Hi Guys,
Well this weekend I had some spare time so I decided to tackle my roadside find Sharp GF-9696.
To those members who didn't see my original thread, this box was found outside a family home dumped with an old bed, a foot bath and an old bookshelf!
View attachment 18887
The first time I plugged in the big Sharp, I had no left channel and a non-responsive power button. I could only get power to the tuner by activating the deck.
View attachment 18888View attachment 18889View attachment 18890
According to the original owner, the unit had not been run for many years. Overall, the unit looked to have had a hard life - not misused, just worked long and hard. Externally, the unit was filthy and had various scratches and gouges on the corners. The chrome was pitted, the front tuner window was cracked and the left antenna was missing its' tip. It was also missing a couple of switch tips, a slider cap, 1 x grill and a tape door trim but was otherwise complete.
View attachment 18891View attachment 18892View attachment 18893
After giving the sliders on top a quick spray, sound was restored on both channels and I found the tuner was working on all bands, all be it, intermittently as the band selector switches needed cleaning.
The battery compartment door was sitting in place ok despite the fact that was cracked in half! The battery compartment was clean though with no sign of acid damage.
Flipping the unit on it's front, I found all rear case screws were present and original. After pulling the front cover off, the internals looked pretty good with no sign of being messed with.
View attachment 18894I don't think insect eggs were a factory option!
View attachment 18895View attachment 18896View attachment 18897
Amazingly, the screw posts were holding well and had no signs of any cracks. Even the outer case of the Sharp is crack free!
View attachment 18915
Next job was to gut the speakers etc from the front panel and give the casing and the top panel a warm bubble bath
View attachment 18916
A quick rinse in the backyard was next:
View attachment 18918
It always amazes me the amount of crap that accumulates inside a boombox!
A soft sponge, toothbrush and one of the wife's tea towels was all that was needed for this part of the restoration.
Next on the list was to repair a hole that had been punched through the lower part of the left speaker cone. The tear was pretty clean but making a repair like this invisible is impossible so I just pulled the hole closed and used some paper glue to restore the cones integrity. Next was to re-blacken the heavily faded speaker cones. The black permanent marker method has left the speakers slightly darker than original but it still looks a lot better than faded brown!
Here we have the right hand speaker re-coloured and the left speaker hole repaired awaiting the glue to dry:
View attachment 18919
Speakers reloaded:
View attachment 18920
I couldn't get any life from the deck so the first thing to check was that the motor was getting power. Yep, just under 15v so the next step was to pull the deck and see what's going on. The smaller belts were laying in pieces with the main drive belt completely stuck to the flywheel.
After cleaning off the remaining belts, I removed the flywheel and then removed the remnants of the 5mm rubber drive tube. New tubing was then fitted and the flywheel re-installed. The motor is almost locked up and is very hard to turn so I'll probably just get another motor instead of trying to restore the old one. The tape heads and cable on this one look ok (unusual on a GF series deck of this era).
The record bar then received some spray and as I'm yet to get replacement belts, I'll dive back into the deck when I source a new motor and drive belts.
Next I cleaned the sliders and switches with Deoxit and checked for wear of the all important volume sliders. Although there is a little extra play in these over the less often used record level sliders, they are working well and are providing a perfectly even output from both channels.
Ok, so now it was time to fix the troublesome GF-9696 on/off switch. This is the second 9696 I've come across with this issue. You can turn the unit on and off with the push down switch but only when the tape deck is activated. I'll tell you guys of the secret repair method that has worked for me 100% so far:
Firstly, you remove the external button and spray a little cleaner into the pot on top. Next, you spray some cleaner into the white switch from underneath (the on/off switch). Push the button down a dozen times and check for function. Normally it still won't work properly so then you get some pointy nose plyers and bend the left and right terminal tabs that hang below the switch. You push the left one slightly to the left and the right one slightly to the right. This pushes the terminals inside towards the centre of the switch. Normal function is then restored. No dis-assembly required!!
Time to reload the speakers. To save disturbing the original solder joints on the woofers, I cut the small wires leading to the tweeters that sit in front of the woofers. I just had to solder them back up and apply some heat shrink to make everything look factory again.
The main drivers on the 9696 really are a nice speaker with a good sized magnet and quality paper cones - a big upgrade over the 9494.
The electrical cables on this front panel also appear undisturbed from the factory with all zip ties still in place.
Next I got to work cleaning the nooks and crannies of the rear casing. The deck keys needed special attention as they tend to completely fill with dust bunnies due to their top mount arrangement.
The deck keys were heavily corroded as were the slider covers and toggle switch tips. They have improved markedly but will never be perfect looking with various pitting evident. The top panel is also heavily stained and marked although it does look much better than before.
The cracked tuner window is a real pity. I'm trying to source a replacement as we speak so fingers crossed I can find an affordable solution soon.
Next I had to repair the broken battery cover. It was broken clean in half. Firstly, I super glued the two pieces together. Once dry, I JB welded the crack from inside. I'll install a new foam strip once the JB weld has cured.
View attachment 18922View attachment 18923
Time to get everything back together again. These 1 piece GF Sharp units really are an easy box to work on. Everything is laid out well with all connectors only able to be installed one way.
View attachment 18921
The phono in was then tested and luckily it sounds fine. The tuner sounds nice on all bands including a very strong FM stereo lock on.
The performance of this particular GF-9696 is great. These 9696s are just so bloody loud outdoors.
I had it pumping while I was cleaning my work van and it sounded as strong as one of my DIY boxes!
I consider myself very fortunate to find a 9696 in the wild. The 9696 is a model I never thought I'd own due to a very limited budget. I'm wrapped!!
Quick demo video:
<iframe width="854" height="510" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kpeufq9u66k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Well this weekend I had some spare time so I decided to tackle my roadside find Sharp GF-9696.
To those members who didn't see my original thread, this box was found outside a family home dumped with an old bed, a foot bath and an old bookshelf!
View attachment 18887
The first time I plugged in the big Sharp, I had no left channel and a non-responsive power button. I could only get power to the tuner by activating the deck.
View attachment 18888View attachment 18889View attachment 18890
According to the original owner, the unit had not been run for many years. Overall, the unit looked to have had a hard life - not misused, just worked long and hard. Externally, the unit was filthy and had various scratches and gouges on the corners. The chrome was pitted, the front tuner window was cracked and the left antenna was missing its' tip. It was also missing a couple of switch tips, a slider cap, 1 x grill and a tape door trim but was otherwise complete.
View attachment 18891View attachment 18892View attachment 18893
After giving the sliders on top a quick spray, sound was restored on both channels and I found the tuner was working on all bands, all be it, intermittently as the band selector switches needed cleaning.
The battery compartment door was sitting in place ok despite the fact that was cracked in half! The battery compartment was clean though with no sign of acid damage.
Flipping the unit on it's front, I found all rear case screws were present and original. After pulling the front cover off, the internals looked pretty good with no sign of being messed with.
View attachment 18894I don't think insect eggs were a factory option!
View attachment 18895View attachment 18896View attachment 18897Amazingly, the screw posts were holding well and had no signs of any cracks. Even the outer case of the Sharp is crack free!
View attachment 18915
Next job was to gut the speakers etc from the front panel and give the casing and the top panel a warm bubble bath
View attachment 18916
A quick rinse in the backyard was next:
View attachment 18918
It always amazes me the amount of crap that accumulates inside a boombox!
A soft sponge, toothbrush and one of the wife's tea towels was all that was needed for this part of the restoration.Next on the list was to repair a hole that had been punched through the lower part of the left speaker cone. The tear was pretty clean but making a repair like this invisible is impossible so I just pulled the hole closed and used some paper glue to restore the cones integrity. Next was to re-blacken the heavily faded speaker cones. The black permanent marker method has left the speakers slightly darker than original but it still looks a lot better than faded brown!
Here we have the right hand speaker re-coloured and the left speaker hole repaired awaiting the glue to dry:
View attachment 18919
Speakers reloaded:
View attachment 18920
I couldn't get any life from the deck so the first thing to check was that the motor was getting power. Yep, just under 15v so the next step was to pull the deck and see what's going on. The smaller belts were laying in pieces with the main drive belt completely stuck to the flywheel.
After cleaning off the remaining belts, I removed the flywheel and then removed the remnants of the 5mm rubber drive tube. New tubing was then fitted and the flywheel re-installed. The motor is almost locked up and is very hard to turn so I'll probably just get another motor instead of trying to restore the old one. The tape heads and cable on this one look ok (unusual on a GF series deck of this era).
The record bar then received some spray and as I'm yet to get replacement belts, I'll dive back into the deck when I source a new motor and drive belts.
Next I cleaned the sliders and switches with Deoxit and checked for wear of the all important volume sliders. Although there is a little extra play in these over the less often used record level sliders, they are working well and are providing a perfectly even output from both channels.
Ok, so now it was time to fix the troublesome GF-9696 on/off switch. This is the second 9696 I've come across with this issue. You can turn the unit on and off with the push down switch but only when the tape deck is activated. I'll tell you guys of the secret repair method that has worked for me 100% so far:
Firstly, you remove the external button and spray a little cleaner into the pot on top. Next, you spray some cleaner into the white switch from underneath (the on/off switch). Push the button down a dozen times and check for function. Normally it still won't work properly so then you get some pointy nose plyers and bend the left and right terminal tabs that hang below the switch. You push the left one slightly to the left and the right one slightly to the right. This pushes the terminals inside towards the centre of the switch. Normal function is then restored. No dis-assembly required!!
Time to reload the speakers. To save disturbing the original solder joints on the woofers, I cut the small wires leading to the tweeters that sit in front of the woofers. I just had to solder them back up and apply some heat shrink to make everything look factory again.
The main drivers on the 9696 really are a nice speaker with a good sized magnet and quality paper cones - a big upgrade over the 9494.
The electrical cables on this front panel also appear undisturbed from the factory with all zip ties still in place.
Next I got to work cleaning the nooks and crannies of the rear casing. The deck keys needed special attention as they tend to completely fill with dust bunnies due to their top mount arrangement.
The deck keys were heavily corroded as were the slider covers and toggle switch tips. They have improved markedly but will never be perfect looking with various pitting evident. The top panel is also heavily stained and marked although it does look much better than before.
The cracked tuner window is a real pity. I'm trying to source a replacement as we speak so fingers crossed I can find an affordable solution soon.
Next I had to repair the broken battery cover. It was broken clean in half. Firstly, I super glued the two pieces together. Once dry, I JB welded the crack from inside. I'll install a new foam strip once the JB weld has cured.
View attachment 18922View attachment 18923
Time to get everything back together again. These 1 piece GF Sharp units really are an easy box to work on. Everything is laid out well with all connectors only able to be installed one way.
View attachment 18921
The phono in was then tested and luckily it sounds fine. The tuner sounds nice on all bands including a very strong FM stereo lock on.
The performance of this particular GF-9696 is great. These 9696s are just so bloody loud outdoors.
I had it pumping while I was cleaning my work van and it sounded as strong as one of my DIY boxes!I consider myself very fortunate to find a 9696 in the wild. The 9696 is a model I never thought I'd own due to a very limited budget. I'm wrapped!!
Quick demo video:
<iframe width="854" height="510" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kpeufq9u66k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
