This long road with my Panasonic RX-5350 has finally come to an end! She is back home alive and well.
With out our astounding member Superduper, this would have been a much shorter road and I probably wouldn't have this box in my collection anymore. Really brother, I can't thank you enough for all the troubleshooting and tips you gave me through the interwebz and to finally take the box in your possession and dive it to complete the repairs.
I learned a lot about testing, tools, traces, caps, jumpers, soldering, schematics, and just about everything you can learn in one session. I had a couple boo-boo's, blobby solder points, peeled up traces, but overall I only managed to make a component error by installing a resistor that had a value much higher than it was supposed to be.
Also want to thank the other board members for the support keeping both of us going to finish this. We needed all the support we could get!
This might be irrelevant, but I had been saving up money in my paypal to give Norm what he deserves for sticking with this project for me. Not only is he taking tons of his time away from his projects/family, energy, and resources to fix my crap, but he never stops thinking about everyone else first. A major portion of what was set aside for paying him he DONATED to Boomboxery. Can you believe it?! He might not of wanted that info shared with everyone, but I don't care - I want to stand up and applaud him because this doesn't help only him and I, it helps us all
.
Here are the story chapters below. Click the links if you dare! Some long drawn out technical stuff going on but we can all learn something from it.
When I first got it from the ebay seller:
https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/19894-0535-cinosanap/?hl=0535
Original troubleshooting thread. Did what I could with Norm's help online. Then a break after I shipped it to him because I was at the end of my ropes:
https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/19914-fixing-a-legend/?hl=5350
Cap inventory, if anyone is interested in re-capping their 5350:
https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/20652-panasonic-rx-5350-capacitor-inventory/?hl=5350
After the motor boating noise was fixed, Norm noticed that the tuner was completely dead. No FM, AM, SW, static, nothing :thumbsdown. I pushed him just a little harder to fix what he could so it would be as functional as it could be.
https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/23026-the-saga-continues-blu-fuz-5350/?hl=5350
So in about 2 years I am finally hearing this box for the first time! Re-capped, new amps, tons of jumper wires, printed resistors bypassed, etc.....
It is AMAZING!
I get it, I finally understand why these are known as the M90 killers! Mine might be an exception because of all the new parts inside, but wow does this thing hammer! It handles the lows quite a bit better than a M90 at high volume (under 1/2 way up). Unreal.
Everything was worth it. The wait, the agony, the frustration, the money, all of it.
The people here are amazing. I'm happy to be a part of this and encourage everyone to dive into your projects and learn! PS, don't bug Norm so much like I did, he has plenty of things he already has to work on
. This was a desperate attempt to bring back a grail, and he did it.
Thanks again :superduper:
With out our astounding member Superduper, this would have been a much shorter road and I probably wouldn't have this box in my collection anymore. Really brother, I can't thank you enough for all the troubleshooting and tips you gave me through the interwebz and to finally take the box in your possession and dive it to complete the repairs.
I learned a lot about testing, tools, traces, caps, jumpers, soldering, schematics, and just about everything you can learn in one session. I had a couple boo-boo's, blobby solder points, peeled up traces, but overall I only managed to make a component error by installing a resistor that had a value much higher than it was supposed to be.
Also want to thank the other board members for the support keeping both of us going to finish this. We needed all the support we could get!
This might be irrelevant, but I had been saving up money in my paypal to give Norm what he deserves for sticking with this project for me. Not only is he taking tons of his time away from his projects/family, energy, and resources to fix my crap, but he never stops thinking about everyone else first. A major portion of what was set aside for paying him he DONATED to Boomboxery. Can you believe it?! He might not of wanted that info shared with everyone, but I don't care - I want to stand up and applaud him because this doesn't help only him and I, it helps us all
.Here are the story chapters below. Click the links if you dare! Some long drawn out technical stuff going on but we can all learn something from it.
When I first got it from the ebay seller:
https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/19894-0535-cinosanap/?hl=0535
Original troubleshooting thread. Did what I could with Norm's help online. Then a break after I shipped it to him because I was at the end of my ropes:
https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/19914-fixing-a-legend/?hl=5350
Cap inventory, if anyone is interested in re-capping their 5350:
https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/20652-panasonic-rx-5350-capacitor-inventory/?hl=5350
After the motor boating noise was fixed, Norm noticed that the tuner was completely dead. No FM, AM, SW, static, nothing :thumbsdown. I pushed him just a little harder to fix what he could so it would be as functional as it could be.
https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/23026-the-saga-continues-blu-fuz-5350/?hl=5350
So in about 2 years I am finally hearing this box for the first time! Re-capped, new amps, tons of jumper wires, printed resistors bypassed, etc.....
It is AMAZING!
I get it, I finally understand why these are known as the M90 killers! Mine might be an exception because of all the new parts inside, but wow does this thing hammer! It handles the lows quite a bit better than a M90 at high volume (under 1/2 way up). Unreal.
Everything was worth it. The wait, the agony, the frustration, the money, all of it.
The people here are amazing. I'm happy to be a part of this and encourage everyone to dive into your projects and learn! PS, don't bug Norm so much like I did, he has plenty of things he already has to work on
. This was a desperate attempt to bring back a grail, and he did it.Thanks again :superduper:
DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PROJECTS I WON'T GET DONE BECAUSE OF THIS ONE SINGLE RADIO! 
all is forgiven 
And cheers to :superduper: for his expertise and hard work to help another member, and the site, with his donation. Great story all the way around fellas