Sansui Repairs
Service Manuals
I buy all my service manuals from Rick at http://www.stereomanuals.com and you should too!
Cabinets
Do you have a Receiver or other Sansui component that has a wood cabinet that has seen better days?
A fellow Sansui Lover, Frank, now offers a veneer service! Contact him for pricing, availability, and finishes.
His email is Frank Recupero ats34@webtv.net
Repairs I do
I can't fix your equipment over the net. :) I CAN fix it for you, but it might cost you more than you want to pay. My minimum is $100 not including return shipping. I am never in a hurry to "get your equipment out of here" and back to you. You shouldn't be in a hurry to get it back. I'm slow, but I'm one of the best. I will go over it like it was my own, fixing all the little things that become irritating over time, but you can't seem to remember when you drop it off for service. I clean the item extensively, including ALL controls, adjust anything that the service manual calls out for adjustment, and replace any burnt out lights. Sometimes this requires inventing imaginative solutions for bulbs that are no longer available (NLA). I will replace all the lights with new ones if you request it, and this is a good idea on 30 year old equipment.
I can also do audiophile type "mods" and "improvements". Some items I have experience with what works well as far as a mod. Other things it is a "try it and see" situation. I won't stab you for the hours put into this kind of work, but conversely it ain't cheap to chart uncharted territory either. I do it because I like to gain the sought after improvement, and the exercise is exciting and relaxing for me. Contact me thru email for this kind of work. I may be too snowed to give it a good effort in the near future and will let you know if that is the case.
Advice to you
Many parts are just NOT available. Do not throw anything out. Do not condemn anything. Reclaim everything you can. I buy broken equipment just to build up a stock of knobs, etc.
Repairs others do
With repairs, you get what you pay for. Keep that in mind. When you use someone near you to repair your equipment, you save on shipping costs, and possible shipping damage. Sometimes, repairs to your equipment could surpass it's replacement value. But with prices rising on ebay and other audio internet sites, you may be making an investment in something that you get to enjoy until you sell it.
I suggest you get references before letting a tech work on your vintage Sansui equipment. This isn't a VCR cleaning we're talking about here. Also, many of the semiconductors used in older Sansui equipment are no longer available. You will need a GOOD tech to either search for the correct replacements from obscure sources, or be able to determine a suitable replacement from what is available in this day and age.
Repairs you do
If you have a problem with your Sansui equipment, you can post in the Forum and maybe one of the numerous visitors to this site can help you. But truthfully I doubt it. It's electrical, it's broke and you need to find a qualified technician who is local to you. If you are not experienced at working on electronics, the members of the Classic Sansui group are not going to walk you through repairs and hold your hand the entire way. First we're gonna tell you to buy a Service Manual, and then we might be able to guess where the problem lies. But after that, it's your baby. If you put forth a real effort and we can see that you are learning skills from other places, we might jump back in and help you out some more.
Specific repairs:
OK, here's the poop.
1) Lighting. www.partsexpress.com has the fuse shaped light bulbs for Sansui equipment in stock. Don't buy it on auction. It's much cheaper direct from the source.
The light bulbs used in the BA-F1 amplifiers, and in the TA-500, TU-317, TU-417, TU-517, TU-717, TU-919, TU-9900 tuners are no longer available. So I developed a a modification with screw in sockets for the light bulbs, so that they can be easily replaced in the future. Once this mod is done, replacement lamps are readily available. The mod usually can't be seen even after partial disassembly. The lamp portion of the light bulb is identical to the original, only the lamp base is different, so the lighting has the same effect as when it was new. Contact me if you want me to modify your item that has burnt out bulbs to this new system.
2) noisy volume, etc, potentiometers. CAN ALWAYS be cleaned. ANY good shop can do it. You may pay a bit for the equipment to be disassembled, but it is not a problem. DO NOT DISASSEMBLE THE POTS!!! Anyone that disagrees with me is WRONG. I'm an electronics technician with over 25 years experience. Believe me when I say, you can successfully clean 95% of the potentiometers in the world. Same goes for switches. In fact, most of the time, the problem is the switches, not the pots.
3) Distorted, or no sound in one channel of the amp can be a preamp transistor gone bad, not just the output transistors are suspect. I have successfully replaced these small transistors with common small signal transistors. Check the preamp circuit by running the preamp outputs into the power amp in of another amp. if the sound coming out is similarly bad, then the preamp is the problem, and it should be an easy fix. If the tech needs a schematic, find another tech.
4) Dolby circuits. I have heard others say that these are trouble prone. I have one here that is giving me fits. You can no longer get the Dolby chip in these receivers. Bypassing it is a handful.
5) Replacement or suitable replacement transistors ARE available. If your tech says they can't parts, get another tech. Email me for help, if you need it.
Advice:
Keep your equipment covered when not in use. The point is to keep dust out of it. Cloth is good, plastic is better. In a cabinet that restricts dust, is also recommended. REMOVE the covering when operating the equipment, or it will overheat, or your covering may catch fire. Use your head.
On receivers where the power switch is part of the speaker switching knob, do not use the switched AC outlets on the back. The power for components plugged in there goes through your power switch. If you put too big a load on that switch it will burn up, and you won't be able to get another. Better to use a cheap switched AC strip to power all your equipment on at once. This will also save wear and tear on your speaker switch by not turning it on and off all the time.