Getting ready to revamp a Crown CSC-950. Looking for some advice/tips

[gumert]

I recently brought home a Crown CSC-950. The (used) box of my youth was a Realistic SCR-8, but when I started looking for a mostly complete unit they seemed hard to come by. Enter a relatively cheap, locally available, "fully working" Crown CS-950.

The box is all there and appears to be fully functional. I haven't tested the tape deck, since I haven't owned any tapes in a long time, but play/ff/rw all seem to operate. The volume, balance, treble, and bass) are all noise free and the battery springs/terminals look like they've never really been used.

I'm looking for some help troubleshooting/deciding what to do about the two electrical gripes I have with the unit. It pops when coming out of sleep. Is this normal for a box of this vintage? The left channel plays more strongly than the right. This is especially noticeable at very low volumes. If you move the balance pot to full "R" no sound will come out of the unit until you turn the volume up some

There was something rattling around inside the box, and the unit generally reeked of smoke, so I pulled it apart to take a look. I found a decent amount of broken plastic, along with some other odds and ends that need addressing. These are all pretty straightforward things to tackle though.

 

[DPaignall]

That's a nice box, it looks like the damage is from a drop (or two). The electrical gripes are most likely due to dirty or corroded switches, (oxidisation is a common problem with older electronics). Remedy is to clean their contacts with electrical contact cleaner - Deoxit is ideal - especially the 'record bar' (circled), same with potentiometers on the rotary controls.

Great photos btw, what camera is that? Also how big is that banana for scale?

 

[gumert]

Thanks! I agree with your assessment - the bottom of the box has hairline crack on the bottom. I'm somewhat surprised that a drop would cause one of the tuner pullies to fail though. That string is currently under a lot of tension, so I'll have to do some poking around before patching it back together.

I'm used to hearing pops as a result of capacitors charging/discharging without delay circuits in the loop, but can take a stab at cleaning the switches first. I already have a can of Deoxit in stock. Since the box is already open, it will be very easy to do.

The photos were taken with a my phone (a Pixel 3a), so nothing that crazy. The banana is about 1/3 of a rack mount amplifier wide

What's the normal protocol for this forum? Should this thread morph into the actual repair thread with time, or is it best starting another thread over in the restoration section? I suspect that I will have a few more troubleshooting type questions along the way.

 

[DPaignall]

You're fine posting either way, though restoration could be more suitable for bringing a box back to good condition rather than 'just' fixing it, eg https://boomboxery.com/forum/threads/project-biohazard-crown-sv5100-sewer-find.30701/ (waiting for a long enough drill bit to remove rusted screws!).