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Marantz 2230 Tuning Meter Help

ebcdic

ebcdic

Member
Hello. I just finished recapping a 2230. Every board was recapped with the exception of the FM and AM boards as I hear strange things can happen and I do no have the proper equipment outside a Oscilloscope to do an alignment. Problem is the Tuning meter does not seem to work at all when listening to the FM tuner. A couple notes:
-The meter works fine when on AM. Seems to move accurately when pulling in Stations.
-The FM tuner pulls in stations beautifully including Stereo separation.
-The Stereo light works fine
-The FM tuner sounds great.
-The Cap across the meter was also replaced.
-The meter did not respond to FM signals prior to the recap.
-When tuning FM, the meter does budge. Not even a wobble.
-Yes I checked and cleaned the antennae switch on the back of the unit.

Is there a way to adjust the sensitivity or calibrate the meter without a full alignment?

Every thread I have uncovered seems to recommend an alignment. My tuner sounds great and pulls in stations well though so I am unsure it is required here. Hoping there is a easy solution out there. Thanks.
 
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J557 on P550 is what drives that meter in FM- connect a voltmeter (red to 557 and black to ground) and measure DC on that pin and see if it changes when you tune- if it does you have a broken wire or something up with your selector switch.

This has zilch to do with alignment and more to do with a broken component- if it tunes fine and you get stereo then all is well in the alignment world.
 
maybe spray the wafer switch, if no joy get out mag glass and look for bad lug on wafer sw

be careful! if you see that the lug is not making contact and go to re-tension it so that it will make contact when the slider plate comes it's way, you can go to far on the bending process so that the lug now catches the end of the plate and gets twisted into a wadded up piece of metal, then your heart will sink as you contemplate sourcing a wafer switch that is not available and a re-solder job that will take you into the year 2325! (sound like i been there? oh yes. with careful surgery we were able to the restore the lug into a suitable facsimile of it's former self without snappage)

2230 meter.png
 
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bktheking said:
J557 on P550 is what drives that meter in FM- connect a voltmeter (red to 557 and black to ground) and measure DC on that pin and see if it changes when you tune- if it does you have a broken wire or something up with your selector switch.

This has zilch to do with alignment and more to do with a broken component- if it tunes fine and you get stereo then all is well in the alignment world.
Click to expand...
+1

OP, You are talking about zero needle movement vs incorrect movement so look for physical damage first. but you could have a 2sc372 out at H553.

its cheap and easy but lay into a passel of 1N60 replacements. I tend to use the heavier 1N90-99's which also have a lower forward voltage which helps in the fm tuners.

for grins, replace H503/504 on P500 with an exact matched set.

then on P550 replace H554/H555 with a matched set and later replace H556+H557 matched to H558+H559. IF nothing else, this will help/aid/force the tuner to approach the signal equally from both sides.

if you need to replace transistors on P550, subs are avail but I question the standard fallback lf the KSC1845 for the 2SC273
 
Thanks you all for the suggestions. Crazy week so I probably will not get to it till this weekend. Will definitely report back on above. Didn't really consider the wafer switch...

I also placed an order for a nylon hex tool but hopefully not needed.
 
yeah please dont stick any hex tools, nylon or otherwise if it is getting stereo and locking in....also, in the initial thread, do what catrafter asked and determine if fm mute works (tune strong stereo with mute on, then move the dial to in between - does she hush up or shhhhhhh?
 
Ok finally got back to this. Lol close to giving up.
-Voltage readings on J557 fluctuate as expected when tuning in strong channels.
-Continuity test on VM from J557 to positive terminal on meter (red wire) good when selector in FM position. Also tests good on both sides of wafer switch.
-Touching both sides of voltmeter while in continuity mode causes meter to spike and go back to 0 when removed.
-Reverified meter is working successfully in AM mode.
 
bktheking said:
What are the voltages you are seeing while in fm- obviously the meter isn’t open if it works in AM.
Click to expand...

Was just checking when you were probably responding lol. Huge difference. Reading on positive of meter:
Am
.15
Fm
.0024
Both turned to strong station.
 
.0024 isn't enough to drive the meter, millivolts yes as you see in AM. You have an issue in the p550 board- measure the emitter on H563 and see if you get a better reading, you also have a 10K pot that could be improperly adjusted- if it's been maxed out it may not be allowing voltage to reach the meter.

Try adjusting R564 just for fun.
 
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bktheking said:
.0024 isn't enough to drive the meter, millivolts yes as you see in AM. You have an issue in the p550 board- measure the emitter on H563 and see if you get a better reading, you also have a 10K pot that could be improperly adjusted- if it's been maxed out it may not be allowing voltage to reach the meter.

Try adjusting R564 just for fun.
Click to expand...

Adjusting pot r561 I get a bit of movement now...like a couple hairs but it does move. I am getting .01 at emitter of h553.
 
No worries, basically from the readings it seems like there’s barely any drive which is why it hardly moves.
 
Success! I was getting a very low ohm reading on r556 so I replaced r556 and r557. In the process r552 was really disoriented and I gently tried to nudge it and it literally disengrated. So that was displaced as well. Meter is working like a champ now. One of those 3 did it but I believe it to be 556.

Thanks for the help!
 
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