My new BigBen ( presentation and repair job )

[JVC838]

last weekend I purchased a
SANYO BigBen

-Japanese Edition -

But I have to take it apart cause of severel malfunctions:
1. the left channel was dead
2. The tape was blocked
3. it only runs on 100 V AC

After releasing the servo drive mechanism I noticed there was no reel drive in play position:
so I searched the cause and found the reason: a broken pin of the friction wheel

 

[MasterBlaster84]

I love Ben and I'm not even homosexual.

Congrats, that Ben looks pretty nice.

 

[JVC838]

youre right, it is a special, unusual high end box.

the dead channel was very easy to fix: the internal switch of the headphone was bad: only a bit of desoxid, several times of plug and unplug a headphone and the problem was solved....

Now I started to convert the mains section because I have a 230V AC power net.

I found a very lovely toroidal transformer 230 V / 12 V / 36 W

It is small and less heavy and a better performer.

I also changed the rectifier diodes into more effective shottky diodes and I added an extra large capacitor with 10000 uF.

 

[Fatdog]

That Big Ben is in great hands with Ralf. I'm sure he will also implement his "nuclear" batteries also.

 

[MasterBlaster84]

the dead channel was very easy to fix: the internal switch of the headphone was bad: only a bit of desoxid and the problem was solved....

I had that exact issue with a JVC RC-550, seems so bad but it's such a simple fix.
What seems like such big problems on these old boomers turns out to be switches or rheostats that can be brought back fairly easily.

 

[baddboybill]

the dead channel was very easy to fix: the internal switch of the headphone was bad: only a bit of desoxid and the problem was solved....

I had that exact issue with a JVC RC-550, seems so bad but it's such a simple fix.
What seems like such big problems on these old boomers turns out to be switches or rheostats that can be brought back fairly easily.

When it becomes an easy fix that is so cool I give this big ben 2 thumbs up Good luck with the deck repair

 

[JVC838]

Good luck with the deck repair

Thanks and I had got luck

I glued the broken pin with superglue ( Cyanacrylat )

Three or four layers of this glue and 24 hours of drying was one part of the fixing job.
The other part was to decrease the tension of the spring. The reason for this action: I reduce the force in the glued pin.

After assembing of all parts the tape is now 100% perfect

 

[JVC838]

That Big Ben is in great hands with Ralf. I'm sure he will also implement his "nuclear" batteries also.

YES

This was the first act after my repair job:

for mobile application it runs on 12 C - NiMH accus ( 4000mAh types )

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Great Thread! I always dig reading these repair jobs and on such a worthy box. Nice Work!

 

[blu_fuz]

Sweet - glad these were some easy fixes for you. Makes the deal even sweeeeeter

 

[floyd]

i don't think iv'e ever seem a box using that type of transformer before ,thats bad ass indeed not to mention the box awesome!

 

[Superduper]

I just love torroidal transformers. The only drawbacks are the weird shape which makes retrofitting iffy and the large price tags on them. Otherwise, performance is certainly improved with torroids.

 

[Gluecifer]

Fantastic job, Ralf!
The BigBen is easily one of the top 3sounding boxes I've heard, and the deck is marvellous quality.

Excellent work!



Rock On.

 

[monchito]

awesome

 

[baddboybill]

Good luck with the deck repair

Thanks and I had got luck

I glued the broken pin with superglue ( Cyanacrylat )

Three or four layers of this glue and 24 hours of drying was one part of the fixing job.
The other part was to decrease the tension of the spring. The reason for this action: I reduce the force in the glued pin.

After assembing of all parts the tape is now 100% perfect

 

[redbenjoe]

awesome

spot on ramon !!!

way to go , ralf

 

[vladi123456]

Awesome boombox, congrats!

 

[ford93]

Ralf does it again!

 

[blacksnake]

Those are very detailed pictures as well. Good job.

 

[blah blah]

The BigBen is easily one of the top 3sounding boxes I've heard, and the deck is marvellous quality.

great box and repair. excellent pickup for sure