Here's a box most of you have probably never seen.

[Tinman]

So back around 1983 or 84 my mother asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told her a boombox.
This sucker was sitting under the tree on Christmas morning.
Of course I wanted a big, name brand box with big woofers and needle meters but with three sisters, I was lucky to get one at all.
I used the hell out of it for the next 5 or 6 years and ended up loving it especially the led meters.
When I first started working in the early 90s, I bought another box with a cd player so this was relegated to collecting dust.
At some point in the 90s I took this apart (I must've been bored one day) because the cassette player wasn't working and found a brittle and cracked drive tire.
I tried gluing it back together which didn't work since it was so hard.
Back it went under a bed (luckily I didn't toss it in the trash).
Fast forward to 2021 and with all of the knowledge I gained working on the numerous boxes I'd refurbished, I was confident I could get this working again.
I was able to find a replacement tire & wheel combo from China so I ordered 2 of them.
I thought I'd just use the tire but when the new wheel ended up fitting the shaft I decided to use it as is and although the diameter was a wee bit off, it worked perfectly.
I replaced the piezo tweeters, that probably stopped working in 1985, with 5/8" soft dome tweeters, recapped it, rebelted the player and of course deoxed everything.
The 4" woofers were still in great condition so I left them.
I'm happy to say it's fully working and with the new tweeters it actually sounds really nice.
Unfortunately, the plastic case back and handle discolored over the years but I've learned refurbing these that you have to live with things like that.
I've got it wrapped in plastic and sitting on a shelf in a closet so no more collecting dust for this one.
I'll keep it in rotation along with my other boxes.
I was bored today so decided to post this since I know you guys like seeing obscure boxes.
I'm pretty sure no one will guess what this is unless you look at the last pic (or you're one of the few that owned one).



Here's a slightly clearer pic of the front (this tablet sucks taking pics).
It's about 1/2" wider and 3" shorter than the SCR-8 behind it.


The phono inputs work as aux inputs.

 

[caution]

Unfortunately, the plastic case back and handle discolored over the years but I've learned refurbing these that you have to live with things like that.

I've de-yellowed multiple parts. All you have to do is put them in a container full of water with some peroxide and expose to UV.
Check out the vids here and here

 

[Tinman]

I've de-yellowed multiple parts. All you have to do is put them in a container full of water with some peroxide and expose to UV.
Check out the vids here and here

Now that I see it, I remember watching a guy restore the millennium falcon toy and he did the same thing.
The restoration videos I've seen seem to be light or white plastic.
I'm wondering if it would return the gray plastic to its original color or lighten/whiten it?

 

[Brutus442]

Great story Tinman. I have a similar story with my old Candle JTR-1249. A Christmas gift from my mother and of all the boxes in my collection, I value this the most. Good luck with the whitening!

 

[caution]

Now that I see it, I remember watching a guy restore the millennium falcon toy and he did the same thing.
The restoration videos I've seen seem to be light or white plastic.
I'm wondering if it would return the gray plastic to its original color or lighten/whiten it?

It doesn't attack the dyes in the plastic. You can use it to de-yellow any color of plastic, even yellow plastic is fine, if you want to restore the original hue. Check out the second link, he fixes an SNES which is various shades of gray.

The water immersion is ideal because it hits every spot evenly; that wasn't a method when I first tried it. I prepared a gel that I painted on the case, but I struggled to keep an even coat that didn't keep drying out in the sun. This created areas where it worked the plastic more than it should have, and caused a slight crazing or cloudiness that sort of shows the flow lines from when the plastic was injected into the mold. That never happens with immersion.

 

[Tinman]

Ok, I see what you mean.
On every SCR-8 I've had, the gray LED surrounds have been discolored.
On those, I used very fine steel wool to return the color.
I assume the h2o2 method does relatively the same thing.
Good to know.

 

[floyd]

So back around 1983 or 84 my mother asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told her a boombox.
This sucker was sitting under the tree on Christmas morning.
Of course I wanted a big, name brand box with big woofers and needle meters but with three sisters, I was lucky to get one at all.
I used the hell out of it for the next 5 or 6 years and ended up loving it especially the led meters.
When I first started working in the early 90s, I bought another box with a cd player so this was relegated to collecting dust.
At some point in the 90s I took this apart (I must've been bored one day) because the cassette player wasn't working and found a brittle and cracked drive tire.
I tried gluing it back together which didn't work since it was so hard.
Back it went under a bed (luckily I didn't toss it in the trash).
Fast forward to 2021 and with all of the knowledge I gained working on the numerous boxes I'd refurbished, I was confident I could get this working again.
I was able to find a replacement tire & wheel combo from China so I ordered 2 of them.
I thought I'd just use the tire but when the new wheel ended up fitting the shaft I decided to use it as is and although the diameter was a wee bit off, it worked perfectly.
I replaced the piezo tweeters, that probably stopped working in 1985, with 5/8" soft dome tweeters, recapped it, rebelted the player and of course deoxed everything.
The 4" woofers were still in great condition so I left them.
I'm happy to say it's fully working and with the new tweeters it actually sounds really nice.
Unfortunately, the plastic case back and handle discolored over the years but I've learned refurbing these that you have to live with things like that.
I've got it wrapped in plastic and sitting on a shelf in a closet so no more collecting dust for this one.
I'll keep it in rotation along with my other boxes.
I was bored today so decided to post this since I know you guys like seeing obscure boxes.
I'm pretty sure no one will guess what this is unless you look at the last pic (or you're one of the few that owned one).

View attachment 54928

Here's a slightly clearer pic of the front (this tablet sucks taking pics).
It's about 1/2" wider and 3" shorter than the SCR-8 behind it.
View attachment 54930

The phono inputs work as aux inputs.
View attachment 54929
View attachment 54931

It's a nice looking boombox. Those slider tips look great too
.

 

[Radio raheem]

Great story Tinman. I have a similar story with my old Candle JTR-1249. A Christmas gift from my mother and of all the boxes in my collection, I value this the most. Good luck with the whitening!

I will swap my m90's Geoff, nobody wants the shitty things anyway lol jk

 

[Tinman]

So I was a little bored and decided to piggy back on this thread with another box most of you have probably never seen.
I bought this in the summer of 1992 from Sears.
It's a little gaudy looking with the "CD" painted in gold on each speaker grille and not the greatest sounding box out there with it's 4" woofers but it did the job for the several years I used it.
I'm assuming it also has piezo tweeters but am not 100% sure.
I remember that before buying this, I had bought a GE but it skipped a few times when playing CDs so I returned it and bought this.

 

[Captain Wrong]

Sears and JC Penny's. Every year, we'd get the catalogs and my grandparents would order Xmas right out of them, so we knew exactly what we were getting. I asked for a jukebox radio one year and I still have it.

I actually recognized both of these as I'd pour over the electronics sections to see if there was anything interesting.

 

[Tinman]

Sears and JC Penny's. Every year, we'd get the catalogs and my grandparents would order Xmas right out of them, so we knew exactly what we were getting. I asked for a jukebox radio one year and I still have it.

I actually recognized both of these as I'd pour over the electronics sections to see if there was anything interesting.

Same thing here, my mother got both catalogs.
When they would arrive, I'd start to get in the Christmas mood.