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Fixed! 4300 Repair/Restore

plndrm

Madman Across a Body of Semi-Viscous Ferrofluid
Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the length of the post…
I am looking to repair my fathers 4300 that is now in my possession, I broke it – I bought it. He ordered it on 5-Oct-1975 from a dealer in South (New) Jersey for $825. The following items were included; “Handbook of Instructions” (seriously who calls it that?), a foldout schematic (dated Christmas 73’), a full line brochure (predates the 4400, as it isn't included in the lineup), a SQA-2B adaptor, and the original walnut cabinet. Also included in my “purchase”, two KEF 104ab’s and their original metal stands, and a Harman Kardon 44+ CD4 demodulator.

Like I said I was young and stupid and I blew up, well more like fried, the 4300 sometime in the late 90’s by connecting a JL Audio 12w6-1ohm driver to one of the front channels, don't remember which one it was. Someone here will be able to tell once I start describing what I think is toasted.
I have experience soldering TO boards, I build guitar pedals and learned how to r&r electrical components on my 81 year old Hammond Concert Model E. That was a project! But I’m sure to learn something new somewhere along the repair.

The purpose for creating this thread is to primarily gain insight on what I may need to look for above and beyond the components that have degraded due to age (Electrolytic, VD1212’s, ect). There are plenty of other threads covering troublesome components; I don’t want to piss off the search police. Those known troublesome items will all be replaced.

Starting with the right P700 that has physical component damage. This may be a silly question but, any component I replace on the damaged side needs to be mirrored on the other channel on the same board AND both channels on the other P700 board correct?
On the left side of the board as installed the possible damaged components are:
H708-2SC627-plastic riser is yellowed but Hfe was within spec. The one transistor I don’t see a direct replacement for, hoping it survived. These are marked Fujitsu.
H711-2SC458B-shorted B to C. Transistor tester thinks it’s a 0.56ohm resistor.
H713-2SD357-B Leg is open. Transistor tester can’t detect it.
H714-2SB527-Shorted B to C to E. Transistor tester thinks it’s two resistors, B-C: 1.27ohm, C-E: 87.0ohm.
H717-2SC945-shorted B to C to E. Transistor tester thinks it’s two resistors, B-C: 1.59ohm, C-E: 16.8ohm.
R715-33ohm-burnt. For some reason the Service Manual doesn’t list resistors R715 & R716 but based on the Orange/Orange/Black/Gold banding I think it should be 33ohm. Even though it is cooked it still reads 33.5ohms, will be replacing it.
R745-100ohm-burnt.

Should I replace every transistor on the board, well maybe with the exception of the four 2SC627’s or check for shorts between legs? I figured if I have to remove to test then why subject them to more heat stress, just replace with modern equivalents.

After I get both P700’s back to spec I need to replace the output transistors. I fried two of them too. :(
The bottom pair of power transistors on the large heat sink (2SA745/2SC1403), my transistor tester thinks A745 is two resistors in parallel, does not detect it as a PNP transistor. C1403 is shorted between B and C.
Regarding 2SA745/2SC1403, is the consensus to replace it with MJ21193/MJ21194? Do I need to worry about Hfe and Ft being that off? Are there substitutes that are not a TO-3 form factor that might be closer spec wise to the originals?

Should I pull and check the transistors in the phase converter board, PM01? Recapping CM01-CM05.

Finally, I found a broken solder lug on the power supply board (P800) that runs to the main transformer Digikey and Mouser do not have anything that looks to match what broke, any suggestions where to source an original looking piece?

Sorry for the long post, I hope I made sense through it all.

Marc

Here is the phantom resistor R715 with a nice burnt ring on it.

This picture is before I de-soldered all the connections on the power supply board. The solder lug on the far left was broken in two right where it entered the board, held on just by solder.
 
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That's a fun story now, I'm sure it wasn't fun when it blew that channel.
I can't really comment on the tech questions, but you will get some guidance.
 
That's a fun story now, I'm sure it wasn't fun when it blew that channel.
I can't really comment on the tech questions, but you will get some guidance.
Dingman,
No it wasn't fun at all when I heard a buzz/pop and smelled that awful I fried it smell. It really, really wasn't fun when I had to explain why it wouldn't power on to my dad.
 
Any suggestion to what would be the better replacement for the eight 220uf - 63V axial capacitors on the p700 boards?
These two look to be close, but I can't find any specs on the originals to compare it with.
Mouser: Vishay 594-2222-138-18221
Mouser: Kemet 80-PEG124MF322VQL1
The Kemet's are rated @ 125c and have a much longer operational life, ESR at 100Hz is 0.290Ω vs the Vishay at 0.500Ω, Ir is 0.647mA @ 125c vs the Vishay - 0.560mA @ 105c
But I have no idea what purpose these caps have in the circuit. :dunno:

 
Here is the phantom resistor R715 with a nice burnt ring on it.
This picture is before I de-soldered all the connections on the power supply board. The solder lug on the far left was broken in two right where it entered the board, held on just by solder.

Links didn't work for me. Did you use the "upload a file" button for these?
It might be listed under "Advanced" or "More Options..." buttons next to Post Reply.

Then find your pics and upload them.

Select if inline image or at the end of your post.

Hope that helps.

I use these. They work fine. Temp rating is likely irrelevant--these are not going to see that kind of heat.
I tried to find them, but which of the
Electronic Components
Total Results:6,175,268
Should I be searching for?

-- Spike
 
Links didn't work for me. Did you use the "upload a file" button for these?
It might be listed under "Advanced" or "More Options..." buttons next to Post Reply.

Then find your pics and upload them.

Select if inline image or at the end of your post.

Hope that helps.

-- Spike

Album containing pictures had permissions set to private, by default. It is now set to public.

Full link of what EastPoint posted.

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/CDE-Illinois-Capacitor/227TTA063M

I like the Vishay 105°C 138 AML axials, pretty much all I use in axial style.
Not cheap.
Tom

catrafter,
I see that and the Kemet is not cheap x2.


First bit of good news is I didn't fry the STV-3H on the bad channel (H727).
Followed by the not great news, apparently the lamps had been replaced at some point before I started remembering things. And 35+ year old glue on the reflector's left mounting tab doesn't bond so well anymore. Add that to the fact that the reflector has developed a little bit of concavity to it, and has shrunk dimensionally, and it will crack again...

marc
 
On the question of what components to replace on the two amp boards -- I would recommend doing the minimum it takes to get the bad board to work first. Replace what you know is bad and try it with a DBT. Troubleshoot and repair until it works, then decide if you want to mirror the replacements on the good board. My personal philosophy is not to do wholesale transistor replacement. I like the old boys if they aren't blown or noisy.
 
On the question of what components to replace on the two amp boards -- I would recommend doing the minimum it takes to get the bad board to work first. Replace what you know is bad and try it with a DBT. Troubleshoot and repair until it works, then decide if you want to mirror the replacements on the good board. My personal philosophy is not to do wholesale transistor replacement. I like the old boys if they aren't blown or noisy.
Steven,
Thanks for the suggestion. Can I pull both amp cards out of their sockets and power the unit on with the DBT to check the other circuits? Possibly plug a set of headphones into it to check the preamp?
The service manual states 45w @ idle, owners manual says 60w at idle, which one is correct? Just built my first DBT, would a 60w bulb be the correct choice?

Again, thanks for the help.
marc
 
2325 should probably have a 100w bulb for DBT. Not sure what idle power might be. You should be able to remove both amps and power up on DBT to be sure there aren't shorts anywhere else.
 
A few more questions I'd like to ask. I found EW's fabulous transistor test post and I'm testing the other sets of output transistors (A745/C1403). I get a slightly lower voltage reading between the base and collector then I do when I measure the base to emitter. 1st A745: -BE+ 0.554v & -BC+ 0.535v, difference 0.019v. 2nd A745: -BE+ 0.522v & -BC+ 0.489v, difference 0.033v.
Two observations; both readings on the 1st 2SA745 I tested had higher overall readings, the difference between measurements on the 2nd A745 was greater then the first one. Is it normal to get these types of readings?
I stick the 2nd one it in my cheap transistor tester and get Vf=0.549v hFE=46. Is Vf = -BE+? Datasheet says hFE min = 30 so at whatever voltage it was measured at its within spec.

Other question, I have a tube of Arctic MX-4 thermal compound laying around from my PC building days, it still flows well and isn't conductive. Can I use it when I reinstall these transistors, after I clean the heatsinks and mica(?) insulators off? It isn't a silicone heat transfer paste like MG Chemicals Silicone Heat Transfer Compound available at Mouser.
 
Just an update, replaced all the bad components on the P700 power amp board. Still need to recap the other P700 board after I DBT the unit. Might get to that this weekend.
 
Big Question. My PE01: Buffer & Preamplifier Board is incorrectly silk screened at all four VD1212 locations. I'm unsure which direction to install the 1N4148's, does the dot on a VD1212 diode indicate the cathode?
The board is marked RE22-RE25 with a resistor symbol.
The service manual skips RE22-RE25 in the parts listing and matches what I am seeing on the bench.

Made some progress with the other boards.
PD01 Tone Amplifier Board is recapped with Nichi UFG's.

P800 Power Supply Board is finished too. I decided on Silmic II's before reading that HUGE post about which caps work best in the PS, mainly because they were the exact size as the originals.

P700 Amplifier Card is installed, waiting for me to finish up the preamp to DBT test.

Thanks for all the help so far.
 
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The dot is the cathode. To verify, use your diode test function on your DMM. With red/black in one configuration, you will read OL. In the other, you will read about 0.6V drop. In that configuration, the black lead is on the cathode.
 
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