If this is on radio as well as casset, and the sound comes through both speakers, then i am afraid the thing is deceased, dead, no more, a stiff parrot.
(technically the power regulation for the output amplifier sounds like its gone.)
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RF said:
>(technically the power regulation for the output amplifier sounds like its gone.)
yup, that's what it sounds like to me, or more likely, something in the output stage is dragging it down (the regulators should be current/temp protected.)
Kevin...
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Try using the balance control to try one side only and then the other. A shorted speaker may be bringing it down.
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Oh darn it - just went outside - have very wet feet to show for it - to test the theories.
And, of course, the goddam thing is working perfectly right now!
RF this will sound ridiculous, but I am not sure how to separate the L from the R to test the balance. Can you tell me?
Also, I was wondering, if this thing really does give up on me, is it easy to transfer my old system (from my Renault, RF!) to my new? Apparently whatever happens, my old Renault has speakers worth more than any car I will ever own!
Gonna go out into the wilds one more time now, and see if it is still working!
But in the meantime, thanks for all suggestions - I think I will probably need them pretty soon anyway! Possibly in a few minutes, but I will leave you for tonight. Thanks for all help - kevin, RF and Mech.
Ok more wet feet - freezing in fact - but darn thing is still working beautifully - think consensus might be right that it is on its way out, and I just have a bit of grieving time left with it?
Thanks all anyway
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ok questions questions
1/ Is it the standard fit Vauxhall radio?
2/ The balance is controled by a left/right control may need to pull out the volume control and turn it, or a knob called l/r?
3/ maybe it only does it at high volume
4/ What make is the renault radio? may need a converter wiring harness about 10-15 quid.
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Oh no, gotta go out again and check!!
Seriously, thanks RF - I am just going to inhale again the elements of suburban gales to check my car stereo.
And, of course, it is working perfectly. I found a load of things that made differences to back and front speakers, but I\'m not so sure about L and R.
Ok, yeah, it\'s a standard fit Vauxhall radio as far as I know.
My volume control doesn\'t pull out - maybe I need a bit more experimentation here? Nothing is called L or R, and I can even control back and front, but not L and R!
Doesn\'t seem to differ at volume - but I will check this when it next fails - difficult now that the pink fluffy dice is now behaving itself. All the faults that I have are intermittent - which does not make for easy diagnosis oe repair.
Renault radio, I will have to check. Only one of those shove-in things. It wasn\'t expensive, I\'ll check it out.
Thanks, for all your comments. Having sat out there in the dark tonight listening to a perfectly fine tape player, I have hopes that it might have been a one-off fault? I also know it wasn\'t! Thanks for all answers.
Take care
HF
HF
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My volume control doesn't pull out....
HF,
To change the balance, you do have to pull on the volume knob. However, it won't remain out after pulling it. You have to pull it out, and hold it out and then twist it one way or t'other to adjust the balance.
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Firstly HF someone needs to buy you some slippers to stop your tootsies getting wet and cold!
What we are trying to do is see if one of the speakers/speaker feeds is bringing the radio down. So if we fade to rear only and radio works ok but fails on fronts we know its the front.
(and vicyvercy)
Then we could fade left or right and see which one is causing it.
If however it fails on back AND front we dont need to find the balance as we know the radio is a dead parrott.
Vauxhall radios are easy to take out and take apart, if its a dry joint some bright spark with a soldering iron could fix it, if its component failure its scrapo time i am afraid.
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Hello Kevin,
Yeah raspberry both sides, I think - and just a few seconds. After that, sometimes it's just silent, and sometimes just the sort of echo of the beepy noise.
Display light flashes on and off, whilst weird beepy noises are happening, then it goes out.
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HF,
do you have a tame techie with a low wattage soldering iron?
It's a long-shot without seeing it, but you might have a dry joint on the PCB, or possibly a duff capacitor in the powersupply.
If the radio works OK when it's cool (tonight) and then plays up again when it gets warm (tomorrow afternoon) then it's most likely a dry joint.
Kevin...
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Hi,
First, I'm sorry that I made a PFD comment last night! - no idea what it was now, but apologies to whoever had to mod me.
Next, I managed to find the way to check L and R (yeah DD thanks!), as well as F and B, today. I should mention that player was working perfectly most of the time, and this is why I was able to check it. No difference in L or R or B or F. All seemed fine. At this point I kind of need a small round of applause for getting this far. I even wore shoes this time.
So, sat today for ages listening to cassette. Twice, it did its thing though - but this time without the raspberries. It just faded away. Unfortunately I couldn't see whether its dash light thing was ok because the sunlight was fading it out. But sound just disappeared, so did the radio's. Then suddenly it came back.
Kevin, your suggestion of it being different when warm - well it was fine for most of today, but the funny business happened about 3pm. Maybe warmest time, I'm not sure? But then it came back.
Unfortunately I don't have any tame techies, Kev, but maybe I could borrow a soldering iron. I'm willing to give everything a go once.
If it's a dry joint, as both Kevin and RF have mentioned, (and I'm afraid I don't know what the PCB means) then I will need a bit of tuition to put it right.
Just now, since it's working ok, I'm kind of following the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' policy. But once it goes (and it must be an intermittent fault?) then I will be back for proper lessons. Probably sooner rather than later - but with a bit of advice I'll try anything.
Thanks so far.
I'll be back.
A.S.
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HF the only reason I said tape drive is that sometimes a tape may give signals that appear to be similar to electrical probs.
if you get same problem using either.it may be connection prob ie power connection in back of unit.may not always show up but usually is caused by plug not correctly fitted into radio.Apart from that I think RF and others may be right.PCB is printed circuit board.and doubt you can do much about that.If you arent confident doing it replace.at the end of day will be cheaper than a repair job?
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Hi Mech,
I thank you for your comments. I'm trying to keep up with all the things you guys are telling me - if I;m honest though I haven't a clue! - just am always willing to give anything a try.
Am battling between wanting to sort this out myself, and getting someone else to take a look. I'd like to sort it myself - but....
Don't you think if plug wasn't fitted properly it would have gone wrong before?
The circuit board, I would never in a million years know how to sort!
Replacing isn't an option, Mech - nor is paying for repairs - that's why I say I will do anything in my capability to sort it myself.
Wish me luck, eh?!
HF
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Don't you think if plug wasn't fitted properly it would have gone wrong before
strangely enough no.I have come across other cars that have been fine for a long time with the same prob.quick push in of the plug prob solved.I have no intentions of trying to get you to replace.just trying to help.but I think sometimes a limit has to be drawn ie if you cant get anyone to help if pcb is the prob? best of luck hope you win let us know.
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Thanks Mech - I appreciate your help.
It's all fine again today, intermittent problems are always the hardest to suss, aren't they?!
But when (not if) it all goes wrong again, I'll let you know if I've managed to sort it out. If it's PCB then yes I will have to draw a limit! If not well I'll try all I can.
Thanks again,
HF
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Well I'd probably blow raspberries and fade away if I was forced to regurgitate Bruce Springsteen and Dido all day :)
Have you checked the affected tapes in another player HF? Cassette tapes get knackered quite quickly and if the tape gets wound too tight (by frequent rewinding for example) might cause the unit to make funny noises and/or switch off. Just a thought to add to the list.
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Thanks for that, David Horn - it looks a bargain, although I'm reluctant to bid whilst current one still seems to be working (it was fine today!) However I'll bear Ebay in mind when it packs up - I hadn't thought of that!
V-Man - it's not the cassettes, I don't think. I had one on my indoors player yesterday and it worked ok. I'll keep that in mind though, although I do think it's one of these intermittent problems which is probably to do with the technical advice offered above.
And I don't like Dido, but you can leave God AKA BS out of this thank you! ;)
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Volvoman said:
>>Well I'd probably blow raspberries and fade away if I was forced to regurgitate Bruce >>Springsteen and Dido all day :)
HF replied:
>And I don't like Dido, but you can leave God AKA BS out of this thank you! ;)
Consider yourself chastised Vman. The Boss has produced some of the best 'driving' tracks EVER.
Kevin...
PS.
HF, if it is a dry joint then it's not really a job for someone who hasn't used a soldering iron before, especially with modern surface-mount components. You might get lucky and spot the dodgy joint by sight (an obviously dry joint looks dull and grey) but Sod's Law says that it won't be that easy.
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Thanks Kevin, on both counts!
I'd say you're right to suggest I don't tamper too much with things I don't understand. Is it something that I could be talked through, or a job for an expert? I do love attempting things which nobody thinks I will manage, but at the same time I'd sooner not electrocute myself in the process!
I'm probably going to have to take this over to 'I have a question' soon, but I'm interested in finding out about these dry joints.
In any case, I will wait until the problem reappears, and then go through all suggested tests etc again. Oh, and is it significant that the front of the radio/cassette seemed to feel very hot today? - much hotter than everything else on the dashboard.
Thanks again, glad some of us here at least have some musical taste. ;)
HF
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HF,
You\'re right, it\'s probably best in \'I have a question\'.
Not saying you shouldn\'t try but you should buy another radio before you start practicing. A soldering iron plus extras will cost you ~£10 anyway.
Check www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/desolderpix.htm for soldering info.
See www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/200006/oven_art.htm fourth photo down for what you\'re likely to be working with.
The black thing he\'s holding is a surface mount chip. The silver \'legs\' are what you might need to solder (without touching a neighbouring leg or overheating the internal circuit it\'s connected to.) It ain\'t easy, you\'ll also need a magnifying station and to lay off the booze for 6 weeks before trying.
The best you can hope for is an obvious sign, like a discoloured pcb caused by excess heat or a solder joint that looks dull and grey rather than a nice shiny silver.
Having said that, we haven\'t proved it\'s a dry joint yet.
Kevin...
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This is extremely weird, Kevin.
First I couldn't get your first link to work, but the second did. But now I am trying to reply to you, I need what you said on screen because I am technically unknowing and therefore need to see what I am trying to reply to!
Copying and pasting your reply to me only goes as far as the first link - the rest just isn't there. (and I am pretty sure this isn't down to my inadequacy although I am willing to be proved wrong.)
So, all I can rely on is my sub-technical memory. If it's a case of needing another radio first - I will have to wait.
It sounds really hard anyway (repairing), from your description. And being sober for 6 weeks might be a toughie too! ;)
I just like to try things. I guess if the radio does pack up, and I cannot afford another one, then there is no harm in trying to fix it, with the pictures you showed and the advice you are giving?
As long as it isn't going to kill me I want to try it. So if you can guide me a bit when it packs up then that would be good.
Thanks for everything so far. It's appreciated, very much.
HF
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This is extremely weird, Kevin. First I couldn't get your first link to work, but the second did. But now I am trying to reply to you, I need what you said on screen because I am technically unknowing and therefore need to see what I am trying to reply to!
I've amended Kevin's links so that a separate window opens and thus preventing anyone being taken away from this site.
Kevin, in future please just post the web link without the fancy stuff in front of it.
DD.
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Thanks DD.
Having now read all about it, it's way more complicated than I thought. Kevin you're right, I will definitely need a lot of practice!
In the event of me trying, I'll move to IHAQ.
Thanks to all.
HF
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DD,
it was a quick cut and paste, what was in front of it?
Kevin...
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DD, it was a quick cut and paste, what was in front of it?
h r e f (without the spaces between each letter and < before the "h" and > after the "f") Can't post it any other way than this otherwise it becomes invisible.
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