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Sansui AU-517 Caps

faber12

faber12

Addicted Member
I am working on a Sansui AU-517 integrated amplifier for a friend of mine.

The famous Sansui glue is applied liberally to the bottom of these 4 capacitors on the F-2675 board.

It is a beautiful piece, and actually still works great. With that much corrosion going on though, I am sure that these caps will not last long.

Any recommendations for replacement caps are welcome, I for sure do not want to use the wrong caps or damage this amplifier. It really is a beautiful Sansui.

IMG_20160314_105632_721.jpg IMG_20160314_105907_916.jpg IMG_20160314_105648_021.jpg
 
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Those particular capacitors that you are concentrating on 220µF, 63V can be replaced with (for example) Panasonic FC types, there are other perfectly valid choices, but that is what I would use.

If you can find a restoration thread for an AU-717, or '517 by one of the AK experts (use search, Leestereo, skippy124 et al), the capacitor choices there will be a good guide.
 
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Thank you Hyperion. I will look for those. When I go to Mouser, the choices are a little bit overwhelming. If I use a cap that is a little bit shorter, will it affect performance? As long as the specs are the same otherwise that is.
 
This is my Recap Thread: http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/sansui-au-517-refresh.566203/

Caps used:
Main Caps: 15000/63v BC VISHAY
F-2675 Power Supply & Protector Circuit Board - Panasonic FR, FC, Nichicon ES
F-2721 Driver Board - ELNA SILMIC II
F-2723 Equalizer Amp - ELNA SILMIC II, Nichicon KL
F-2670 Pre-Main Switch - Panasonic FC
F-2673 Tone Control Amp - ELNA SILMIC II, Nichicon KL
 
Jeez. Was that amp left in a shed for a few years? It looks a little bit rough inside. You definitely have an issue as those caps are also bulging. The 517 can be tricky to work on, I take it those caps are on the relay board? It is a bit of a mission getting to and removing this PCB. Worth it in the end tho.
 
I don't know where it was stored, but the caps are definitely corroding away inside. They actually still work.

I may be able to replace the caps without removing the board. I have small hands.
 
Caps are here, planning the recap for tonight. Some acetone based nail polish remover should work great for eliminating the glue.
 
I'd also at least replace those big main caps as well. They can make for a lot of "mud" in the sound over time and it's a simple enough swap ...

Oh. Be careful on polarity. Both the manuals and the boards can lie. Always check each cap before pulling, and install the replacement the same way.
 
I just started to dig into mine. Got a good chunk of the work done.

Interesting enough it was the main 4 12000uf ps caps and the small 25v 33uf caps on the amp driver boards that showed the most visible wear. The sleeves and bottoms were clearly distressed and the main ps caps were showing that encouraging gassy/bubble top effects.

Always interesting how different amps of the same model have different areas that fail for any number of reasons.

Still waiting on more 63v 470uf caps to arrive and have to pick some reasonably priced ps caps for it.

Im suspect of the vol pot being dirty yet as it sometimes displays touchy intermittent channel issues. Gonna dig more into the various threads on the 517 for more things to "touch up"
 

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Recap short of the main 12k caps is complete.

I really wanted to follow up on the intermittent sound I was experiencing with mine. Really had me wondering as it sounded like a classic dirty contact not a crackling resistor or transistor. Well after a google I found an old yahoo thread from 06 that mentioned this and the coupling switch on the back for the pre / amp use. Sure enough. While I was in there I replaced the 4 10uf caps that are also back in there. They are awfully close to the heatsink in addition to their shear age.

Yeah word of warning to those going in there. As iron clad as these amps are built. They cheaped out and chose to use those wonderful plastic nipple parts. And glued them in place on top of it. Granted whod have thought of anyone servicing this far down the but still. Out of place for a unit with so many shields and heft to its materials overall. Gotta clip em off and replace with screw setup as I did.

I somehow managed to loose the plastic retention guard for said switch. May have blown away with the fans I use. No ac in my upper for now. Folks might recognize my improvised replacement lol...

Man is this one fine sounding unit after said recap. Well worth the work.

And im sure its also been written here about the dirty coupling switch issue. Just as I write this on my 4" screen s4 phone. I sadly do allot of research this way too. Sadly its how I roll all too often these days...
 

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