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How to clean a tuner (analog)

5th beatle said:
Dr*Audio,

My Rrealistic STA-90 has this 3.25" area next to the plastic dial with thick and thin fins front and back. Is this whole area in need of spray with the syringe drop on the thick plates? New territory for me.

Nice Rickenbacker, btw. Like early John Lennon's black one.
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That picture you showed is the tuning capacitor. It is the thing that needs to be cleaned, BUT don't spray anything on the fins except compressed air. I am not going to repeat myself, please go back to the beginning and read the procedure. Here's a picture of the areas you need to clean:
attachment.php
 
I'm new to this and wish I'd read this post before I began cleaning my realistic STA-46. I damaged the rotary tuner to where it doesn't move. I sprayed RCA dusting air and contact cleaner on all parts. But I received some great advice from a lot of people here which I'll try. Thanks again for this helpful information.
 
dr*audio said:
That picture you showed is the tuning capacitor. It is the thing that needs to be cleaned, BUT don't spray anything on the fins except compressed air. I am not going to repeat myself, please go back to the beginning and read the procedure. Here's a picture of the areas you need to clean:
attachment.php
Click to expand...

Great info dr*audio, it worked for me. :yes:

My FM-3 was getting strong reception without an antenna after following your instructions.

Thanks


Steve
 
Thanks Warren - The FM tuner is working much better now.

I got the CRC cleaner at HD, took the receiver out in the yard and stood it on a bucket in the sun. Used copious amounts of the cleaner about 3 times, with lots of runs up and down the dial in between. Then used some more compressed air.

Wish this receiver had a more robust tuner stage, but I am grateful to live in an area with many strong stations.

Now I need to look at other alignments and adjustments.


Thanks Again - - -

.
 
Great thread / information. I'm about to clean a TU-717 and wonder if the Faderlube 5% is sufficient. That variety is on sale at Guitar Center for $10, while the 100% spray can is about $22 shipped from Amaz*n (micro-t00ls) or $16 plus some $8 plus in shipping from MCM.
Thanks in advance, and again for the helpful DIY encouragements.
 
I suspected as much. 5% is a long way from 100%, and if I'm going to spend the time to do this right, I might as well spend the extra $12 and be sure I've done as much as I can. Hoping this will fix some of the problems I have on this 30 year old tuner. Seems like a good first step before taking to a tech shop.
Thanks for continuing to stay tuned-in to your own thread for new newbies.
 
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I have a Sony TA2000F pre-amp, when adjusting the volume knob I get a popping noise, do I replace the volume pots or try to use spray contact cleaner? If I have to replace the pots, where can I buy them?
 
Girinti said:
I have a Sony TA2000F pre-amp, when adjusting the volume knob I get a popping noise, do I replace the volume pots or try to use spray contact cleaner? If I have to replace the pots, where can I buy them?
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The noise could be caused by dirty or bad pots, but it could be a coupling capacitor that is allowing DC voltage to leak through it. First try cleaning the pots with a good, non - residue contact cleaner, then follow up with De-Oxit as a preservative. Spray it into the opening in the pots, near the leads. Work the pots back and forth 30 times. If that doesn't work, it is probably a leaky cap. Check for DC voltage on the leads of the pots. If there is any DC voltage, there is a leaky cap before or after the pot.
 
My tuner was scratchy all across the entire dial. I could hear the string pinging like a guitar string when it rubbed against itself when winding around the spool that connects to the fins or gangs / whatever. I made sure the strings wouldn't touch each other anymore and the tuner is now silent as I go through all the stations.
 
KrisM said:
I'm going to try and give it another cleaning and if that doesn't work I'll try and live with it. Like I said before it still held the station for at least four hours, so it is still usable as a tuner. I was planning on doing a recap and maybe some of the mods at the fm site, if I could get this issue resolved first. But I'm not sure if I want to put too much time into it if the drift issue is beyond my talents/patience. I'll report back when I can get at it and do another cleaning.
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I finally got back to this last week. I gave it a good cleaning as per the first post. I plugged it in today and within 30 minutes it drifted so far that it wasn't tuned anymore. I then moved the dial to another station, and then it held for over 3 hours. I think I know the answer, but do I need to clean it again?

Thanks!
 
ere to do some cleaning including hitting the tuning cap fins with compressed air.
Now today I read all this stuff and now realize how touchy the tuning cap can be. Good thing I didn't go deeper which could have cause problems - but then again, I didn't go deeper because everything works great. Stations look to be spot on via the scale indicator, stations come in clean and no drift noted. So all I did besides cleaning inside was bias and DC out checks.

I have in the past had a receiver where the dial indicator was off about a half inch. Instead of messing with it - I could have loosened the indicator from the string and re-bent the holding tabs after sliding it on the string a half inch. I didn't do it, but it looked like it could be done.

Anyway - glad I didn't get deeper yesterday taking that chance of screwing things up. I had thoughts about spraying all kinds of liquids but instead left it after the compressed air because it looked clean. But now I might go back in later for the lube points with a drop of D-5 although the tuning knob feels fluid smooth from one end to the other - will have to think about it anyway. Good sticky and I should have checked for this first.
 
WOW! Instant easy fix!! My 4100's tuner never sounded better, NO noise between stations, plenty of the lower end stations coming in clear and in stereo! Thank you so much Dr*Audio!!

P.S. I used brake cleaner. (On sale at Napa for $2.37 per can, I bought two!)
 
chef free said:
WOW! Instant easy fix!! My 4100's tuner never sounded better, NO noise between stations, plenty of the lower end stations coming in clear and in stereo! Thank you so much Dr*Audio!!

P.S. I used brake cleaner. (On sale at Napa for $2.37 per can, I bought two!)
Click to expand...

What is the brand and part number of that cleaner? I'd like to look up the MSDS and see what it is made of, and how safe it is to use.
 
chef free said:
WOW! Instant easy fix!! My 4100's tuner never sounded better, NO noise between stations, plenty of the lower end stations coming in clear and in stereo! Thank you so much Dr*Audio!!

P.S. I used brake cleaner. (On sale at Napa for $2.37 per can, I bought two!)
Click to expand...

That's great all went well but brake cleaner should not be used
on something like this. If you want a cleaner that leaves no oily
residue the CRC electronic cleaner would be better. Its safe for
plastic.

7070074_crc_05103_pri_larg.jpg
 
That, sir is good advice. Zero residue CRC for analog variable-cap tuners. I sometimes use a soft toothbrush on these applications to really get the job done. Main thing is to use as little cleaner as possible. If it runs inside you've gone way too far. Practice makes perfect.
 
dr*audio said:
What is the brand and part number of that cleaner? I'd like to look up the MSDS and see what it is made of, and how safe it is to use.
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It's Napa CRC Brakleen Brake Parts Cleaner. Acetone 67-64-1, Heptane isomers 142-82-5 and Carbon Dioxide 124-38-9. The can's small print claims "Safe on most automotive plastics", and "Leaves no residue".
 
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