it up slowly, checked voltages and listened to it for 10 minutes after I bought it. It sounded pretty darn good in it's current state.

My 500B and 500s (I thought it would be like that one, since they look a lot alike, but noooo, they aren't) were like freshman year in High School and the TA 600 was more like a masters degree in cap replacement. I replaced all of the lytics in the power supply and reconditioned all the others. It worked great, but I sold it off. I liked the 500S a little better and sits in my garage/workshop. I play it whenever I am working on something or I open the grage door and play it while I am out watching my kids playing.

The tightest ones are the ones on the switches in the front behind the faceplate, those were a bitch.

 

[Fisherdude]

Solder sucker and dental picks.:thmbsp:

 

[NYListens]

Solder sucker and dental picks.:thmbsp:

That's a given: I can't do the work without those tools. I also find desoldering braid handy when it get real tight like the TA-600. Did you recap one of those too?