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Old 2nd Jan 2019, 7:33 pm   #1
stevehertz
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK.
Posts: 8,809
Default Faulty Tandberg hifi

Having repaired/restored quite a few receivers, tuners and cassette decks by Tandberg, I've known for some time that they are very prone to poor/dry solder joints on the PCBs. This was never more plain to see than in the case of a TR 2060L receiver of mine. I bought it about three years ago and it basically worked. I did a bit of titivating, cleaning pots and switches, that sort of thing and it was fine. After a few months of occasional use it started to 'play up'. At the time, I couldn't be bothered to begin sorting it out, it seemed like there was quite a bit wrong with it. Ok, fast forwards to now, and I thought I should sort it out. My plan was to first of all go over all of the PCBs and re-solder any joint that looked poor or even vaguely dodgy. I did that, and there were MANY of them. I also released every connector and cleaned (contact cleaner sprayed) and replaced them, moving them up and down to bed them in. I sprayed every pot and switch. After that, I thought it would at least give me a good starting point to begin fault finding. Except I didn't have to, it worked perfectly.

Yes, Tandberg hifi units are VERY prone to dry/poor PCB solder joints and also poor electrical mating of the many connectors too. So if my tip isn't already blindingly clear, if you get a faulty Tandberg hifi unit, forget 'fault finding' it at first, just do your stuff with all those solder joints and connectors and the chances are you will have cured most, if not all of the problems it may have.

In retrospect it's a shame that Tandberg stuff is like this, as in many ways they are great designs both electronically and mechanically. Some companies just didn't get their flow soldering right, and now more than ever, it shows.
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