Marantz 2226B help.

I have a Marantz 2226 that I recently bought about a month ago, it had sat for many years unused until the owner takes it out of storage and gives it a de-oxit bath and adjusts the bias.

It has worked flawlessly for 2 weeks, but then all of a sudden sometimes the right and left channel start to not work, sometimes it's just right or left that drops out and sometimes it's both.

I contacted the seller and he agreed to look at it for me since I don't have any tools to do it myself.

He comes back with it saying it works flawlessly and figures that the soundcard that I'm using is giving the Marantz too much volts, but I checked the Asus website and it says that the soundcard outputs 2Vrms, isn't that common for CD players and such ?

My setup is- PC w/Asus Xonar ST soundcard or Technics SL-D303 w/AT120e>Marantz 2226B>AR 38S speakers.

I will guess the problem is the speaker relay. If you are able, open the receiver and wiggle or tap the relay to see if the sound cuts out.

Rob

Robisme said:

I will guess the problem is the speaker relay. If you are able, open the receiver and wiggle or tap the relay to see if the sound cuts out.

Rob

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I will check that out tomorrow, thank you for the help !

I've definitly been wrong before, but I don't think the 2226b has a speaker relay.

Smwilli said:

I've definitly been wrong before, but I don't think the 2226b has a speaker relay.

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correct it has fuses instead .

What should I do then ?

Maybe the volume pot or another control needs to be cleaned again.

Yeah that's probably what need to be done, I just did a test, the right channel dropped out so I turned the balance knob to the right, then I tried to turn the other knobs, when I turned the bass knob then the right channel came back. I hope the seller agrees to take it back and give the receiver another de-oxit bath.

I tried turning the RCA cables in circles and then sound improved vastly, I asked the owner and he said that he had not used de-oxit on the rca connections, could that be the problem ? The receiver sat for many years in storage so there must be a lot of dirt there.

Smwilli said:

I've definitly been wrong before, but I don't think the 2226b has a speaker relay.

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I see that now. Interesting.

Those push buttons can be problematic. Like the tape 1, mono, loudness. I have had good results cleaning them by removing the faceplate and spraying de-oxit down the the sides of the plunger, then working the switch 25-50 times.

When the channels give you trouble, you could work every control to see if the channel comes back. Could help to isolate the problem, though all controls should be cleaned.

Rob

MrSparklez said:

He comes back with it saying it works flawlessly and figures that the soundcard that I'm using is giving the Marantz too much volts

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That's complete and utter BS. Even if the soundcard overloaded the Marantz (which it doesn't, 2 V is its max output, and even that should not overload the Marantz inputs) you would simply get distorted sound, not disappearing sound.

Common causes for this kind of problem in Marantz receivers are dirty contacts in: power switch, speakers switches, tape monitor switch and especially pre out/main in jacks (rear panel). Start with connecting pre out with main in with an interconnect cable, see if the problem disappears. If not, all switches should be cleaned again with deoxit or similar product. But there's a good chance it will help, the way pre out/main in jacks work in some Marantz amps and receivers is they are connected internally until you put plugs in the pre out jacks, then the internal connection gets disconnected. This works like contacts in a switch, and causes the same problems.

I have tried connecting the pre out/main in with an rca cable and it makes no difference. I don't have de-oxit, will this work ? http://imgur.com/aHa7SqJ

It says that it's safe with most plastics, ''Use on switches, variable resistors and connectors''.

Almost any contact cleaner will work. DeOxit has some additional benefits, but they are not necessary most of the time in order to get the unit working.

I agree with others above - I have a Marantz 2230 that was almost entirely rebuilt by AK member Chris Ready, and restored to beautiful working condition. He also cleaned the living daylights out of everything. It worked great but then developed very occasional channel crackles/dropouts.

He told me that even with a full DeOxit cleaning, some of the pots and switches can still be a problem if they are not "exercised" during the days after the cleaning. Chris stands by his work, so he told me to bring it back to him. He cleaned it again while I watched, and sure enough there was still some brown crud in a couple of the pots, just luck of the draw.

A few weeks ago, I realized that the Tape Monitor button - which I never have any occasion to use - was crackly. I popped off the top and bottom covers, shot DeOxit in the switch, worked it back and forth a couple of dozen times... and I haven't had a single crackle or dropout ever since.

So in your case, the seller is indeed full of BS when he blames your sound card. But on the other hand, I would say it's not his fault that some switches or contacts are still cruddy - these things really need to be cleaned and "worked" multiple times, and it can take some detective work to find all the culprits. I am not a tech expert, but it's easy to use DeOxit or a contact cleaner, and you can get to almost any pot or switch in a '70s Marantz receiver just by removing the top and/or bottom cover.

It should be fine. We don't have deoxit in Polad either, I use Sonax MoS2 oil.

When the sound in one of the channels drops, try to push buttons in and out (including the power button), it might help you identify the problematic switch. But bect clean them all anyway, and pots too.

So I did something unusual, I took some 100 grit sandpaper and cut a small long peice, I then sanded the outside of the rca connectors, then I wrapped it around a match and inserted it inside the rca connectors.

I have now been listening for almost one hour to Rush on a Pioneer PD-5100 and everything is flawless. I can hardly believe that what I did worked, but if it turns out that it did not then I will try to clean all the pots and switches.

Thank you all for the help, wonderful community here !

I hope you meant 1000 grit and not 100 grit, 100 grit is very, very coarse and can/probably did take some of the plating off your connectors if you used it. 1000 grit is still probably little too coarse, but would not damage them much. 1500 or 2000 or even 2500 grit would be better suited for cleaning/polishing connectors. You could also use #0000 steel wool to polish them. I normally use contact cleaner with a cotton swab or a piece of a paper towel.

I have found aluminum foil to be a great medium for cleaning corrosion off of metal contacts. Sandpaper can make scratches in the metal that then rust out. I have used deoxit and Radio Shack tuner cleaner. Spray then exercise the switch or pot. You really need to be able to get your cleaner into the pot, just spraying from the front onto the shaft doesn't reach the wiper. If the corrosion is on the shaft, it will help, but the main problems I found was in the wiper section of the pot. With old gear you will need to periodically clean to keep the crackles from coming back.

I had a Fisher Studio Standard amplifier that used sliders for the volume controls and nothing I did could correct the problem. I finally deep sixed it.

Just to clarify, you didn't have sound disappearing when listening to radio, only on external sources? If that's the case, you're probably in the clear.

Don't worry about sand paper. 10seventy9 is right of course, a more delicate method would be much better, I normally use regular paper rolled and soaked with contact cleaner, but if it works, it works. And in case of damage at least it's easier to replace RCA connectors than pots.

Sorry I meant 1000 grit paper, anyways I tested it last night for about maybe 1 1/2 hours and it was flawless but then today the first thing I ear when I turn it on today I only hear the left channel, tried FM too and still only the left channel but it's fixable if I turn the pots.

So it must be dirty pots or something related to that ? At least that's what I assumed until I opened the back of the receiver, everything back there is covered in some sort of transparent goo, deoxit from the previous owner maybye ? It is everywhere especially on the green pcb there. Pots are covered in it aswell.

Should I spray the pots with the contact cleaner that I have or is there something else you guys suggest I do instead ?

EDIT: I can post a picture of it, if it helps ?

EDIT 2: Apparently it's not goo on the green pcb because when I touch it it's solid, but the pots are still filthy with goo.

If the sound in the silent channel appears when you turn up the volume, it's definitely a dirty contact somewhere. Not necessarily in the pots, the effect is that when you increase volume (or bass), higher current flows through the circuits and forces the contact. I had this problem in 4 Marantz receivers, same symptoms, three different culprits: speakers selector switch (in 2 cases), power switch, pre in/main out jacks. It was never a pot or rotary switch, they could be noisy, but never had one causing a channel going silent (in a Marantz, I did have other gear with problematic rotary switches). I'd focus on push button switches first.

Can't be sure, but if I saw a lot of 'transparent goo' on pots and switches, I would suspect that the previous owner simply sprayed contact cleaner on top of everything hoping that it will do the trick (bad) instead of spraying into the openings of pots and switches so that the cleaner gets inside (good). I would clean everything again (and try to wipe as much goo as possible, it will only collect dirt this way).