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Sansui 4000 Opinions?

CelticKnot

CelticKnot

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hello all... I recently acquired a Sansui 4000 that is in need of some love. Popped the top last night to just get an idea of what is going on under the hood. I'm no expert, have some skills with electronics and a soldering iron but would like some opinions from the more experienced of you. Here's what it looks like:

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Right off the bat I can see that the tuner knob doesn't work properly; it just spins. The tuner cord is intact and I can move it manually. From my untrained eye, everything looks original; I don't see evidence of any work ever having been done but I could be way off. If you need better/more specific photos, let me know.

Thanks in advance for any assessments/advice. I'm going to grab the detail vac and get the dust bunnies out of there first off. As you can see, I already have the contact cleaners lined up for the pots and switches. :D
 
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Update: the tuner knob seems to work well now that I manually moved it. I guess things seize up a bit when they're not used for many, many years.

My plan this weekend is:

1) Clean it out with a blower/vac and clean surfaces gently
2) Hit the pots and switches with contact cleaner
3) Build a dim-bulb tester
4) Find some speakers and an audio source and fire it up; see what she sounds like
 
That's a complete, clean unit definitely worthy of a restoration job. The 4000 is great, has almost all the benefits of the 5000 without the downsides (driver board stability issues, and more difficult to work on). As to the tuner, is the dial cord just slipping on the shaft, or is the motion (rotation) of the front end pack difficult? May just need to be restringed with fresh dial cord. The original factory dial cord of this era tends to harden up with age, and must be replaced.
 
Sansuiman said:
That's a complete, clean unit definitely worthy of a restoration job.
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Great! Thanks for that evaluation. The wooden case is a bit worse for the wear (veneer is in rough shape on the top but I have most of the pieces and will try to glue them back on at some point) but that is just cosmetic stuff. We're all a little rough at 50+ years!

FWIW, this guy has an "EP" sticker on the side.

Sansuiman said:
As to the tuner, is the dial code just slipping on the shaft, or is the motion (rotation) of the front end pack difficult?
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We posted at nearly the same time :D ; I just mentioned that I think by exercising it by hand, it cleared whatever was gummed up / stuck. Seems to work ok now.
 
Sansuiman said:
That's a complete, clean unit definitely worthy of a restoration job.
Click to expand...

Bruno Primas said:
Restore it and use it for life.
Click to expand...

That's why I'm here! I want to do it myself. I have a DMM and a soldering iron. Spoiler, I'm a (obviously) a total noob when it comes to this but I don't mind spending some cash to get a component tester or other tools as I want to get into this as a hobby. I've been restoring pinball machines so I think this is a good next step.

Where would y'all start with a restoration on this?
 
That's s good kit, put together by an AK member. Keep in mind that when buying kits, you will often find there will be some components that aren't correct, owing to running changes made by Sansui over the course of a model's run. Some had more running change than others, and I can't speak to the 4000 specifically in that regard. But you may need to source some items ala carte if the kit contents don't entirely match what is extant in your unit being restored. Don't place 100% confidence in the kit contents, if they differ from what you have existing on the board. Just a heads up on that.

I would also advise to take copious photos, and make detailed notes on the orientation of existing capacitors and transistors. It is not terribly uncommon for the screen printed markings on PCB's to have errors, and if you trust the board markings, instead of noting how existing components to be removed are installed, you can end up causing yourself a lot of aggravation
 
Sansuiman said:
That's s good kit, put together by an AK member. Keep in mind that when buying kits, you will often find there will be some components that aren't correct...
Click to expand...

PF Sound said:
Yes, that would be a good start, & the seller is a trusted member of this site. I've bought a number of things from him.
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Thanks, gents. Sounds like a no-brainer. I think I'm going to get a self-taught crash course in soldering! There is a Hakko FR301-03 desolder tool on sale on Amazon for US $208. Seems like it might be worth it.
 
That's the worst part of working on these vintage stereos. They put the components in the boards with the ends of the leads bent over and soldered. Really tough sometimes to get the old parts out without messing up the circuit traces.
 
I highly recommend the powered vacuum desoldering rig (the Hakko is a good rig). It'd drive me crazy to have to use wick, or one of those hand operated pump jobs to do this work. Those are alright for a few joints in a minor repair, but when doing many dozens of joints in a restoration job, it is a massive help.
 
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