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Pioneer VSX-518 Wen't out with a bang. Need Help Repairing.

zastin17

zastin17

Active Member
So I have this receiver, The Pioneer VSX-518, And I love it. The problem is that one day while listening to music I noticed that the receiver was getting pretty warm, Which was normal. Then out of the blue, There was a very load bang!!, Then my speakers started vibrated violently, The lights went out on the receiver, And it was dead. Absolutely nothing happens when I press the power button.

I tore it open thinking it was probably a important capacitor, But I looked everywhere on all the board and could not find any sign on debris, Soot, Or any damage whats ever. I don't know where or what happen'd. I checked the mains fuse on the board and its good.

I looked up the service manual, And I am not very good at reading Schematics, But what I could understand was the three wires connecting to the main transformer board output should be 24volts, And the three other wires Red,White, And black I could not figure out what these do. I am wanting to figure out the source of the issue.

I am also thinking that the reason there is no power coming out of the transformer is because it needs to be shorted in some place to power on, Like a computers ATX power supply. Here are some pictures of all the boards. And here is a service manual for it. https://www.manualslib.com/manual/696108/Pioneer-Vsx-518-K.html

I am not sure what to check or what to do. Any help would be wonderful.

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ou...fa4z58,vej6gcs0cmby06q,opc25cz30l7kjq6/shared
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I don't want you to get me wrong but it's not worth fixing.
They were nice when new.
It won't be an easy repair and if you do attempt it it will be intense.
Consider a operational one on eBay.
 
I tried to repair a VSX and it was way difficult. The layers of circuit cards was almost impossible to get around not to mention all of the flatcables to deal with. I'm with zebulon1 on this one.
 
if it went bang inside the unit there should be obvious damage . the bang is caused by gases escaping and will leave at least a hole of some kind .
 
3x that. the older VSX stuff, from like the late 80's, early 90's didnt forget who it was and they sound great and make serious HP, but the computer chippery makes them hard to fix. the amp itself it top notch and IIRC a servo circuit to keep offset and idle in range.

The 'bang' was likely some silicon coming apart, high voltage, high current can do that...and it prolly took the fuses out. or, the transformer shorted (good luck finding that)

used, cleaned and capped they almost always sell for well under $100, even less at goodwill so look around

ps: in have stereos everywhere cuz, well, Im a long standing member here, but 2 of my units that I love love love are 1993 vsxd602S's, one that I got new from NYC back in the day and the other new in box some guy stored for 20 years..one is my living room daily driver for the occasions I decode some dolby surround I am watching....
 
I am shocked that you said that, Because a few hours after posting this. I found a working early 90s Pioneer VSX-3900s for $5 at the thrift store, I don't know that much about receivers, Or what makes them good. But based on $100-150 price tag online, I am pretty sure its fine. Screw the VSX. I am using this. I am going to most likely recap it when I get the chance, After I am finished figuring out all of the "new to me" foreign controls. I am really also liking the Amber Vacuum Florescent display. Anything else anyone could add to my new find. Would be great. I also noticed that there is a dedicated Phono input which is awesome. Once I get my new stylus for my M95ED, I will have to test that out. And the goodwill sticker on the top was the price when it was in goodwill's main store. I got this at the outlet store where they sell things much cheaper.

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quaddriver said:
3x that. the older VSX stuff, from like the late 80's, early 90's didnt forget who it was and they sound great and make serious HP, but the computer chippery makes them hard to fix. the amp itself it top notch and IIRC a servo circuit to keep offset and idle in range.

The 'bang' was likely some silicon coming apart, high voltage, high current can do that...and it prolly took the fuses out. or, the transformer shorted (good luck finding that)

used, cleaned and capped they almost always sell for well under $100, even less at goodwill so look around

ps: in have stereos everywhere cuz, well, Im a long standing member here, but 2 of my units that I love love love are 1993 vsxd602S's, one that I got new from NYC back in the day and the other new in box some guy stored for 20 years..one is my living room daily driver for the occasions I decode some dolby surround I am watching....
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Yea, I had that happend on one of my old not so collectible cassette deck., The Silicon Die literally exploded under the black resin. But there are so many chips on the VSX that I am not going to check them. Let alone find a replacement.
 
What you've just experienced with the "big bang" is exactly why vintage amps and receivers from the 60's and 70's are still alive and well. They can be fixed! Replacement IC's and chips In modern gear sometimes will cost more than just replacing the unit.

Nice thrift store find. No need to do a recap. Just use it till its day is done and find another for the same price. One of my favorite receivers in the house including my vintage stash is a $15.00 Harman Kardon Pro Logic Receiver I picked up. It competes very well.
 
gbroot said:
What you've just experienced with the "big bang" is exactly why vintage amps and receivers from the 60's and 70's are still alive and well. They can be fixed! Replacement IC's and chips In modern gear sometimes will cost more than just replacing the unit.

Nice thrift store find. No need to do a recap. Just use it till its day is done and find another for the same price. One of my favorite receivers in the house including my vintage stash is a $15.00 Harman Kardon Pro Logic Receiver I picked up. It competes very well.
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That was my old receiver I was using after the one above blew, I was not really happy with it as it did not sound that good to my ears. I am going to do some comparisons.

The one thing I really like about my new VSX is the adjustable graphics equalizer. And it gets loud. Really loud. I accidentally had the volume near max, Started playing some music. And almost blew my eardrums. My other harmon/kardon has auto protection if the starting volume is really high. I am going to do some comparisons with the harmon karmon and my "new" VSX-3900. I wan't to get a 70s receiver soon. I am really interested in hearing them. I have heard that 70s receivers are the best for vinyl. However I am sure that the vsx-3900 would be the best of both worlds.
 
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