Marantz Slider Balance Control

[ZeroG]

My Marantz 2265 came with the sliding balance control knob & tab broken off. The control seems to work smoothly, and I have a similar control (not the exact length). Looks like three options exist:

A. Remove the balance control, take it apart and install a slider from another style sliding switch.

OR

B. Cut the tab off the new one and attach it (overlay it) on the old slider's tab.

OR

C. Obtain new sliding balance control. Don't even know if these are available. Anyone know a source?

 

[Bob91343]

Why cut the tab from another good control? Any piece of stiff material will work, a bit of steel or aluminum or wood or even plastic. Epoxy or superglue it on and when set, glue on the knob or push it on, whatever works.

 

[ZeroG]

Good idea, but I don't need the other control for anything, and the metal tab is already the right size. I don't mind sacrificing it, since it was cheap.

 

[catrafter]

Part number is RS05040050, 500K Ohm.
Donor units include the 2252 and 2285 models.
If that slide pot you are going to destroy is from a vintage stereo, may I suggest you keep it intact and find another solution?
There are only so many old parts to keep existing units running, I'm always looking...

Tom

 

[Big Tuna]

Yeah, don't destroy a perfectly good balance control by chopping off the tab, you go from 1 to 2 busted controls, not smart, IMO. The new control can be replaced as a whole by you if you know how to solder, or a competent technician. The repair will always be a weak link and the chances of it breaking off again are too high. Not worth the risk, IMO. If you have a tech do it, it would not cost very much to replace it.

 

[ZeroG]

Part number is RS05040050, 500K Ohm.
Donor units include the 2252 and 2285 models.
If that slide pot you are going to destroy is from a vintage stereo, may I suggest you keep it intact and find another solution?
There are only so many old parts to keep existing units running, I'm always looking...

Tom

Thanks for the part number - can it be obtained anywhere? I figured eBay would be the place.

Nah, I wasn't going to destroy a good vintage control. This came from a local electronics schlock store. They had two physical sizes, neither one fit the 2265. Here's a pic of them, and if they make anyone's eyes bulge, let me know and I will see if there are any left. The tab on the larger (Alpha B1M) one looks to be about the right size, and I was thinking of opening up the existing broken slider to see if this one would fit. Lots of disassembly work and no guarantee that it would fit - odds probably against it.

The larger one (Alpha B1M) has screw holes about 3.5" OC and the smaller one has screw holes about 1.75" OC.

 

[ZeroG]

Will slider fit Marantz 2265?

Here's a pic of the slider I found after disassembling the generic control. Does anyone know if this looks like the slider inside of the Marantz balance control? This would be a tremendous help in making a decision to repair the tab or disassemble the existing control to replace the slider with this one.

Catrafter? EW?

 

[catrafter]

Here's a pic of the slider I found after disassembling the generic control. Does anyone know if this looks like the slider inside of the Marantz balance control? This would be a tremendous help in making a decision to repair the tab or disassemble the existing control to replace the slider with this one.

Catrafter? EW?

I can't tell from the pictures. You will have to disassemble the broken control and see if the slider fits.

 

[ZeroG]

Thanks for looking, Tom. Probably pretty rare that the control ever gets disassembled.

I think at this time I will try to repair the tab itself and if it doesn't work then I will consider removing the existing control and proceed accordingly. Fortunately, the balance control doesn't get moved as much as some of the others.

 

[boatdrinks77]

I've got a Marantz 5220 cassette deck from the same era that is a parts machine. It has 5 sliders on it. Do you need the knob as well ??? You can have 'em for free if it will help you out. Let me know, Dan

 

[ZeroG]

I've got a Marantz 5220 cassette deck from the same era that is a parts machine. It has 5 sliders on it. Do you need the knob as well ??? You can have 'em for free if it will help you out. Let me know, Dan

Thanks! PM coming your way.

 

[ZeroG]

ooooh, major disassembly of 2265 looms....

Hows does one go about accessing the balance slider in order to repair/replace it? Seems like the entire lighting assembly or the front of the frame has to come off. Is there an easier way?

 

[catrafter]

Go in from the bottom.
Remove the knobs and face plate, remove the shaft nuts on the tone controls. remove the tone amp board and get it out of the way. Remove the screws holding the slide pot to the front chassis and lift it up where you can work on it.

Tom

 

[ZombyWoof]

I have actually done what you are attempting.

On a 1070 amp the balance slider was broken off at the front of the faceplate. I found a piece of brass roughly the same width and thickness of the original shaft and shaped it with a dremel tool to fit the knob. Then I clamped it to the broken slider with hemostats and drilled a 1/16 inch hole through both then enlarged to 5/64 and it must be far enough back from the end so the screw, in the next step, will not rub against the rear of the faceplate. Then put a small screw, 1/16 inch, through the hole and put a nut on the back. I had to cut the screw off flush with the nut to make it as small as possible. Once assembled if all fits well loosen the screw and put a couple of drops of blue loctite in between the surfaces and re-tightne the screw. To this day it works fine.

On a receiver, 2235b I think, I actually found on 'that auction site' a balance pot that looked similar but was the wrong value. I carefully bent the tabs back on the body of the controls and moved the slider from the good one to the broken one. There was a slight difference. The Marantz pot had a piece of phenolic between the slider and the body of the pot. The replacement slider was too tight so I had to remove it and then all was well. Also, watch out for the ball bearing and spring if the control has a center detent. It's not hard to put back together but hard as H&%# to find on the floor when it flys apart!

The first method, though cheaper, took more tools and careful machining skills than the second way. There is a great risk. in the second method, that when you start bending those pot-metal tabs you may break one. Then you've got a whole bunch of trouble.

Sorry I don't have pictures of any of this but as far as you have gone I think my text can help guide you.

 

[ZeroG]

I have actually done what you are attempting.

On a 1070 amp the balance slider was broken off at the front of the faceplate. I found a piece of brass roughly the same width and thickness of the original shaft and shaped it with a dremel tool to fit the knob. Then I clamped it to the broken slider with hemostats and drilled a 1/16 inch hole through both then enlarged to 5/64 and it must be far enough back from the end so the screw, in the next step, will not rub against the rear of the faceplate. Then put a small screw, 1/16 inch, through the hole and put a nut on the back. I had to cut the screw off flush with the nut to make it as small as possible. Once assembled if all fits well loosen the screw and put a couple of drops of blue loctite in between the surfaces and re-tightne the screw. To this day it works fine.

On a receiver, 2235b I think, I actually found on 'that auction site' a balance pot that looked similar but was the wrong value. I carefully bent the tabs back on the body of the controls and moved the slider from the good one to the broken one. There was a slight difference. The Marantz pot had a piece of phenolic between the slider and the body of the pot. The replacement slider was too tight so I had to remove it and then all was well. Also, watch out for the ball bearing and spring if the control has a center detent. It's not hard to put back together but hard as H&%# to find on the floor when it flys apart!

The first method, though cheaper, took more tools and careful machining skills than the second way. There is a great risk. in the second method, that when you start bending those pot-metal tabs you may break one. Then you've got a whole bunch of trouble.

Sorry I don't have pictures of any of this but as far as you have gone I think my text can help guide you.

OK, so if I read this right, you overlapped a fabricated tab over the other one, then drilled through both and screwed them together.

I actually tried something similar with a modified spade plug, which the modded wide end went over the blade shaft. It would have stuck out far enough out of the face to slide the cap over it, and caulk the cap on, while soldering the spade plug to the shaft. The problem was that the double layer was too thick to slide back and forth in the slot.

It would have worked, had I cut the tab back about 3/8 of an inch. I just haven't wanted to put pressure on something that already had sufficient impact on it to break off.

Considering that the edge of the flat shaft is about even with the face of the unit, the repair you suggest would then also require cutting the shaft back, and probably giving the new piece of the shaft a little bend in it so that it centers in the slot.

Perhaps your 1070 has a wider slot?

 

[ZeroG]

Go in from the bottom.
Remove the knobs and face plate, remove the shaft nuts on the tone controls. remove the tone amp board and get it out of the way. Remove the screws holding the slide pot to the front chassis and lift it up where you can work on it.

Tom

Catrafter,

That's what I expected to do. When I moved the tone amp back far enough to assess, I saw that there's a pretty large metal pan above the tone amp board, separating it from the balance control. Can this be removed easily? I thought it was part of the frame, but I didn't get a real good look at it. From the top, it looks like the entire fuse lamp assembly would have to come out, as well as the dial string. :sigh:

Also, fellow AK'er Boatdrinks77 sent me a slider from a parts tape deck (thank you Dan!) that I thought would fit, but on further inspection, it's a little thinner than the existing control. The screwholes line up just fine. This P/N is RS05030240 M 50KOhm AX2 9626.

Would this work? There's quite a bit of diff between the 500KOhm you referenced earlier in this thread and the 50KOhm of this one.

Thanks

 

[ZombyWoof]

"OK, so if I read this right, you overlapped a fabricated tab over the other one, then drilled through both and screwed them together. "

yes, precisely.

"I actually tried something similar with a modified spade plug, which the modded wide end went over the blade shaft. It would have stuck out far enough out of the face to slide the cap over it, and caulk the cap on, while soldering the spade plug to the shaft. The problem was that the double layer was too thick to slide back and forth in the slot."

The slot in my 1070 was wide enough to accomodate the additional thickness.

The extension was the same thickness and width of the slider shaft. After fitting them together I shaped the end to match, well sort of match, the part that was broken off. In fact, the piece of metal I used was from a 1/4" phone jack. The part that is used as a switch to open the circuit. It was fairly rigid and brass so it was easy to shape.