Heathkit AA-14 troubleshooting

[electra225]

Congratulations! Good job! Now that I know you are a transistor device troubleshooting guru, I'll send you my SX-1050. I'm not sure I'm as brave as you are....

[TC Chris]

Remember that I am the one who installed the wrong resistor. But at least I learned the lesson of checking with the ohmmeter first.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I spent a few moments this afternoon researching the SX-1050. They seem to me to be overly-complicated just because they can.

[stbasil]

Chris, your thread has been an inspiration for me to tackle resurrecting my Heathkit AR-15, my first system with Advent speakers and an AR-XA turntable. I switched to surround sound in the 80's, so the AR-15 was retired. It's loaded with electrolytics which I'll need to replace at a minimum, luckily there's several restoration projects documented out there. Too bad I got rid of my little Realistic equalizer, it would be handy to compensate for the garage acoustics, which is where it'll probably end up!

[TC Chris]

I built the AJ-15 tuner in a college dorm room in about 1968, when FM was coming alive. It was fed by a turnstile omni antenna hanging from a tree by a rope I tossed over a branch. It is in the very long queue of future projects. Keep us updated on your project and perhaps I will learn from it. But note that in my AA-14/AD-19 project, the bad actor was not an electrolytic, the usual suspect, but a resistor.

That said, I am inclined to replace the big filter cap and the two output caps just in general principles.

Another project is refoaming the Larger Advent speakers in the attic. I've got the kits and need to find time & ambition in the place where they are located.

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

I went out last night to see how frozen-up the changer was that came in this console. It's a BSR McDonald 500A, a low-mid range changer of the time. It has been sitting in my garage ca. 20 years. I set it on its place on the chassis and plugged it in. No action. I remembered all the comments I've read about petrified grease. So I spun the turntable with a finger and it started up. Mind you, it had been sitting in the unheated garage at maybe 25 deg. F. The change cycle stopped it.

So I pulled the turntable--a bit sticky-- and then pulled the changer cam wheel, also sticky. But the grease underneath in the track was still greasy. I replaced it anyway with some white grease, and cleaned and lubed the shafts for the turntable and cam wheel, and put it back together. I also cleaned the idler wheel and its turret with alcohol. It ran. Not bad.

The only problem is the stylus force adjustment--it's frozen. But I can accommodate that via the adjustable counterweight, if needed.

And then there's the cartridge, which appears to be integrated with the arm. No, not a P-mount. The stylus assembly looks like Shure (stylus broken off). I'll maybe try an old Shure assembly from my collection and see what happens.

Making progress.

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

A brief follow-up on the working Heath receiver. It has been a cool, windy, and wet spring here and today was all three so after moving the geraniums outdoors for the summer I headed to the shop. The receiver mounts in a console so the tape in/out jacks and the FM antenna terminals are brought out to a little sub-panel. The constant flexing from rating the chassis had caused the twinlead to break off where it is soldered to the tuner and the terminals. One piece of coax for the tape connections had failed also. All got re-secured. I secured the twinlead with cable ties so if future service is needed, it won't flex much.

I also took a Shure stylus out and plugged into the cartridge--but no sound. That will require more diagnosis.

Now some day I'll need to extract the console itself to mount the new speakers and the chassis, and make new backs for the speaker enclosures (originals missing). Meanwhile, want to see what it looks like? Look here, scrolling down to p. 20.

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archi ... 810-72.pdf

Oh yes, it's "Mediterranean," the worst possible design choice. But at least Heath chose a restrained version, with none of the red-velour grille cloth or plastic fake wood that graces more exuberant versions. Surprisingly for a curb find, the cabinetry is in good shape.

I sent off another email to the patient guy who did the long-distance diagnosis through the medium of me, a fairly inept assistant.

Chris Campbell

[William]

That is a cool catalog, Chris, and your console is definitely a conservative "Mediterranean," I kind of like it.

Bill

[TC Chris]

I found this console on my street at curbside maybe 25 years ago. I stopped and asked if I could take it. The homeowner said yes, and that his son would be happy that somebody had rescued it. Yesterday after work I was biking down to go sailing and there were two guys in the driveway. One was the son of the original guy I had talked to I explained why I had stopped--to see if those folks were still there, and to report that I had finally fixed the old stereo. That guy confirmed that he had lived there "all my life," and that it had been his dad's console, and that he was the kid who had worried about it being tossed out. He was pleased to get an update (25 years alter).

Chris Campbell