TRK-9150W speaker chroming

Status
Not open for further replies.

caution

Member (SA)
Mar 25, 2014
2,499
334
83
Boomboxery
Finally got around to installing the replacement parts on my 9150W. Some shots of the insides




The bass ports seem partially blocked right out of the factory.




Sorted out the busted keys, thankfully the one with the clip was intact! I think the replacement set I got came from a slightly different model.




The way it's assembled is a bit sketchy because you have to bend two metal tabs built into the sheet metal in order to release a bracket that holds the keys into place. Probably can only do that a couple of times before the metal fatigues too much.

Put an M70 dial bulb in, and although it works fine on batteries (although a bit dim at 5.25V) it never turns off when plugged in, even when powered off, and gets a bit brighter (12.5V vs. 10.5V) when the dial light button is pressed. Maybe a bad diode, I'm not too sure yet.



A picture of the amp chip and its dual arrangement inside.




Now off to the speakers. My plan was to pop the grilles off and clean off all the dust and dirt, and Reli you read my mind I was considering chrome replacements for them.

I got most of the dust and dirt off without removing the grilles, but had never seen so much glue used on them before, and I'm not so sure I want to risk damaging it trying to hack my way through 14 of these:




I figured I'd forget about the custom rings and just try to get the remaining grime I couldn't reach with the grille on. My first attempt at using the dishwasher to clean a boombox and what happens?

The silver trim was a foil sticker. Blimey! Guess I'll be making rings after all :lol:
The problem of lack of access to them is still a concern because I liked Reli's idea of designing some more pieces for the area around the tweeter, which has a pattern around it you can't see because it's all black.

Is there anything that will soften this black glue without destroying the plastic? Goo Gone maybe?




Thanks to jimmy not only do I have new deck keys, I also have a function knob and original antenna, and have now glued in a new dial window. The old one was still inside lodged above the needle, but it was scuffed. Meanwhile I've got some chunks of the frame that need to be welded back on, touch up paint on the grilles, take a Sharpie to the cones, and try to chromify the worn paint on the mics.
 

Reli

Member (SA)
Dec 24, 2010
6,316
441
83
USA
Hmm, my grills came off easy, I just bent up the tabs with needle-nose pliers. The glue wasn't enough to be a problem.
 

caution

Member (SA)
Mar 25, 2014
2,499
334
83
Boomboxery
Aww man lucky devil :annoyed: I worked on a few but it's going to take a lot of pulling and pushing and hacking. They're drenched in it, down deep on every one. If I can get these apart I want to chrome the tweeter faces. Not sure about the thing around the woofer, it looks like it might have too much curve.
 

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
May 5, 2012
3,578
26
38
Sunny Brisbane, Australia
The silver driver surround is actually paper backed! Don't get them wet!

The dial light on mine gets brighter when you press the dial light button too so it's probably how they are.
So the deck key assembly couldn't be swapped over as a complete unit?

The speaker box padding on mine was positioned behind the driver so it didn't come into contact with the bass port!?

Great work on the resto. How does the deck sound?
 

blu_fuz

Moderator
Staff member
Jun 3, 2009
10,666
155
63
40
WI
That is a lot of glue on those tabs. It might be more risky to cracking the plastic, but shoot an upside down can of air at the glue to freeze it and twist a flat blade screw driver under the grill tabs to break the glue.
 

caution

Member (SA)
Mar 25, 2014
2,499
334
83
Boomboxery
Yeah, I'd be afraid of cracking brittle plastic. I thought of going the other way and hold a soldering iron to the metal tabs so they get warm enough to soften the glue, but then I was worried it would get too hot and melt the plastic.
I'm making slow progress slowly pulling the glue out in chunks until I'm deep enough that an X-acto blade can reach through and separate the last leg of it. It took me almost two hours to do three of them, slow and easy wins the race haha!
 

caution

Member (SA)
Mar 25, 2014
2,499
334
83
Boomboxery
jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
The silver driver surround is actually paper backed! Don't get them wet!
Oh sure, now you tell me :-P


jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
The dial light on mine gets brighter when you press the dial light button too so it's probably how they are.
So when you have it powered with AC it's on all the time too, even when powered off?


jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
So the deck key assembly couldn't be swapped over as a complete unit?
Nah, yours lacked the special pause key with molded holders for a copper clip.
Not that I couldn't have glued it in place had I needed to replace that key.


jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
The speaker box padding on mine was positioned behind the driver so it didn't come into contact with the bass port!?
So it surrounded the woofer and stayed out of the top area? Strange... I may have to try that instead.


jimmyjimmy19702010 said:
Great work on the resto. How does the deck sound?
Thanks! The deck needs to come out again as I thought the belts were okay and had just slipped off. The thick square belt was replaced at some point because it looks/feels good as new. the other two have less grip and just look older. The counter belt still works but the flat belt will have to be replaced. It will not run the deck, it just slips. I'm not sure how much I want to spend taking it apart and lubing it, sounds like it was a lot of work when you did it.


Reli said:
Heat gun?
Yeah, that's what I'll probably try next.
 

MyOhMy

Member (SA)
Jul 26, 2015
2,509
7
0
70
Sleaford, Lincolnshire, UK.
I love these detailed threads and this is good one, caution so many thanks. If you solve the problem of releasing the grills from the black gluey stuff please tells how you did this?

On another point, the very first image shows a black plastic 'framework' on the front view, it looks like a thick black PWB trace with rounded blobs on ( :blink: :-D !): I've noticed from a couple of my other model TRK's that these are prone to cracking across the profile so a dab or two of Plastic Weld proved helpful to effect a quick repair & reinforcement.
 

Superduper

Member (SA)
I don't recommend heat gun. Plastic and heat don't mix. The Aiwa CS-880's are like this.... just cut as much as you can with small diagonal cutters to snip as much as you can. No solvent I know of that will soften or remove that tar-like goo is safe.

As for light, many boomboxes that light up continuously when AC powered is this way because the transformer has a small secondary winding dedicated for the dial light. Try measuring the voltage to bulbs when powered via mains & see if the bulb is getting AC or D.C. If AC, I'll bet your transformer likewise has a dedicated dial light winding. As to why it gets brighter when you press the button, this is rather normal since the button powers the bulb from a different power source, DC instead of AC.

I can't offer anything regarding why lamps are on when boombox is powered off but I suspect that this unit has a solid state switch in which case, perhaps a transistor is shorted C-E? Just a guess. I highly doubt that it would be normal to require unplugging the unit to extinguish bulb. I would check service manual for you but I can't find one for 9150. 9140 is closest I got and I don't think the 9140 even has dial lamps.
 

Reli

Member (SA)
Dec 24, 2010
6,316
441
83
USA
The light on my German-market 9140 only activates when the button is held down.

The function switch on these boxes sucks, because it's completely closed off and therefore can't be sprayed unless it's taken apart.
 

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
May 5, 2012
3,578
26
38
Sunny Brisbane, Australia
The light on my 9150W is dimly lit whenever it's supplied with AC. It gets brighter when the light button is pressed. The bulb only lights when the light button is pressed when powered by 10 D cells. There were many different versions of each model. They gradually deleted functions and features as time went on.

For those who are interested: :-)

1st model:

TRK-9050 - Fully featured including a music search function. (No metal tape capability)
IMG_3335.PNG
2nd model:

TRK-9150 -
1st version - same as the 9050 minus the music search function. (No metal tape capability)

2nd version - some or all of the following features deleted: timer/standby, mic vol pot, rec mute, mic input, manual record level sliders deleted (auto function only).

3rd model:

TRK-9140 - VU meters replaced by LED meters, dial light (no longer required with LEDs) and digital clock deleted. Some 9140s had manual record level sliders, some didn't. (Metal tape capability added)

4th model:

TRK-9200 - Same as the 9140 except more deleted switches plus the phono input function deleted. - Haven't seen any with manual record level sliders (Metal tape capability)IMG_3336.PNGIMG_3337.PNG

One AKA I noticed:
IMG_3338.PNG
 

caution

Member (SA)
Mar 25, 2014
2,499
334
83
Boomboxery
With any luck the function switch isn't dirty on mine, I hate taking switches apart!

MyOhMy said:
I love these detailed threads and this is good one, caution so many thanks. If you solve the problem of releasing the grills from the black gluey stuff please tells how you did this?

On another point, the very first image shows a black plastic 'framework' on the front view, it looks like a thick black PWB trace with rounded blobs on ( :blink: :-D !): I've noticed from a couple of my other model TRK's that these are prone to cracking across the profile so a dab or two of Plastic Weld proved helpful to effect a quick repair & reinforcement.
Well, after a lot of scraping and digging and stabbing and slicing I got the first one off! :rock:
Every one of them was encased in the glue, but after a while I realized that if I got the X-acto blade in a ways and established I could just slice all the way through it. That will save time doing the other one. The glue was connected through the holes as well.
Took some notes, will try creating my own episode of Chrome Improvement :cool:




 

Reli

Member (SA)
Dec 24, 2010
6,316
441
83
USA
Yeah the bass port would be easy

New chrome rings, maybe

Maybe make the surrounds bronze/brass colored, to contrast with the chrome rings
 

Reli

Member (SA)
Dec 24, 2010
6,316
441
83
USA
Guess the woofer surround would need to be painted since it's curved.

An alternative would be to leave the speaker surrounds black, and paint the depressions and valleys light gray, which would make the speaker surrounds stand out. Or create stickers that accomplish the same thing.
 

caution

Member (SA)
Mar 25, 2014
2,499
334
83
Boomboxery
I think I have some wiggle room. I was able to apply the thinner chrome I have to the slightly concave woofer panels on the VZ2000 and it worked okay.
I cut and applied all the pieces at lunch today and it looks weird without chrome on the woofer surround, so I'm gonna try it.
But yeah, I might have to paint or cut some silver or gray, otherwise I'll be relying on light for any definition.
 

Reli

Member (SA)
Dec 24, 2010
6,316
441
83
USA
The problem with the OEM paper rings is they make the woofer look small.

If you end up chroming the surrounds, you could delete those paper rings and leave those grooves blank. This would increase the "black area" around the woofer and make it look bigger.

Or, if you decide to chrome the flat depressions instead of the surrounds, the woofers would look even BIGGER, since all that area would be black.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!
 

caution

Member (SA)
Mar 25, 2014
2,499
334
83
Boomboxery
I could cut black rings that are glossy so not all definition is lost, plus there is a groove that runs down the center of each ring that's full of glue I can't remove, so something will have to go there. I decided to leave the protective plastic on the chrome for the rings, looks kinda cool.

I cut a pattern that just about worked for the woofer surround, I need to try cutting it from the thicker chrome with more forgiving adhesive.






 

caution

Member (SA)
Mar 25, 2014
2,499
334
83
Boomboxery
Thanks! I wasn't planning on having blue but I figured it might help temper all the chrome. It may end up having the opposite effect Reli mentioned about the speaker size, but that's okay.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.