[alpharadj67]

I am a novice trying to restore an old valve record player made by Tellux and as some threads on the forum have pointed out this is very much a 'made-to-price' type of machine. I’m doing this purely out of genuine interest in vintage electronics as a hobby, and am not intending to sell/pass these things on. This seemed like a fairly easy intro. to valve technology with its basic two-valve (UY85 & UL84) amplifier.

I’ve so far cleaned and re-greased the BSR C129 deck and this now works absolutely fine - the many threads on the forum on this subject have proved invaluable in the process. I’d really appreciate some help and guidance on the following issue, however.

The amplifier had a very loud buzz on it when first connected to mains and the noise/pitch was constant regardless of position of volume and tone controls. I found that the three-wire filter capacitor (red/yellow/'can negative') had come adrift on two points being those of yellow connection at PCB and 'can negative' connection at PCB (not surprising as this bulky/heavy capacitor was secured only by its soldered points to PCB, with no type of brace or clamp, and had been flopping about, thus weakening connections over time).

I re-soldered the filter capacitor leads back to PCB and switched on. This completely cured the buzzing, with only a faint hiss now coming through the speaker, however, there is no output from the BSR X5H cartridge (I assume this is a cartridge problem). My main worry is the fact that the resistor linking the reservoir capacitor and UY85 valve gets extremely hot in a short period of time. It has evidence of scorching on it which was present before I attempted any restoration. I’d be extremely grateful of any help or advice on what may be causing this and what I can do to cure it. Could it be the UY85? Both valves glow moderately brightly and appear ‘healthy’ (although I have no expertise to confirm this).

Unfortunately I can find no schematic on the internet for this (or any) Tellux model, but below are some (rather poor) photos of the amp, if they help – the filter capacitor disconnected again.

The print on the filter capacitor reads exactly as follows:

HUNTS
Capacitors
MADE IN ENGLAND
RED (Res) 32µF
Max Ripple 250 mA
YELLOW 8µF
275v D.C WKG
CAN NEGATIVE
JF 2281
WIT

I tested it in a low cost capacitor tester and got the following readings:

8µF capacitor: 32µF capacitor:

12.65µF 34.85µF
ESR 1.1Ω ESR 1.1Ω
V loss 2.5% V loss 2.2%

Maybe what I am doing will make a lot of experts’ hair stand on end (!) but I’m aware of the dangerous voltages on these amplifiers and the dangers of live chassis. Also I work very much on the principle of ‘plug in and switch on for very brief periods only, at a very safe distance, and touch nothing!’

Any help would be much appreciated. Many thanks and best wishes.