Ferguson 3T20 Stereo Radio Cassette Player - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

DMcMahon · 8th Jul 2021, 12:59 pm

Brought this through the Forum and it arrived yesterday.

As described it is overall in good condition with the battery contacts needing a bit of a clean up.

Playing a tape to my ears sounds quite reasonable, the seller said it sounds a bit warbly, I will clean the heads and check the drive belt etc later. Plenty of volume, the volume control is very crackly when turned so will give it a spray of contact cleaner, the balance and tone controls are slightly noisy when turned.

As described by the seller the radio is completely dead on all 4 wave bands, no sound even at max volume, I will do a Thread in the Radio section for this.

David

DMcMahon · 8th Jul 2021, 2:09 pm

Radio aspects will be covered in this Thread :-

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=181744

David

DMcMahon · 8th Jul 2021, 10:40 pm

Photos that I was unable to upload previously.

David

vinrads · 9th Jul 2021, 12:41 pm

Wow it looks immaculate ,sound like it could be the switches need cleaning ,Mick.

DMcMahon · 9th Jul 2021, 10:46 pm

Tried to do quick recording test using the internal microphones but got loud feedback howl (which did record) even with the volume control at minimum. There is no recording level monitor so it must be automatic recording. Just spotted that there is a 3 position Monitor switch, will have to retry microphone recording with the monitor switch in the other 2 positions.

Opened up and did various general cleaning, surprising how much greasy fluff/dust there was in some areas. Cleaned out the battery compartment and did initial clean of the battery spring contacts, one of them is quite badly corroded, will return to cleaning the spring contacts later.

Cleaned the heads, capstan shaft and the pinch roller, the pinch roller was particularly dirty with uneven build up of sticky tape oxide.

Using contact cleaner cleaned the best I could the Play/Record (S2) and the waveband selection (S1) slide switches, they are encased within metal covers so not easy to get contact cleaner inside them.

Unable to clean the rest of the switches and the rotary pots, looks like will have to strip out the large board to get access. No voltage checks done yet.

Tape is still playing well with radio still dead.

DMcMahon · 10th Jul 2021, 4:29 pm

Struggling somewhat at the moment removing the main board. The Service manual shows the board being rotated 90 degrees into a Service position. At the moment cannot get enough movement on the board to be able to rotate it upwards due to very tight wiring connections.

While removing the 5 securing screws for the board found that one is missing, maybe this indicates it has been looked at before ?

To get the board to move upwards had to disconnect the securing screw for the Drive Cord Drum (tuning) with result that have lost tension on the drive cord, may have fun getting the cord back correctly later.

If I cannot get enough movement on the board to be able to rotate it into the Service position, I will see if can get sufficient access to the remaining switches and potentiometers for cleaning.

David

DMcMahon · 12th Jul 2021, 9:27 am

Rechecked internal microphone recording with the 3 positions of the Monitor switch, all with the volume control at minimum.

Position 0 (original position tried) - Loud feedback howl during recording. Recording worked but was masked by the recorded feedback howl.

Position 1 - Recording worked OK with occasional feedback howl.

Position 2 - Recording worked OK with no feedback howl.

David

DMcMahon · 12th Jul 2021, 9:50 am

Gave up trying to get the board into the Service position, to me looked impossible without unsoldering some of the short cables that appeared to be stopping the board from moving sufficiently. Presumably the Service position is supposed to be a position where the you can do live service checks ?

With the board partially lifted up, was able (could have done with longer nozzle) to get contact cleaner spray nozzle into the Volume, Balance and Tone rotary control potentiometers. After cleaning al the crackling when pots turned is now fixed. The volume control had been particularly bad, not just bad crackling but also loss of volume on one or both channels.

Cleaned the remaining switches, the only switch that would potentially affect the radio is the Radio/Tape selection switch. But still no sound when radio is selected.

David

8th Jul 2021, 12:59 pm	#1
DMcMahon Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK. Posts: 6,600	Ferguson 3T20 Stereo Radio Cassette Player Brought this through the Forum and it arrived yesterday. As described it is overall in good condition with the battery contacts needing a bit of a clean up. Playing a tape to my ears sounds quite reasonable, the seller said it sounds a bit warbly, I will clean the heads and check the drive belt etc later. Plenty of volume, the volume control is very crackly when turned so will give it a spray of contact cleaner, the balance and tone controls are slightly noisy when turned. As described by the seller the radio is completely dead on all 4 wave bands, no sound even at max volume, I will do a Thread in the Radio section for this. David Last edited by DMcMahon; 8th Jul 2021 at 1:07 pm.

8th Jul 2021, 2:09 pm	#2
DMcMahon Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK. Posts: 6,600	Re: Ferguson 3T20 Stereo Radio Cassette Player Radio aspects will be covered in this Thread :- https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=181744 David

8th Jul 2021, 10:40 pm	#3
DMcMahon Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK. Posts: 6,600	Re: Ferguson 3T20 Stereo Radio Cassette Player Photos that I was unable to upload previously. David Attached Thumbnails

9th Jul 2021, 12:41 pm	#4
vinrads Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK. Posts: 3,760	Re: Ferguson 3T20 Stereo Radio Cassette Player Wow it looks immaculate ,sound like it could be the switches need cleaning ,Mick.

9th Jul 2021, 10:46 pm	#5
DMcMahon Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK. Posts: 6,600	Re: Ferguson 3T20 Stereo Radio Cassette Player Tried to do quick recording test using the internal microphones but got loud feedback howl (which did record) even with the volume control at minimum. There is no recording level monitor so it must be automatic recording. Just spotted that there is a 3 position Monitor switch, will have to retry microphone recording with the monitor switch in the other 2 positions. Opened up and did various general cleaning, surprising how much greasy fluff/dust there was in some areas. Cleaned out the battery compartment and did initial clean of the battery spring contacts, one of them is quite badly corroded, will return to cleaning the spring contacts later. Cleaned the heads, capstan shaft and the pinch roller, the pinch roller was particularly dirty with uneven build up of sticky tape oxide. Using contact cleaner cleaned the best I could the Play/Record (S2) and the waveband selection (S1) slide switches, they are encased within metal covers so not easy to get contact cleaner inside them. Unable to clean the rest of the switches and the rotary pots, looks like will have to strip out the large board to get access. No voltage checks done yet. Tape is still playing well with radio still dead. Attached Thumbnails

10th Jul 2021, 4:29 pm	#6
DMcMahon Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK. Posts: 6,600	Re: Ferguson 3T20 Stereo Radio Cassette Player Struggling somewhat at the moment removing the main board. The Service manual shows the board being rotated 90 degrees into a Service position. At the moment cannot get enough movement on the board to be able to rotate it upwards due to very tight wiring connections. While removing the 5 securing screws for the board found that one is missing, maybe this indicates it has been looked at before ? To get the board to move upwards had to disconnect the securing screw for the Drive Cord Drum (tuning) with result that have lost tension on the drive cord, may have fun getting the cord back correctly later. If I cannot get enough movement on the board to be able to rotate it into the Service position, I will see if can get sufficient access to the remaining switches and potentiometers for cleaning. David

12th Jul 2021, 9:27 am	#7
DMcMahon Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK. Posts: 6,600	Re: Ferguson 3T20 Stereo Radio Cassette Player Rechecked internal microphone recording with the 3 positions of the Monitor switch, all with the volume control at minimum. Position 0 (original position tried) - Loud feedback howl during recording. Recording worked but was masked by the recorded feedback howl. Position 1 - Recording worked OK with occasional feedback howl. Position 2 - Recording worked OK with no feedback howl. David

12th Jul 2021, 9:50 am	#8
DMcMahon Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Worthing, West Sussex, UK. Posts: 6,600	Re: Ferguson 3T20 Stereo Radio Cassette Player Gave up trying to get the board into the Service position, to me looked impossible without unsoldering some of the short cables that appeared to be stopping the board from moving sufficiently. Presumably the Service position is supposed to be a position where the you can do live service checks ? With the board partially lifted up, was able (could have done with longer nozzle) to get contact cleaner spray nozzle into the Volume, Balance and Tone rotary control potentiometers. After cleaning al the crackling when pots turned is now fixed. The volume control had been particularly bad, not just bad crackling but also loss of volume on one or both channels. Cleaned the remaining switches, the only switch that would potentially affect the radio is the Radio/Tape selection switch. But still no sound when radio is selected. David