Marantz 2270 Issues

[PETC]

I'm new here, good to be here. I'm looking forward to the advice you guys can give me!

I've been handed down some old Hi-Fi gear my dad had laying around for use in my apartment. I've always loved the sound that this amplifier put out, but ever since my parent's moved, my Dad hasn't used it. It's a Marantz 2270, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you guys about why that makes me excited!

I've got it hooked up to two Klipsch KG 3.5 floorstandings, and the sound (When working correctly) is incredible. One of the warmest listening experiences I've had.

Anyways, on to my problem.

When the RCA audio lines are plugged into the aux inputs, occasionally, the right channel will distort, become scratchy, and if it gets really bad, cut in and out. I've tried changing the speaker wires from the main ports to the remote ports, I've opened the unit and cleaned everything I can with a tarnish remover (I think I heard somewhere that Marantz used silver in their connectors) and I've run many different kinds of speaker wire all the way from lamp wire from the 70s to brand new 12 gu speaker wire purchased at Radio Shack (Which BTW is getting harder to find since everyone is selling Mon$ter cables now) Both cables end up with the same result.

Sometimes the distortion goes away if you turn the volume up or down, so I cleaned the volume switch. However, sometimes doing that changes nothing.
Also, sometimes it goes away if I unplug and re-plug in the RCA ports, leading me to believe that it's some sort of static build up.

Regardless of what I do, sometimes it's always there. I switched the R/L RCA chords and the distortion was still on the right channel, so that says it's somewhere in the speaker circuit. Switched the speaker wires, and the distortion moved to the left channel, which was hooked up as the right channel, so the speakers are fine.

Right now I'm experimenting running the audio through the second tape input, and so far I haven't had any distortion, but I think I've just gotten lucky. I searched through your guys' archives and found some information on a product called DeOxit which as I understand it is a spray that will de-oxidize my electrical connectors.

I've also called around and asked for people's prices to have the amp re-capped, and they seem pretty reasonable. Anywhere from 150-250 bucks.

What would you guys recommend? Sorry for my longwinded first post. Here are some pictures of my setup. Nothing amazing... I know... but I love it.

-Gary

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/9342/10090611381ma0.jpg

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/3903/10090611391ik3.jpg

[avguytx]

More than likely, due to its age, the controls need cleaning with Deoxit. After that many years, they get a build up on the controls. I have had to do all the receivers and electronics I have gotten that are in the 70's range. It does nothing but help. Your best value for buying it is either mail order thru Parts Express or, if you have a "Guitar Center" locally, you can save on shipping. Look for the 5oz bottle. You can search thru the threads in here and find many articles on cleanup on the inside as well as other helpful topics.

Welcome to AK and that's a great receiver you have their!

[KeninDC]

Welcome to Ak. That's a great system. What follows are my Deoxit instructions for beginners:

1) Unplug the unit. Electricity + liquid = shock.
2) Open unit.
3) Spray deoxit into pots one at a time. Pots are the moving thingies inside the unit on the other side of the knobs and buttons you use to operate the unit. Use three good bursts per pot or one good burst for every obvious hole in the pot. An old towel on the bottom will save your work bench from the drips.
4) Do not spray the tuner gang. If you do not know what this is, stick to spraying the moving thingies that are just on the other side of the knobs and buttons. Don't fret if any deoxit gets on the boards -- it's OK.
5) Turn each knob, switch, or button (on the outside) full range in a gentle but firm fashion after spraying its corresponding pot on the inside. Do this about 50 times per pot. The object is to spread the deoxit around.
6) Let dry overnight. You can let it dry less, but why take the chance.
7) Close unit.
8) Play and enjoy.

You may want to look into a can of Faderlube for switches (Deoxit for pots).

Ken

[KeninDC]

Oh, and three other points:

1) Keep that varnish remover away from the insides in the future. It may be harmful.
2) Let that Marantz breathe. While they do not run super hot, those vents on top serve a purpose.

Good luck.

[markd51]

Hello, Doubtful if re-capping the Unit will solve your problems, and if it doesn't need re-capping, this is an expense you can forego for the time being.

If my memory serves me correctly, these Marantz Recievers have Speaker Relay Protection Switches on them, and this was a problem when these (I believe silver) contacts would get old, and oxidize.

I belive Ben Blish explains on his Vintage Marantz Site www.classic-audio.com how to clean these.

Yes, as others have mentioned, the proper cleaning of all Switches-Pots with DeOxIt will not hurt.
Were assuming that you do know how to properly clean-lube a pot, that by just spraying the outside does nothing. You must spray the product "into" the Pot through a tiny hole at the rear of the Pot's Case Housing, then rotate each pot to distribute the cleaner-lube throughout the pot. Spraying just the housing, or the shaft from the front accomplishes nothing. (Except lubing the Shaft)

Many times with older Units, I will also clean all female RCA Ports, and Speaker Wire Connectors with Denatured Alcohol (Or Kontact), and Pipe Cleaners, and you'd be surprised at the amount of nasty crud, and filth that builds up over the years.

Hope this helps, and yes, the system looks nice, but I recommend taking those game boys off the top of the reciever. The Unit needs free open space on top to dissipate heat. Mark

[PETC]

Yeah, the systems that are on top don't extend far enough back on the unit to disrupt the cooling.

And thanks for the cleaning tips everyone, I will be getting on that as soon as I get some DeOxit!

[shacky]

Be sure to dosassemble as much as you need to to get to the pots/switches. Someimes there is only a small hole to get the Deoxit spray into the pot. Even though it's a PITA, take the time to do it right. I had to do quite a dissambley to get to everything in my Pioneer SX-950. Never done a Marantz.

Shacky

[nbourbaki]

If my memory serves me correctly, these Marantz Recievers have Speaker Relay Protection Switches on them, and this was a problem when these (I believe silver) contacts would get old, and oxidize.


The speaker relays were the problem on my Marantz 4270. I follwed the instructions and it cleared the problem right up.

[PETC]

I need some DVD-racks to put in between the speakers and the TV. They're staged almost perfectly for our living room, but that gap looks so ugly to me.

[SoCal Sam]

Welcome. Varnish leaves a residue which is bad. Always use deoxit contact cleaner.

[PETC]

Yeah, I got that much from you guys. ;)

I won't be using the stuff again, and when I did use it, it was just on the connectors on the back of the unit, and I made sure to remove it all when I was done cleaning.

[Arkay]

As for that stuff (game controllers?) on top not covering the vents, I'd suggest an experiment: After running the 2270 for a while, take your hand and feel the top where the stuff was sitting. Feel the stuff itself. I'll bet both get quite warm. If you think it is an acceptable level of wamth, OK, but if they really get a bit hot, I'd remove them. Audio gear designers add vents to increase air-flow and thus cooling in the hottest areas, but they also understand that there is some heat radiation from the solid parts of the case, too. My 2285B, for example, gets warm enough along the front (in front of the vents) that I wouldn't feel too good about covering it. I had a Marantz AT-5 timer sitting there for a while, but even standing up on feet it increased heat retention in that area enough that I removed it. Sure, the gear would 'survive' with that area covered, but I might be shortening the life of the components inside by raising the operating temperatures somewhat higher than intended. Just something you might think about.

[stuwee]

As for that stuff (game controllers?) on top not covering the vents, I'd suggest an experiment: After running the 2270 for a while, take your hand and feel the top where the stuff was sitting. Feel the stuff itself. I'll bet both get quite warm. If you think it is an acceptable level of wamth, OK, but if they really get a bit hot, I'd remove them. Audio gear designers add vents to increase air-flow and thus cooling in the hottest areas, but they also understand that there is some heat radiation from the solid parts of the case, too. My 2285B, for example, gets warm enough along the front (in front of the vents) that I wouldn't feel too good about covering it. I had a Marantz AT-5 timer sitting there for a while, but even standing up on feet it increased heat retention in that area enough that I removed it. Sure, the gear would 'survive' with that area covered, but I might be shortening the life of the components inside by raising the operating temperatures somewhat higher than intended. Just something you might think about.

However, those Marantz cabs are worth taking care of, I would not put anything on them, I treat mine with a nice Old English lemon oil 2 or 3 times a year. You have a very nice rig there, clean up those pots and the speaker thingy, if that don't work I'm sure we can figure it out, and when a friend wants to play games put the controls in their hands and tell 'um to put 'um back anywhere but on top of that Pretty Marantz!!

Peace Craig

[markd51]

Hi Again,
Not trying to be insulting, so please don't be offended, but I am a bit confused with your post trying to pinpoint what exactly is wrong?

It seems you claim to have a problem when hooking up gear (CD Player-Tape-VCR audio-DVD audio) to the AUX input, correct?

What happens when using just the FM, or AM Tuner? Same problem? Or no?

Have you tried running your speakers through both System A, and then trying System B? (I gather you have)

If you believe the local repair shop is reliable, knowledgeable, and honest folks, it may be worth the time, and expense to take it to them.

I myself have a somewhat limited knowledge of electronics, and the motto I have, "Is to do no harm".
If you think you might be getting in over your head, might be best to let somebody who knows what they're doing have a peek. It doesn't sound like anything major wrong, but there is the occasion that a switch's contacts have gone bad, the speaker relay contacts oxidized, or even the possibility of a cold solder joint-bad connection somewhere?

Anyhow, please do keep us posted on what you find, and what happens, as I sure all of us are wishing for you to get good results in the end with this Marantz.
Best of luck, Mark

[Shain]

It was mentioned in a previous post.... but to be sure about proper cleaning of ALL contacts, be sure to clean all the push button switches as well a rear jacks.

On the Marantz units I do, I remove the bottom PC board that has the
control pots and then clean the push button switches (from the bottom), as well the exposed pots.

In the back, use DeOxit and a RCA jack. Squirt DeOxit into each panel jack and use the RCA jack and insert it in, and turn a number of times.

Usually these steps will help eliminate the possibility of the problem being related to a dirty (poor) contact in the controls.

It's also a good practice to use the ProGold as a finisher, to lubricate better.

If using the 2270 in a wood case, it's a good idea to remove the metal top cover. Will disapate heat more easily.

[max-ac]

i'm having similar issues w my 2270. i'd like to send it off to echowars, but...i really want to try fixing it myself...i think the relay is suspect. can i clean this as described by mr blish, while still on the board? i need tips as to how to remove the plastic housing. i've already tried deoxit on the controls. any tips would be great! :banana:

[PETC]

As I stated earlier, the SNES and N64 are not over the heat sinks, or the metal grate. They are only on the cabinet itself, and I've felt under them to see how the heat is, and it always doesn't feel warm at all.

I wouldn't think of putting them on top of the Marantz if it covered the heat disipation area, and idealy I'd put them somewhere else, but I have no other places to put them. Something tells me some of you guys are a bit older, because you don't seem to hold quite the same place in your heart that I do for the Super Nintendo! But that's okay, I'm sure 20 year olds interested in vintage stereo gear are a minority on here.

Thanks for all the tips guys.

I haven't listend to the radio enough to know, but when I told my Dad about the problem he said he had never heard it before, and he use to always only use the radio. So I assume it's just with the AUX jack, however, if that was the case, why would it switch channels ONLY when you swap speaker wire and not when you swap RCA wires?

I've got it pluged into the second tape input, and so far, over the past couple of days, I haven't had any distortion, or if I have, it's been very minimal and only for miliseconds at a time.

As soon as I get some DeOxit I'll clean up the contacts and spray the pots, and I will be taking care of the cabinet soon as well. My Tape bulb is out, along with the Stereo bulb, so I think I'll be replacing those too.

[markd51]

Hi PETC,
Then if this is the case, that you note nothing changes when switching interconnects around left to right but do when switching the Speaker Cables, it then does sound to me like the Speaker Relays at the back of the unit are causing the problem.

It's been ahwile since I've looked at these relays, as it's been a few years since I've had any Marantz Recievers. Over the years I have had 10 all together.

I'm thinking a small Jeweler's Screwdriver will pop the clear plastic Covers off of them, but please don't quote me on this. I'm hoping somebody here with more experience will chime in with help for you, and the rest of us.

As far as the Stereo Indicator Lamp goes, if you've read Ben Blish's tips on his site, he clearly cautions about using the exactly correct value Lamp in this application, otherwise, damage can result to the FM MPX Board.

If you cannot find what the correct value of this Lamp is (I forget), Ben Blish himself I believe can be contacted through his site, and can help you with the correct type, voltage, and output of this particular lamp, as well as the Indicator Lamp you require. I'm quite certain both are Bi-Pin, grain of wheat small tiny Lamps and will need thier wires soldered in.

Again hope this helps you, Mark

[lookingup]

I have reapaired a few Marantz's and others and sometimes that problem can be bad transistors that are going bad and they will not get better and need to be replaced. Sometimes a bad solder joint will cause this problem and that is why it comes on after you force the audio thru the bad connection. I had this same problem last week on a 2275 and it was nothing more than a bad solder joint on the connection in the back where it says Main In and Pre Out. After resolding the wires the problem was gone. Also on many Sansui's and other units out there they have switches (in the back for connecting and disconnecting the amp and pre amp section of the unit) that are never moved and that only leads to a bad connection. Want to save some money move all switches, knobs and all controls from time to time, with the unit off of course. Hope this helps.

[PETC]

Well, I'm almost positive it's the gain control now.

A trip to Guitar Center is in order!

[glen65]

Clean all the controls first.
If it still persists then one of the other things I would
want to look into is condition of the solder joints on the
tone control board. Another thing to check would be the
lytic caps on the tone control board. Marantz used caps
with underrated voltage specs on a bunch of the 22xx receivers
that caused problems of this nature.

[markd51]

PETC, What do you mean, "Off to Guitar Center for a Gain Control"? Are you referring to the Volume Pot, and going to GC thinking you can just get a 250K Pot that belongs in a Fender Strat, and "Pop" it in your Marantz?

I'd personally resist the urge to do that before you made a not so bad matter possibly much much worse.

No doubt, we can aim you in the right direction for a correct Volume Pot, if that's what is truly wrong with the unit. Sounds like you might be guessing at this point. Mark

[PETC]

I was going to go to guitar center to get some DeOxit.

I would never ghetto-rig my Marantz.

[markd51]

lol, Ok my friend, very sorry I mis-understood you. ;-) Yes, that should be the first plan of attack, and go from there. I believe also that Rat Shack now carries the DeOxIt in many different types of containers, should you not find it at your local GC.

You will notice this stuff isn't cheap, but it does work miracles with scratchy, noisy pots, and switches, and you'll find in many cases this is way preferable versus yanking the old Soldering Iron out.

I always keep this stuff on hand for both my audio gear, and my Eden World Tour 800 Bass Amp, as its Pots seem to get a bit dusty sounding from time to time.

Other venues with good knowledgeable people for info, would be the Marantz Yahoo Groups. I believe there are two of them. Do keep us posted on the outcome, Mark

[stuwee]

Your so right, If I was outta' line with what to do with your stuff, no harm intended, you are right on about where you put things on your baby :thmbsp: some of us old guy's have a grandma or a teacher with a ruler in her hand that makes you quote the Blues Brothers (the movie) when they go to their old school, i was only suggesting that a better place might be found, my roommate puts all kinds of crap on his and I'm like ??? there is a perfectlly good Panisonic DVD to put that on but, It's not mine and I won't go there, Please let us know how it works out also, how your friends like it!!!

Peace Craig

[PETC]

Yeah, once I get some DVD racks all the PS2/Movies can go on the racks and there should be more room for the consoles up top. But until then I'm pretty sure it should be okay.

I understand the concern though, and appreciate all the advice, this forum is really great.