Audio crackling - please help!

builtclever

New Member
Hi all,
Can anyone help me to repair the fault that is causing the crackling sound on audio please? I have layman skills, but could possibly tackle this if given instructions.
It was my Dad's unit, so very sentimental and I'd like to keep it going.

Thanks in advance.

Clive.
 

Hajidub

Member (SA)
What's the unit? Most likely needs a deoxit treatment from the interior on the selector and volume pots. Spray and work them vigorously.
 

builtclever

New Member
What's the unit? Most likely needs a deoxit treatment from the interior on the selector and volume pots. Spray and work them vigorously.
GF767. I sprayed all pots and switches. It's not affected or caused by knobs or slider movement, merely when the volume is turned up, whether on radio tape or input.
What's the unit? Most likely needs a deoxit treatment from the interior on the selector and volume pots. Spray and work them vigorously.
 

Hajidub

Member (SA)
There's a long plastic slider on the main board. This is a record switch that can gum up and affect playback. Spray the crap out of it and work by hand or record button. Any further and you're into recapping and replacing transistors.
 

XLVII

New Member
Hi. If I am reading post correctly, crackling occurs at higher volume levels and not when moving controls. Older radios(20 +yrs.) often need electrolytic capacitor replacement. Your output filter caps, final stage before speakers may be leaking and be far below limit leading to "clipping" when overdriven, which happens as more power is fed into system.
 

builtclever

New Member
Hi. If I am reading post correctly, crackling occurs at higher volume levels and not when moving controls. Older radios(20 +yrs.) often need electrolytic capacitor replacement. Your output filter caps, final stage before speakers may be leaking and be far below limit leading to "clipping" when overdriven, which happens as more power is fed into system.
Hi, thank you for replying
Yes, the crackling is there, but it's the same at all levels, not just higher volume.
e.g. If the unit is switched to tape, there is crackling even when there is no tape playing. If switched to radio, it's there at all volume levels. If switched to line-in/phono, it's the same as tape output. ‍♂️
Someone previously suggested it could be the on/off, but I can't reason why that would be the case.
I can't post a video of the fault due to format upload restrictions.
Where would the capacitors be located please?

Many thanks.
 

builtclever

New Member
There's a long plastic slider on the main board. This is a record switch that can gum up and affect playback. Spray the crap out of it and work by hand or record button. Any further and you're into recapping and replacing transistors.
Thank you, I had previously tried this, to mo avail. Could you guide me through the next steps please?

Many thanks.
 

XLVII

New Member
Hi, thank you for replying
Yes, the crackling is there, but it's the same at all levels, not just higher volume.
e.g. If the unit is switched to tape, there is crackling even when there is no tape playing. If switched to radio, it's there at all volume levels. If switched to line-in/phono, it's the same as tape output. ‍♂️
Someone previously suggested it could be the on/off, but I can't reason why that would be the case.
I can't post a video of the fault due to format upload restrictions.
Where would the capacitors be located please?

Many thanks.
The output capacitors are usually located near the amplifier.IC chip which quite often has a heat sink attached, making amp chip easy to identify. There are 2 identical caps, grouped together (usually) with obvious traces on circuit board leading to speakers out connector with wires leading directly to speakers.
Have you tried headphones/ext speaker jack to see if fault is present when signal goes to these jacks instead of internal speakers?
Have you tried operating the set with batteries instead of AC line?