1976 Technics SA-5560 Need Help repairing/replacing tuner drum assembly

Hi everyone, today I went to the Salvation Army with a buddy of mine and I found a Technics SA-5560 Stereo Receiver that I had actually seen there the other day but didn't pick it up because I didn't have the money at the time. Anyways when I went back there today with my buddy (who was actually looking for a nice high end stereo receiver) the stereo wasn't where it was the other day, thinking it was sold already my buddy and I were about to walk out the door when I glanced under the video rack/table and there it was in all of its glory, with exception to the fact that apparently someone had manhandled the unit and dropped it and damaged the cabinet and bent a couple of the screws on the back for the speakers and then on top of that the tuner dial wasn't responding to the tuner knob being rotated, so we got the stereo on discount because of the damage. it was originally $25 which was actually a steal at that price but with a 25% discount for the damage we got it for $18. Anyways I got it back home took it apart and sure enough the potmetal assembly that was used to hold the tuner drum into place had broke into two pieces which I figured that it probably broke when it took a fall seeing as potmetal is pretty brittle in of itself, but when I went to use some JB Weld on it to try and reassemble the unit I realized that it was actually crumbling for some reason, so now I'm on the hunt for another tuner drum assembly. Anyone have any ideas as to where I could look for one? I'm currently repairing this unit for a buddy of mine who is going to pay me for any parts I may need to buy to get this unit up and running again.

Any help, tips and advice most appreciated.

Also looked over at HiFi Engine and couldn't find any manuals for this unit over there, any ideas as to where I could find an owners or service manual for this unit, as I am going to need to restring the dial.

loopstick said:

Welcome back captainclock. I don't know what the deal is with certain potted metal flywheel brackets, mine shattered on my JVC JR-S300 sometime between when a pic was posted online and when it arrived.

Another poster had a similar problem. My fix was to glue the pieces together with super glue then coat the entire assembly with a thick "frosting" of JB Weld.

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Thanks, I actually tried using JB Weld to glue it together and in the midst of doing so it basically started crumbling to to several small pieces, (it was originally broken into two large easy to manage pieces) so I'm not sure what the deal is, and I tried looking on the 'Bay to see if there were any of those flywheel brackets on there for sale on the cheap but no matter what keywords I used they kept coming back with zero search results. :tears: :sigh:

And I was wanting to try and keep this repair on the cheap for my buddy because he doesn't have a whole lot of money to spend on the repair for this stereo. Anyways it seems I may have to check with a buddy of mine down at the local electronics repair shop and see if he has any similar Technics stereo equipment that he would let me rob the flywheel bracket from to get this unit going. Like I said I think the reason why this thing got damaged like it did was because someone down at the SA had manhandled it and dropped it and the shock of the unit hitting the ground was just enough to "shatter" the pot metal flywheel bracket on the tuning capacitor and also bent the 3 thumb screws on the back of the stereo for the Speaker wires and the Quad Adaptor ground connection. Also 2 of the 3 festoon style bulbs were burned out and I need to locate some bulbs for it, but the only ones I could find were at Auto Zone but they had 2 different voltages a 13 and a 14 volt and I'm not sure if its a 13 or a 14 volt that I need.

loopstick said:

Mine had fracture spider cracks all through it, like it had been heated up and dropped into ice water. By putting all the pieces together with super glue I preserved the mechanical dimensionality of the unit. By putting it inside an epoxy "cast" I restored the mechanical strength and durability. Unfortunately it sounds like yours may have crumbled beyond the point of no return.

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Yeah, and that's the bad part because I've read everywhere on the internet including on here that this is a really nice unit when working (I think this unit is fully functional but the tuner isnt much use without that bracket for the tuner flywheel drum. :'(

So does anyone on here have one of these Technics that they have for parts that they would be willing to send me the tuning drum assemly?

loopstick said:

I don't have much experience with Barter Town but I think they sell parts there as well as complete units. Subscribe and post a WTB ad and chances are if somebody's got one he'll let you have it for a song. Plus you can move some of your old gear there too. :thmbsp:

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That would be good but I don't have any way to subscribe to here, I don't currently have a debit card card or any other way to make a payment to subscribe to this website, otherwise that might be a grand idea.

Send me all the pieces if they are large and I can follow the design. It's like putting a ceramic knick knack back together. Would take me few days. You can try it yourself. laminating heavy aluminum foil strips with epoxy. Stinks like hell though. If it works? Donate to the AK forum. It will not be a work of art.

Another thing is to look for another model number using the same bracket?

loopstick said:

I like your feisty style. Maybe I could set you up with an anonymous gift subscription. What do the mods think?

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That would be nice.

Binkman said:

Send me all the pieces if they are large and I can follow the design. It's like putting a ceramic knick knack back together. Would take me few days. You can try it yourself. laminating heavy aluminum foil strips with epoxy. Stinks like hell though. If it works? Donate to the AK forum. It will not be a work of art.

Another thing is to look for another model number using the same bracket?

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I did try it myself when it was just two big pieces trying to reassemble it with some JB Weld and for some reaosn or another it just crumbled to a bunch of smaller pieces which I don't think it could be reassembled from that.

I looked on everyone's favorite auction site for some parts units and the closest one I found was an SA-5570 but the seller wanted $50 for it and with $28 shipping that's way out of my league and I went to try and contact the seller to see if there was any way he could just sell me the one part out of it (since he was just selling it for parts anyhow) and stupid ebay wouldn't let me contact the seller! :thumbsdn: :sigh:

Must have been china for shipping. .. other option is buy a dead unit for that.

Binkman said:

Must have been china for shipping. .. other option is buy a dead unit for that.

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I think this unit was a dead unit, the seller was claiming that there was no audio no matter what mode it was in but yet when it was in tuner mode the tuner would respond like it was supposed to, just no audio, which would tell me that it was outout transistor related apparently. Anyways, yeah I don't know what other models that Technics/Panasonic made that used a similar tuner assembly in otherwise i would look out for other models as well. Is there anyway to know what other models that Technics made that used the potmetal tuning flywheel bracket assembly besides the SA-55xx series stereos?

5670 and 5770 have the same problem/part for sure.

There's another thread somewhere on AK where a member used a part from a Marantz tuner cap to repair his Technics, try searching under models 5460, 5760, 5770 and see if you can't find it.

John

jdurbin1 said:

5670 and 5770 have the same problem/part for sure.

There's another thread somewhere on AK where a member used a part from a Marantz tuner cap to repair his Technics, try searching under models 5460, 5760, 5770 and see if you can't find it.

John

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Alright thanks for the help. I will definitely check out those systems and also check out that thread. :yes: :scratch2:

A tuning wheel mechanism from almost any 70s Japanese receiver or tuner has good chance of being adaptable to repair the Technics, not just the one from a Marantz: http://audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=6675480&postcount=7

Leestereo said:

A tuning wheel mechanism from almost any 70s Japanese receiver or tuner has good chance of being adaptable to repair the Technics, not just the one from a Marantz: http://audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=6675480&postcount=7

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Thanks, I actually have a 1970s vintage japanese made quad receiver but when I took it apart the tuner wasn't even close to the same design or even similar, all it was was just a flywheel attached directly to the tuning capacitor with two set screws and that was it, no potmetal bracket or drive reducer gears to be spoken of. And all of those receivers you speak of are extremely expensive to buy on everyone's favorite auction site, I don't have $300 or $500 to spend on a receiver that's just going to be used for parts (even the parts receivers are going for a large chunk of change, like there's a Technics SA-5570 that's being sold as a parts only unit for $50 plus $25 shipping which means when its all said and done its still gonna cost me $75 for just a parts unit... It just doesn't seem worth it unless a parts unit can be located for under $20 including shipping.

I was trying to see if I could contact that seller of that Technics SA-5570 parts unit to see if since s/he was just selling it as a parts only unit anyhow if they could just sell me that tuner drive mechanism out of the unit only, and stupid epay wouldn't let me contact the person, which I think is rediculous because I should of been allowed to contact the seller about that stereo receiver, just one more reason why I hate dealing with ebay! :thumbsdn: :nono:

Be careful with trying to get one from another unit, all the 55xx/56xx receivers have this problem (I have two 5560's, one with a broken bracket, one with an almost broken bracket). One of the things that doesn't help it to stay in good condition is the relatively large amount of tension on the unit when the dial wire is in place.

Maybe the units from the SA-x00 series could be used, perhaps if you post a picture of your unit people owning similar receivers could have a look to see if any of their units resembles it.

Unfortunately there is no free service manual available for the SA-5560, but the SA-5460 uses this unit; ECV5MD34X67G. Yours might be the same. However, when you look it up in a search engine you will see a lot of hits from companies offering it, only none of them has it in stock (and I also think they will never have).

Nice pdf sales brochure here btw

jeromach said:

Be careful with trying to get one from another unit, all the 55xx/56xx receivers have this problem (I have two 5560's, one with a broken bracket, one with an almost broken bracket). One of the things that doesn't help it to stay in good condition is the relatively large amount of tension on the unit when the dial wire is in place.

Maybe the units from the SA-x00 series could be used, perhaps if you post a picture of your unit people owning similar receivers could have a look to see if any of their units resembles it.

Unfortunately there is no free service manual available for the SA-5560, but the SA-5460 uses this unit; ECV5MD34X67G. Yours might be the same. However, when you look it up in a search engine you will see a lot of hits from companies offering it, only none of them has it in stock (and I also think they will never have).

Nice pdf sales brochure here btw

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Alright I'll keep that in mind. The guy at the local repair shop (whom I've apprenticed under for a while) said he had an old SA-x00 unit for parts for a while but then tossed it because he didn't have a use for it anymore. Anyways there's another electronics repair shop here in town near me that I can check out to see if he has any parts units that he would be willing to let me have parts off of or let me have.

Well I talked to the other electronics repairman in town on the phone and he said that he didn't have any parts or parts units like what I needed, and suggested I go to Panasonic because supposedly they have a large warehouse in Rockford, Illinois where they have lots of parts stocked at including NOS parts. So I might give them a try as a last resort before either junking the unit, or trying barter town on here (once I get a subscription to the website.)

If I was married to one of these receivers and committed to keeping it working for a long time, I think I'd add some additional string length and add another pulley on the back side of the tuning capacitor so the cord tension was balanced out and not applying force to that casting 24/7.

John

jdurbin1 said:

If I was married to one of these receivers and committed to keeping it working for a long time, I think I'd add some additional string length and add another pulley on the back side of the tuning capacitor so the cord tension was balanced out and not applying force to that casting 24/7.

John

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How would one go about doing that without modifying the chassis too much?

captainclock, how is your German?

I found a site where they have performed the repair. It's in German, so that might be a little difficult for most non Germans, but it has some nice pictures that give a good impression of a possible repair option.

Here it is.

Edit: I now noticed after a little more reading there were two solutions. The first one did not work, it broke again, due to the tension on the belt. The second option is the way to go.