What Electronics Gear Have You Repaired Lately?

[WD8BIL]

Those EL84s run hot don't they?   At least mine do.  It may be okay but I just don't like anything sitting there hot as hell so I put a fan on mine.

Half the problem in that, and other amps, is they hang the chassis upside-down from the top of the cabinet. All the heat rises and sits right at the sockets. It also heats up the steel chassis which ,in turn, heats up all the componants in the chassis.

I, too, have put a fan in his amp to blow the heat out. I did it 2 years ago when I replaced the once white tube sockets!

[K9PNP]

Discrete component PC boards are about as far as I go in 'modern' stuff.  Eyes not what they used to be.  Currently trying to put a BC-348Q back to close to original and get it working so that I can do a few mods to it.  Whomever had it before me made a mess of it; some of the solder joints are not even close to good.  At least I can see what I'm doing with those rigs.  And, I can find parts; at least those I don't have to make myself.

[ka3zlr]

 I could Finish a White Face Johnson if I could find Channel 8 an Channel 16   Transmit and Receive rocks.

73

Jack.

[Detroit47]

I'm working all the time. I work for home. Mostly tube gear, I work on guitar amps for a couple of local music stores. I'll get the occasional antique radio from a couple of antique shops I do work for. I get allot of boat anchor work by word of mouth from local hams and other operators. Currently I have a Viking 2, Globe 500b, 2 Valliant’s, B&W L-1000A, and a 5100b in for repairs. So I never have time to work on my own stuff but it pays the bills.

I'll see ya in Dayton 73 N8QPC

[k4kyv]

An interesting tip appeared in the latest issue of Radioworld.  Rather than using a solder sucker to clear component holes in PC boards, the writer suggests using an oxygen/acetylene tip cleaner, available at a welding supply dealer.  They are under $10. The tip cleaner is made of stainless steel wire, so molten solder will not stick to it.

He suggests that you purchase the cleaner with the longer cleaning wire.  In a tight location, it can reach the solder-filled hole and works better than a solder sucker.  Perhaps it would be better to purchase several sizes since you need a size smaller than the component lead that goes through the hole. The tip cleaners have serrated edges, so the tool can serve as a miniature rasp file to clear out the remaining solder or enlarge the hole if desired.  He cautions to use care when cleaning plated-through holes to not remove the plating while cleaning the hole.

[K1JJ]

None.

Since I fixed the Gotham vertical, everything's been working perfectly here for 46 yeas now.   It's gotten so boring that I sometimes drag solid state leads across 240VAC just to give me something to do.  

Actually, new projects, maintenance and repairs never seem to end.  My own clumsiness and space-outs probably account for 20% of the crapouts.  70% comes from "big" ideas to improve the station.  And 10% is from component failures caused by pushing things too much.  

But it's better than being in a pine box with nothing to do.

T

[Detroit47]

An interesting tip appeared in the latest issue of Radioworld.  Rather than using a solder sucker to clear component holes in PC boards, the writer suggests using an oxygen/acetylene tip cleaner, available at a welding supply dealer. 

I use a pin vise and a small drill of the appropriate size to clean stubborn holes. You can turn the drill in your fingers to clean out the holes even if they are blind.
73 N8QPC

[Ed - N3LHB]

3 Racal 6790/GM's. 2 were fairly easy, 1 had problems with all but 1 board... Why did Racal ever chose to use 16 volts tants on a 15 volt circuit?

[Carl WA1KPD]

SMT is quite easy but what the heck do you do with BGA

What is BGA?

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Good to see that the spirit of troubleshooting and repair is alive and well in the new technology and generation. Just saw a Best Buy ad showing recycle bins for you to drop your old electronics in when you upgrade. Talk about wasteful. You bought a new laptop? No problem - just drop the 'old' one that was working fine into this bin.

I actually went through SMT training back in the early 90s and, while not technically complex, it sure is annoying. Around that time is when I recall the 'plug-n-play, then throw-away' stuff really taking hold, like those re-badged Goldstar TV sets. A big CRT sharing a large, empty box with a tiny circuit board, cheaper to throw away and buy a new one when it broke. That's when I decided not to pursue electronics anymore as a career. If I had to deal with that tiny, plastic crap day in and day out, I'd never want to turn on another radio.

It's bad enough that the old gear keeps breaking here. Seems like as soon as I fix one, another one craps out. At least I can get my big mitts in there to work on them. Getting the time to is another matter.

Since I fixed the Gotham vertical, everything's been working perfectly here for 46 yeas now.  

Yes, the truth is once again re-affirmed as to the real secret behind the DX success at K1JJ.  

[WU2D]

BGA is something which is hard to do now that we have RoHS - Hi.

Carl - BGA stands for Ball Grid Array. When the chips gets so dense, large and programmable that you literally run out of leads, you put your device in a BGA carrier.

So instead of having a chip like A you can have the same chip look like B.

Now the fun begins - how do you solder and um - unsolder such a fine device?