Here is the full tear down and cleaning of a Lasonic TRC-918 that I received last week in the mail. I do have some more work to do too this box. It needs new tweeters (on the way) and the cassette needs new blets. The good news is, this came with out the cassette working and the cassette door stuck shut. The cassette door now opens and it now plays tapes like a champion! It does need new belts as they slip on fast forward and reverse. The biggest issues with this box is the tuning dial has the numbers scratched off in the middle and the plastic chrome is showing it's age. I will keep my eyes open for a new tuning dial, but I'm not that hurt over it.
On the flip side, the sound quality is GREAT (with the exception of the crackling tweeters)
What I started with....This box wasn't that bad in terms of exterior dirt and grime. It looked about normal for it's age.
The controls all had some filth in the recesses as expected.
The back has that typical Lasonic "Cooked Look". I may consider a repaint of the back down the line.
The inside how ever was filthy. I think someone spilled a soda inside the back....don't ask me how, but the amp board was sticky slimy as was the bottom of the box. many of the screws were sticky (at least I hope it was soda ewwww
)
Here you can really see the sticky goo.
Here with the box mostly gutted the simplicity shows. The only issue with parts inside this box is the tuner lights. They didn't give much wire, so I had to be careful not to break the solder joints. They should have used a plug for that connection!
How ever, the nice part is Lasonic mounted all the PC boards to a solid "Chassis", so I only had to pull 8 screws and all the internals came right out. Cassette and all.
It's a fairly simple package.
Just down to the speakers now!
The speaker grills on this radio have nominal dents, but if your familiar with the TRC-918 you'll know that the grills are not flat. The have a raised ring on the side with the center recessed. Another "Looks Cool, but sucks in real life" design! They were a bitch to straighten and have to admit I only was able to do a so so job. Thankfully, they are not obvious!
Here they are after I pounded them out
Both speakers were filled with dirt, dust and grime with some soda (I'm hoping) splattered on them. Obviously the downside of white speakers.
Almost ready for a wash.
You can see here the wear on the chrome. This is apparent on most of the chrome on this box.
OK, ready for the sink and some soap!
Here is a good shot of the "Mystery" goo in the bottom of the box. It really wasn't that bad as I washed right out with warm water.
OK, NOW it's ready for the sink and some soap!
Right away things start looking better. With a quick wipe of the sponge and the dirt in the crevices washes away reveling a nicer clean case.
No more goo / soda / ??. Looks OK to touch now!
The face is looking MUCH better as well. BTW, I did not take the cassette door off, because I believe the clips or screws are behind the chrome sticker on the face. I was able to clean around it, I didn't want to risk tearing something up. Not the smartest design though!
The control panel looks decent with out all the dirt in the crevices.
Here it is with the speaker grills back in place after the washing. In this picture you can see the grill design. They always look better without dents!!!
The inner's needed a cleaning as well. They were grimy and dusty. I cleaned the switches and wiped everything down.
Here we have the cleaned speakers back in. There was still some soda on the white paper of the speaker. You can also see the scratch on the tuner numbers. If anyone has a spare tuner dial, I'm interested!
VU Meter cover back in place
Grills remounted. It's starting to look like a radio again!
Here is something interesting. In this picture, you can see the 4 switches for the tuner. The two with button tops on them are the AM and FM. The other two are not used. There is no SW1 or SW2 on this radio. But it appears to have been "pre-wired" in some way or another. Does anyone have a TRC-918 with SW on it? There is also no cut out in the top for these switches.
Things are getting back together now. Again, the only thing I had to wrestle with was the tuner lights due to a short wire lead. Other than that, the whole chassis drops right in.
Tweeter grills back on, the front is assembled, the insides in place, ready for testing.
There it is....CLEAN!
Test Functions....Cassette: CHECK, Radio: CHECK, Stereo: CHECK, Stereo Wide: CHECK, Works while plugged in: CHECK, Works on Batteries: CHECK, Line In: CHECK, Balance / Treble / Bass: CHECK, Volume: CHECK, Mix Volume: CHECK, LED VU Meters: CHECK
So, other than the scratched tuning dial, the warn chrome, the need for new belts and some replacement tweeters. This radio ROCKS! No it's not a flawless gem. I knew that when I bought it. It was advertised as a "Take To The Beach Box". HELL YEAH IT IS! I have no problem tossing this radio in the back of the car and heading to a picnic with out the fear of someone knocking into it. It's VERY LOUD. I'm really looking forward to the new tweeters. The sound quality is right in line with my TRC-920. This has 5 inch speakers where the TRC-920 has 6 inch speakers. But it has a good matched amplifier for the speaker size and those things MOVE some air! Over all, I'm very happy with this radio and very happy to have the cassette deck working!
(Oh Yeah, Playing a Cassette)
On the flip side, the sound quality is GREAT (with the exception of the crackling tweeters)
What I started with....This box wasn't that bad in terms of exterior dirt and grime. It looked about normal for it's age.
The controls all had some filth in the recesses as expected.
The back has that typical Lasonic "Cooked Look". I may consider a repaint of the back down the line.
The inside how ever was filthy. I think someone spilled a soda inside the back....don't ask me how, but the amp board was sticky slimy as was the bottom of the box. many of the screws were sticky (at least I hope it was soda ewwww
)
Here you can really see the sticky goo.
Here with the box mostly gutted the simplicity shows. The only issue with parts inside this box is the tuner lights. They didn't give much wire, so I had to be careful not to break the solder joints. They should have used a plug for that connection!
How ever, the nice part is Lasonic mounted all the PC boards to a solid "Chassis", so I only had to pull 8 screws and all the internals came right out. Cassette and all.
It's a fairly simple package.
Just down to the speakers now!
The speaker grills on this radio have nominal dents, but if your familiar with the TRC-918 you'll know that the grills are not flat. The have a raised ring on the side with the center recessed. Another "Looks Cool, but sucks in real life" design! They were a bitch to straighten and have to admit I only was able to do a so so job. Thankfully, they are not obvious!
Here they are after I pounded them out
Both speakers were filled with dirt, dust and grime with some soda (I'm hoping) splattered on them. Obviously the downside of white speakers.
Almost ready for a wash.
You can see here the wear on the chrome. This is apparent on most of the chrome on this box.
OK, ready for the sink and some soap!
Here is a good shot of the "Mystery" goo in the bottom of the box. It really wasn't that bad as I washed right out with warm water.
OK, NOW it's ready for the sink and some soap!
Right away things start looking better. With a quick wipe of the sponge and the dirt in the crevices washes away reveling a nicer clean case.
No more goo / soda / ??. Looks OK to touch now!
The face is looking MUCH better as well. BTW, I did not take the cassette door off, because I believe the clips or screws are behind the chrome sticker on the face. I was able to clean around it, I didn't want to risk tearing something up. Not the smartest design though!
The control panel looks decent with out all the dirt in the crevices.
Here it is with the speaker grills back in place after the washing. In this picture you can see the grill design. They always look better without dents!!!
The inner's needed a cleaning as well. They were grimy and dusty. I cleaned the switches and wiped everything down.
Here we have the cleaned speakers back in. There was still some soda on the white paper of the speaker. You can also see the scratch on the tuner numbers. If anyone has a spare tuner dial, I'm interested!
VU Meter cover back in place
Grills remounted. It's starting to look like a radio again!
Here is something interesting. In this picture, you can see the 4 switches for the tuner. The two with button tops on them are the AM and FM. The other two are not used. There is no SW1 or SW2 on this radio. But it appears to have been "pre-wired" in some way or another. Does anyone have a TRC-918 with SW on it? There is also no cut out in the top for these switches.
Things are getting back together now. Again, the only thing I had to wrestle with was the tuner lights due to a short wire lead. Other than that, the whole chassis drops right in.
Tweeter grills back on, the front is assembled, the insides in place, ready for testing.
There it is....CLEAN!
Test Functions....Cassette: CHECK, Radio: CHECK, Stereo: CHECK, Stereo Wide: CHECK, Works while plugged in: CHECK, Works on Batteries: CHECK, Line In: CHECK, Balance / Treble / Bass: CHECK, Volume: CHECK, Mix Volume: CHECK, LED VU Meters: CHECK
So, other than the scratched tuning dial, the warn chrome, the need for new belts and some replacement tweeters. This radio ROCKS! No it's not a flawless gem. I knew that when I bought it. It was advertised as a "Take To The Beach Box". HELL YEAH IT IS! I have no problem tossing this radio in the back of the car and heading to a picnic with out the fear of someone knocking into it. It's VERY LOUD. I'm really looking forward to the new tweeters. The sound quality is right in line with my TRC-920. This has 5 inch speakers where the TRC-920 has 6 inch speakers. But it has a good matched amplifier for the speaker size and those things MOVE some air! Over all, I'm very happy with this radio and very happy to have the cassette deck working!
(Oh Yeah, Playing a Cassette)
