As promised, here's the start to my Samsung ST-329 restoration.
When I had initially received this box I knew it was going to be dirty and the seller had disclosed that there was some noise in the controls. Nothing I can't handle.
I did a quick wipe-down and cleaned the controls and deck so I could thoroughly test it to see what needed to be done. The deck works great, as does the line-n, but the tuner, although working, could use some help. I (like a lot of members) don't typically like messing with the tuner, but the issues didn't seem to have anything to do with alignment, so it's worth a shot, right?
Here's my first pic, straight out of the shipping box. It arrived safely to Boston all the way from San Diego. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), none of my photos really captured how dirty the unit was. Obviously owned by a heavy chain-smoker.:
Logically, I started by removing the back and front cases to get a good look at exactly what I was up against. All the case screws are machine thread, which I really like, since they won't strip out. There's a lot of circuitry jammed in this little box, but the layout definitely appears to be designed with service in mind - I like that too.
I found several caps in the tuner to be Waaayyy out of spec (visually and electrically), so I made my list and checked my parts bin (a coffee can labeled "Caps"). I had about half of what I need. I'll order the remainder today or tomorrow.
After replacing the caps I had on hand, I gave the tuner a quick test. It's much better.
The issue was that it would pull FM Stereo for a minute, then switch to mono and the FM Stereo light would turn off. It would come back if I flipped the Stereo switch to mono and back to Stereo, if I turned it off and on again, or if I switched inputs and then back to tuner.
Now it pulls stereo, but the left channel is a little louder than the right. All in good time.
In the meantime, it was time for the detailed cleaning. I started with the front case. I removed, cleaned, and re-sprayed the woofer grills in flat black. The originals may have been satin (not real sure), but the flat shows off the woofers a little better. I dusted the woofs and gave the case the "soapy bath."
Sorry guys - I didn't take any "bath" pics.
Before:
After:
Next was the top case. I immediately ran into trouble during the initial rinse. I put it under a gentle stream of warm water in the kitchen sink and...oh no...the screen printing on the aluminum trim started to let go. STOP.
The damage was done, so I sucked it up and carefully pressed on. I tip-toed around the printing with artist brushes, Q-tips, and some precision origami paper towels.
Before:
After:
I also cleaned the back case and knobs. I was very careful with the back case, since it still had all its factory stickers. That went a lot better than the top case.
For now, I have it buttoned up until I receive this.:
This is the beater on eBay that I had mentioned in my "Collections" thread.
I need a tweeter (at some point in its life, someone decided it would be cool to put their finger in the delicate tweeter on the right side), tweeter grill for the right side (since the gold is so worn), and the AFC switch (functional, but no detent).
In a perfect world, this should be complete in the next week or so. I'm basically waiting on the parts unit and caps. I don't see any reason it shouldn't be tip-top when I'm done.
Here's where I'm at right now.:
Stay tuned. I'll be posting some more detailed pics of the tuner board, the smooshed tweeter and grill, AFC switch, and, of course, the finished product.
Amazing how much time and effort we put into bringing these pieces of plastic and circuitry back to life.
When I had initially received this box I knew it was going to be dirty and the seller had disclosed that there was some noise in the controls. Nothing I can't handle.
I did a quick wipe-down and cleaned the controls and deck so I could thoroughly test it to see what needed to be done. The deck works great, as does the line-n, but the tuner, although working, could use some help. I (like a lot of members) don't typically like messing with the tuner, but the issues didn't seem to have anything to do with alignment, so it's worth a shot, right?
Here's my first pic, straight out of the shipping box. It arrived safely to Boston all the way from San Diego. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), none of my photos really captured how dirty the unit was. Obviously owned by a heavy chain-smoker.:
Logically, I started by removing the back and front cases to get a good look at exactly what I was up against. All the case screws are machine thread, which I really like, since they won't strip out. There's a lot of circuitry jammed in this little box, but the layout definitely appears to be designed with service in mind - I like that too.
I found several caps in the tuner to be Waaayyy out of spec (visually and electrically), so I made my list and checked my parts bin (a coffee can labeled "Caps"). I had about half of what I need. I'll order the remainder today or tomorrow.
After replacing the caps I had on hand, I gave the tuner a quick test. It's much better.
The issue was that it would pull FM Stereo for a minute, then switch to mono and the FM Stereo light would turn off. It would come back if I flipped the Stereo switch to mono and back to Stereo, if I turned it off and on again, or if I switched inputs and then back to tuner.
Now it pulls stereo, but the left channel is a little louder than the right. All in good time.
In the meantime, it was time for the detailed cleaning. I started with the front case. I removed, cleaned, and re-sprayed the woofer grills in flat black. The originals may have been satin (not real sure), but the flat shows off the woofers a little better. I dusted the woofs and gave the case the "soapy bath."
Sorry guys - I didn't take any "bath" pics.
Before:
After:
Next was the top case. I immediately ran into trouble during the initial rinse. I put it under a gentle stream of warm water in the kitchen sink and...oh no...the screen printing on the aluminum trim started to let go. STOP.
The damage was done, so I sucked it up and carefully pressed on. I tip-toed around the printing with artist brushes, Q-tips, and some precision origami paper towels.
Before:
After:
I also cleaned the back case and knobs. I was very careful with the back case, since it still had all its factory stickers. That went a lot better than the top case.
For now, I have it buttoned up until I receive this.:
This is the beater on eBay that I had mentioned in my "Collections" thread.
I need a tweeter (at some point in its life, someone decided it would be cool to put their finger in the delicate tweeter on the right side), tweeter grill for the right side (since the gold is so worn), and the AFC switch (functional, but no detent).
In a perfect world, this should be complete in the next week or so. I'm basically waiting on the parts unit and caps. I don't see any reason it shouldn't be tip-top when I'm done.
Here's where I'm at right now.:
Stay tuned. I'll be posting some more detailed pics of the tuner board, the smooshed tweeter and grill, AFC switch, and, of course, the finished product.
Amazing how much time and effort we put into bringing these pieces of plastic and circuitry back to life.
