Conion C-126f

[stynger007]

Starting with the slide in deck . It`s similar to working on a walkman. Tight tolerances . Three of the gears are cracked in the same areas , 3 cracks in each. To get to the belt underneath ( the shorter one , not the broken one) it was necessary to remove 2 of the cracked gears. After removing the plastic retaining circlip on the top, one gear came apart, in 3 pieces . Carefully placed on a piece of scotch tape folded underneath to stick both to the table and the gear , epoxied and using the adhesion of the tape, was able to glue the gear back together. The gear removes easily from the tape .
The main deck , need to unsolder the ground to the motor, and 3 from the limit switches , remove (3?) plugs from the upper board, and 2 from the amplifier board, the one that is flipped on it`s side with the large aluminum heatsink . This was necessary yo completely remove the deck. Having removed the deck completely from the chassis, belts melted and huge mess. Cleaned most by hand, then installed new belts , using 99 Isopropyl alcohol qtips, connecting motor to external dc power so all pulleys engaged, held the qtip in the grooves of the pulleys until clean. Reassembled, pause would engage when pressed without play button on . When pressing play, pause could not be used.Turns out the nylon flap that handles pause was worn out and would not engage. A bit disappointing but not a huge loss. Not easy to source one as these boxes are fairly rare.


Functionality follow up in next day or 2.

 

[Reli]

Had 3 of these. All had weak FM reception and would frequently drop out of stereo. The pots are very cheap too. But good bass and great looking boxes.

 

[deech]

I am searching for a CONION C126 for many years now.
I never had the chance to get it. I cant wait to see the final pictures.

If you ever decide to sell it Stynger please have me in mind.

 

[stynger007]

I am searching for a CONION C126 for many years now.
I never had the chance to get it. I cant wait to see the final pictures.

If you ever decide to sell it Stynger please have me in mind.

Had 3 of these. All had weak FM reception and would frequently drop out of stereo. The pots are very cheap too. But good bass and great looking boxes.

Reli , chased down dirty AFC switch , super cleaned , 3 times! Thought the FM oscillator was a good choice - until I realized , the board had to be removed- coupled with 2 others, the main board , and the amplifier board connect with 2 static connectors : the pins are male on the amp board , female on the bottom board that houses the mic/ external speakers/ headphone jack ; and the tuner board - the male and female connectors are static. The tuner window itself has to be physically removed to access the oscillator and yet another problem, removing the tuner window also removes the tuner string in that the string becomes completely free of it`s guides. So to remove the tuner window from the tuner board, having removed the amplifier board, and the bottom board (headphone etc. ) the layout would have to be powered up by connecting those static pins as they sit in the chassis. Whole can of worms that IMO is not worth chasing down, as the FM oscillator is just a hunch, not an end all to the static on FM stereo caused by seemingly a faulty AFC circuit. Frustrating!

 

[Reli]

Hmm, so just cleaning the AFC switch fixed it?

 

[stynger007]

Hmm, so just cleaning the AFC switch fixed it?

Unfortunately, it did not. Even tried "shorting" the AFC switch on the main board to always on and a brief relieve of clarity quickly faded to a corrupted signal. The FM oscillator I believe could attune the problem and not competely repair it - having to remove the main tuner board, the amplifier board and the headphone/mic/ext spkrs board, remount them on the bench with the amplifier board and headphone board mounted vertically and the tuner board flat with the press in connectors in place, able to power it up in this state , the kicker is having to remove the blue tuner face and at that point dislodging the tuner string to adjust the oscillator is not a good choice. As you well know, disrupting tuner strings is never a good idea.

Using FM on mono is not the end of the world-having resurected deck B by reinforcing the cracked gears, gluing the broken one back together, dressing the gear and reinstalling was more than enough satisfaction. The FM is frustrating , and this box has more than enough power to please the most discriminating enthusiast. Impressed to say the least. Ok, time for a side by side: If we have a Conion C-100 , a Conion C-126F and an M90 , which according to your ear, personal taste and the type of music you chose on each, what would be your go to box, and why?

 

[Reli]

The C100 is a better quality box than the C126, no question. Especially the pots and the tuner. It's louder as well. So for hip-hop, definitely the C100. But for classic rock or anything with real instruments, definitely the M90, it has way more detail and accuracy.

 

[hemiguy2006]

The C100 is a better quality box than the C126, no question. Especially the pots and the tuner. It's louder as well. So for hip-hop, definitely the C100. But for classic rock or anything with real instruments, definitely the M90, it has way more detail and accuracy.

Totally agree!!! I had a C126 years ago and loved it to pieces, but it doesn’t compare to the C100 or the M90

 

[Hisrudeness]

There was one of these for sale in Copenhagen a few years ago. I asked my sister who lived less then a mile away from seller to buy it for me. She wouldn’t! It was in good original shape, the price? £100.