This indicator light lit up on my Gold C100 today!

[Transistorized]

For 4 LONG years my Gold C100 refused to play the radio in stereo. After replacing the belt on the tape counter a while back, it slightly slowed the lower deck speed so I decided to solve that with my calibration tape today. Tackled that and nailed the speed down perfectly.

Next my upper deck on this box was always muffled. I had adjusted the azimuth screw before with only a marginal change but not perfect. Poked around and found a slightly bent arm that the head was attached to. Removed the deck and cleared that up. Now tape 2 is no longer muffled and has as crisp of sound as tape 1.

So I'm thinking HELL YEAH! My box is returning the LOVE today so WHY in HELL would I put my screwdriver up....the radio doesn't play in stereo so let's push my luck.

My wife complains on how I watch too many YouTube repair videos but I only watch Mr. Carlsons lab and this guy knows his stuff.

Anyway, when I look inside my radios now, I have discovered that I've learned a lot by watching experts. The boards (almost like the Matrix symbols) make sense now and I can identify what specific parts do without even needing a schematic.

So using my volt meter I discovered a faulty VR002 which I had previously turned every which way from Sunday along with VR001 with no luck on stereo. Before I gave up on this but....today with the LOVE my box was giving me I brought out the heat (soldering iron) and unsoldered VR002 and replaced it with the same spec VR. I did this from the top of the board because I have hard enough time with bra straps.....I ain't messing with unwinding a tuner dial string..no way!

Fired her back up and whipped out my screwdriver. Gave the VR a little twist. And what did my eyes see. The GREEN STEREO LIGHT!

I'm on cloud 9. When my wife gets home I'm going to cook her a meal and treat my lady nice...but she'll have to listen to Goldie.

At least it will be in stereo I'm so proud of myself and looking forward to enjoying my newly fully working box for the first time.

 

[caution]

Nice work!
I had to do this to the stereo pot on my last C100F, you can usually tell if it's bad by checking the resistance across the ends, mine didn't even register anything, lol.

 

[blu_fuz]

Fantastic job getting in there and learning how to work on your C100!

 

[Reli]

Wow, good work, congrats. I have a few boxes that keep dropping out of stereo after only a minute or so. Could be this or something else. How did you identify the necessary specs for the new VR?

 

[caution]

Reli it's marked on the pot

 

[Transistorized]

Thanks everyone.

Wow, good work, congrats. I have a few boxes that keep dropping out of stereo after only a minute or so. Could be this or something else. How did you identify the necessary specs for the new VR?

Hi Reli. The VR has it's value written on the turn dial. Usually they will have a number such as 5K, 10K, etc.. From there they can be tested with a volt meter. I never have luck testing these things accurately while in circuit. I placed a resistor across it and got the light so that's how I drew my conclusion of it being faulty prior to removal. I have an old RadioShack dealer that has old stock. So I went in and looked in their bin. They had lots of these left over from years ago so I got one.

Listening to Christmas music while I work. In stereo

Reli it's marked on the pot

Thanks for that picture Caution. You had replied before I finished my thought above . Quick on the draw today sir

 

[Reli]

Cool thanks

 

[T-STER]

Dude that has to be the most satisfying day!!! I can feel your joy, love it!

 

[Transistorized]

Dude that has to be the most satisfying day!!! I can feel your joy, love it!

Thanks T-STER. Yes. It's like getting it all over again. That little gremlin has always been a part of this box since purchase. It's so nice to check that off the list. I am very excited. You never know. Sometimes you can open a box and things go to s**t, then the next time, everything falls into place and starts working. I'll take it

It's like an early Christmas gift. I'll be watching that little green light tonight until I doze off

 

[baddboybill]

Very cool another VR pot on conion that seems to have issues is for bottom deck music search.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

Very cool!! Most people would think ‘who cares about a little green light?’ but man, what a difference ‘stereo’ makes to the sound of a Boombox!

Well done, I can imagine exactly how I’d feel after achieving the same thing after all that time staring at a blank FM stereo tuner light.

Yes, we are a weird lot.

 

[Radio raheem]

i did my radio pot when i first had my conion all good, then the power badge fell off lol damn market quality lol

i need to do the music search pot but it's finding room the conion is so big

transistorized iv never seen a conion with such a gold tint as yours, great job man, why do we have to get so old lol it's a curse, i want to go out with my conion and blow the windows out lol

 

[Ghettoboom767]

Nice job,always rewarding getting things like this done especially the stereo light and capture!😎🎼🎶📻

 

[Transistorized]

Very cool another VR pot on conion that seems to have issues is for bottom deck music search.

Most definitely baddboybill!

Both of my C100's music search is non functional. They just keep going without stopping. While I have dialed everything in perfect play wise, I never pursued this issue. I always knew it was the VR on that lower deck board. For some reason I keep skipping past it (no pun intended). It is a nice feature to have. I guess the reason I have not felt compelled to get that working is because most of the tapes I listen to now are a mix tape of songs I enjoy so I rarely have to weed out the crappy ones Also, I am kinda weird on my tape spooling. It annoys me if the tape inside the shell is staggered and not evenly and smoothly wound. I feel the same (if not more so) with my Reel to Reel. I can't help it....I just can't sleep with my tapes spooled wrong. I rarely FF or Rew unless I plan to play the reverse side all the way through before ejecting.

I need to get in both of them and replace that VR to get that feature going. The music search is the only thing left keeping functionality from 100% on both of them.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Any time a feature is returned to functionality is a good day!