Deccalian 88

[bill knox]

Hi

I am restoring one of the above and it is coming along quite nicely I am recovering the lift up lid as it was in an awful state.

What I am having trouble in getting hold of is the main smoother electrolytic it's values being 32+32+16 Mfd. 350 v wkg ( I think that that is a bit on the low side so I am hoping to get a 450v wkg item, I have looked at Cricklewood, BVWS, Farnell so far.

For obvious reasons I am rather hesitant to install a S/H one so I continue looking.

If anyone can point me to elsewhere I would be obliged

Many thanks

Bill

[Edward Huggins]

You will find it very hard to source one of these now in a single can. Easier to find seperate ones of a near similar value and 350V to 450V rated. Say, two of 50uF and one c.20uF. An excellent player to restore!

[unitelex]

I've got a 32+32+32 rated at 450V
its NOS CCL brand Dec 1972
Reformed OK to 350V
35.3mm diameter
50.5mm height

PM me if you are interested in this

Regards
Chris

[unitelex]

All three sections test similarly

[Chris R]

Hello Bill

Glad to see you are restoring the amplifier. I did mine and it was a long but worthwhile job. The worst thing with mine was that the dreaded leaky waxed paper coupling capacitors had caused the EL84's to cook the output transformer. Fortunately I had a suitable spare. (The valves had survived the trauma!) Check all similar C's. Speaking of electrolytics, C14 was also u/s. Many of the resistors were out of spec. and some were noisy.
This is a superb amplifier, which could almost be described as hifi.
Good luck with the project.

Chris R

[bill knox]

Hi All

Thank you for your replies

I gave up getting a triple electrolytic and have gone with a double and a single electrolytic
Have not yet got around to covering the lid, the covering has arrived and I have also ordered a batch of resistors

What is missing and I have not found anything remotely looking similar is a foot mount, on the bottom of the the player are 4 angled plates that take legs and as I do not want to have legs, there are 4 plastic coverings so that the record player does not scratch the furniture, the only trouble is that 1 of the plastic covers is missing. I can take pictures if anyone want to see the plates and plastic covers

Also the carrying handle has definitely seen better days, I ordered some and they are to say the least, pathetic, they are only two thirds of the width of the old one and about an inch short, so it will be difficult to carry the unit.

If anyone knows where I can get either I would be grateful

Regards

Bill

[Edward Huggins]

Leather carying straps are available from varous Dansette replacement parts suppliers.

[Chris R]

Bill
I think the ones you are looking for are on eBay.
Search for 'Dansette vintage record player legs angle plate furniture protectors'.
They sell many record player parts, including those straps Edward refers to.
Chris R.

[bill knox]

Hi all

Many thanks for the heads up for the furniture protectors, I have ordered a set of 4, the carry handles were no good to me as they were only 150mm long and my handle is 200mm long but I think that I managed to get one very close to the size I need.

I will advise accordingly

Regards

Bill

[toprepairman]

I have just the amplifier chassis for one of these, though it is not exactly the same.
It does not have the sticking out bit at the end that carries the three controls, but it did have an odd tin mounted on it that looked like the sort of small square tin that would have been used to sell dried mustard powder back in the old days.
Inside the tin was an LDR and a neon bulb that was driven off the OPtx primary. I assume some kind of automatic volume limiter.
Whilst otherwise good, the optx is of rather limited performance and the unit benefits with this being replaced by something modern which then does give great performance.

[Chris R]

Not sure if you have the same amplifier and what you mean by a 'modern' output transformer. The original is more than adequate, well matched to the p/p EL84's and gives exceptional bass response. 7W of undistorted audio is what is claimed and that is what you get.

Chris R

[toprepairman]

Hi Chris.
Definitly the same amp.
Checked the EL84's and they are 90% of a new pair and well matched.
Into a 4 Ohm resistor I get:-
1Khz 5.95 Watts, could be up to 7 with a good new pair.
120Hz 5.8 W.
80Hz 5.45 W.
60Hz 5.1 W.
40Hz 3.15 W.
30Hz 1.1W
20Hz 0.4 W.
So flattish from 30Hz upwards at one Watt but not very good for low bass if you're running a bit of volume with something bassy.
Have to say not that bad in reality.
By modern transformer I mean something you could get from the likes of 'That's Audio' or 'Primary Windings', and there are plenty of others with similar offerings, and they would deliver full power right down to 30 Hz easily.

[Edward Huggins]

Remember that there's a rather small (for a Decca) 8" x 6" Celestion speaker in this and is easily overloaded. I think the amp is limited to 3 watts only on this internal speaker and 8 watts on external .

[Chris R]

Thanks for your comments and detailed analysis. I imagine that the loudspeaker would roll off pretty quickly below 50Hz. It's too cold to go out to the workshop to check mine. We were without power for some time and are still thawing ourselves out!

Chris R

[Edward Huggins]

You will find that the LF roll-off starts at around 80Hz on this driver.

[toprepairman]

There's one of these on eBay at the moment

[bill knox]

Hi all

Yes, there are 2 Deccalian MK4 for sale and a Deccalian amplifier less the valves for £60 OR NEAR OFFER

The amplifier looks complete there is even the bezel around the controls, this amp does not have a lot of gain the ERT saheet says that a High O/P cartridge is required, that took me by surprise

Must be worth a punt from somebody

Regards

Bill

[Edward Huggins]

That can't be right. These amps were not designed to be used with an input voltage of c. 800mV surely?

[Chris R]

I must agree with Edward.

Mine gives full output using a BSR SC12M ceramic cartridge.

Chris R

[Jamiesjamies]

Hi Bill. Does yours have the Collaro or Garrard deck? Would love to see photos when you’ve finished the resto!