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Success Stories If you have successfully repaired or restored a piece of equipment, why not write up what you did and post details here. Particularly if it was interesting, unusual or challenging. PLEASE DO NOT POST REQUESTS FOR HELP HERE!

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Old 27th Feb 2020, 3:38 pm   #1
AD360 Rob
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Default Bush SRP31D puts up a fight (but loses)

Hi all,

I've had this Bush kicking around for a number of years now just waiting for my attention, anyway its turn came and on to the bench it went. First thing of note was the mains cable had been cut off flush with the motor board and it was filthy plus there was a dent in the grille and the ally strip with the control indents was only half there..

First thing, strip it down so I can clean it up. That went Welland I soon had its component parts free from the cabinet. I gave it the usual treatment which consists of a wipe with a damp cloth to get the worst off then some foaming upholstery cleaner, left to soak in for a few mins then wipe down with a clean damp cloth. This method usually works on all but the most stubborn stains which thus player had so a gentle scrub with fairy and a soft nail brush followed. This brought another layer of filth off and its not too bad now, a little discolouration on the lid but I can live with that.
Next, I turned to the electronics which appeared to be unmolested and just dusty. Both the cathode bypass electrolytics were replaced as they were those red and black plastic jobs surprisingly, they tested out of circuit to be in reasonable order but for how long? A few dc checks around the chassis revealed nothing amiss so I gave it some electrons after fitting a new mains cable. After the requisite time the amp came to life using a tape deck as a source and I found there was decent audio from the speaker. Now, knowing the tales of woe about the sen ter cel rectifier in these I measured the ht and found that it was lingering at about 96 volts so the usual silicon diode (1N4007) and 330 ohm surge resistor was fitted on tag strips, this gave an ht of 214.6v which is close enough. I then tested it again with a music source and listened for tweeter action of which there was none. Off it came and once the dust and fluff was cleaned from it (it was caked in it) lo and behold it started working. The main speaker was cleaned out too and the dented grille pushed out.
Next was the turn of the bsr UA15, it responded well to the usual cleaning and relubrication so was temporarily refitted to test out the cartridge, a sonotone 8T. First record on, it worked, rather well or so I thought, playing my stereo demo lp revealed 1 channel was down and scoping the stereo socket confirmed that, cartridge out, fault found, 2 pins had corroded off. Luckily I had another 8T spate in a garrard headshell with no corrosion so it was fitted, played the same record, got the same symptoms, only 1 channel. To cut a long story short, this cartridge also had a duff channel ! Eventually I found a garrard gcs 36 and fitted that, set up the tracking weight and tried my test lp again, joy of joys, glorious mono but this time both channeof the stereo cartridge were working..
I am listening to a bit of ABBA now and loving the sound of this player, could be a keeper.

Rob
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Old 27th Feb 2020, 5:58 pm   #2
Half a Mullard
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Default Re: Bush SRP31D puts up a fight (but loses)

These are a nice player, well done. I have one stowed away, your success just might give me the incentive to dig it out following the current project.
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Old 27th Feb 2020, 7:15 pm   #3
AD360 Rob
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Default Re: Bush SRP31D puts up a fight (but loses)

Actually there's a bit more to the story that I didn't write in as I was running late for work, basically when fitting the new garrard cartridge which is actually a GKS26 and not the gcs36 I had to modify the original bracket for the sonotone by turning it upside down otherwise the garrard cart was far to proud in the head shell and rather than the original threaded holes I had to use nuts and bolts to secure the cartridge to the bracket (this cartridge cones with a pre attached plastic mount that is part of the body) anyway, one side attached and threaded up perfectly, the other side was a swine and eventually I dropped the tiny nut onto the deck of the player only it decided to skitter off the deck and lodge just under the edge. No problem thought I, I'll get my long nose pliers and fish it out at which point instead of me grabbing it I just touched it making it fall into the depths of the (by this time reassembled) player. There was some swearing and I'd had enough of it by then so switched the workshop off and retired to the TV. Following morning I took off the plastic part at the boot he front of the cabinet and managed with the aid of a very long screwdriver to fish it out, it then flew on, cartridge secured and tracking weight set. Plays beautifully now and from a distance of about 5 feet almost sounds like it's stereo which I can only put down to the action of the electrostatic tweeter.
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Old 4th Mar 2020, 7:10 pm   #4
Audio1950
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Default Re: Bush SRP31D puts up a fight (but loses)

Well done Rob. Just to be pedantic, the deck is a UA16, which has a taller spindle and a higher arm mounting than the UA15.
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