Sansui 4000 lights ... and Deoxit the magic elixir

Sansui 4000 lights ... Deoxit the magic elixir ... and a loose wire

** UPDATE 5/26/08: See Post #4 Part 2 It was a loose wire below. **

Just thought I would pass this along. I am not an expert so what I say is what I did.

Bought a Sansui 4000 ($25) yesterday at a garage sale. No lights except the FM Stereo indicator light.

Deoxited/Faderlubed the controls.

For kicks, I deoxited some of the bulb contacts. And the wire connections to the input selector.

Later as I was playing with the FM dial with flashlight in the dark, I was noticing how "flourescent" the dial was. Turned the flashlight away, and realized I got lights. I tried the input selector and Phono 1, Phono2, AUX Dial lights lit up brightly.

But then lights went dim. And dial face went black. Sometimes turning the tuning dial brought it to life but the best I could get was faint and after awhile dying Phono, Aux lights.

I deoxited again but nothing at all. Best to wait until dried in the morning.

***

This morning just now.

Still no lights but for kicks, I deoxited the contacts for the bulbs again. Especially the black and white wires and followed their path and deoxited those contacts.

On the input selector (FM, Aux, etc.), the shaft leads to an open casing with several discs and wire connections. Deoxited that and worked the control knob.

Been about half hour now and still lit. The dial pointer is supposed to turn Red on FM and Orange? on AM. So still no FM pointer but that's the least of my worries. Worst case was finding new lamps and replacing them.

Looks mighty fine. :thmbsp:

Note: Access to lights remove the top cover. Access to input selector casing with wire connections remove the bottom cover.

Sounds like one hell of a dirty control!

The older models often have "switched" dial lights. They only turn on in AM or FM modes. This function is usually controlled by the function switch. It's not uncommon for the contacts to be so oxidized that it takes several applications of deoxit to get it to work.

- Pete

Part 2: It was a loose wire

THE PROBLEM

Last night. Lights went out again.

Throughout the day I could smell something like burnt plastic but no smoke, so I thought it might just be because it hadn't been used in awhile.

Same routine, sprayed deoxit, etc. Nudged wires.

With the unit upside down, I plugged it in, rotated the input selector. Saw some smoke coming from the input selector casing it was coming from the disc (closest to the knob). Coming from the other side.

Maybe too wet still?

Was thinking maybe loose connections or maybe one of those brown striped sausage looking things was burnt.

Turned off and unplugged overnight.

***

THE SOLUTION

This morning it smoked a little less and got some lights, but before I could unplug it the smoke stopped and no lights.

Unplugged unit anyway.

I turned the unit right side up. Removed the metal cover to see what was on the other side that was smoking. Nothing but wire connections.

Plugged it in, no smoke, no lights but one of the terminals felt "hot."

Nudged a green wire and the lights came on. This green wire passes through one terminal and actually terminates at a terminal next to it.

Resoldered.

Lights are back.

Knock on head.

***
And I also pulled the face plate off and discovered why the pointer wasn't lighting in FM mode. The red wire was broken off the bulb.

4000

something to note, that pointer changes color when switching from AM to FM.
Casey