15-02-2013, 08:22 PM
In my experience, if the remaining capacitors are the light blue Philips, or light grey types from Japan, they are probably OK. Anything else is suspect. Older red Elkomolds or similar were used on the AM IF PCB until extremely late in the Sovereign II run - no idea why...
Good idea about the handle screws, especially as they are both insulated from the chassis. But yes, the handle is metal. The set in question is probably the earlier type that is easily removable. but even so, you'd probably get fed up with that.
Neat idea re. electric toothbrushes, but I'm not sure you'd get the coupling - the wooded cabinet is quite thick. I've had similar thoughts in the past for other projects but never got around to investigating.
Ultimately, providing a DC input might be more trouble than it's worth. We have an RP25 in the kitchen; it's used daily and batteries last around a year. PP9s are cheap. When exhausted, they can be taken apart and holders can be fitted - you can actually get two 6AA holders in that space. You could use rechargeable AAs in there, of course.
Oh, the thing about LW oscillator failure should be in the RP25 manual, in an addendum. Hacker also sent a letter to dealers covering the issue, and this letter is in the archive. Essentially, the fault was caused by problems with aluminium screening can covering the oscillator. Hacker were relying on the can to carry an earth connection across the PCB - but in some examples the riveted connections could go high-resistance. The fix was to add a short length of wire on the reverse of the PCB, joining together the two pins. Later versions had a revised PCB.
All the best,
Mark
Good idea about the handle screws, especially as they are both insulated from the chassis. But yes, the handle is metal. The set in question is probably the earlier type that is easily removable. but even so, you'd probably get fed up with that.
Neat idea re. electric toothbrushes, but I'm not sure you'd get the coupling - the wooded cabinet is quite thick. I've had similar thoughts in the past for other projects but never got around to investigating.
Ultimately, providing a DC input might be more trouble than it's worth. We have an RP25 in the kitchen; it's used daily and batteries last around a year. PP9s are cheap. When exhausted, they can be taken apart and holders can be fitted - you can actually get two 6AA holders in that space. You could use rechargeable AAs in there, of course.
Oh, the thing about LW oscillator failure should be in the RP25 manual, in an addendum. Hacker also sent a letter to dealers covering the issue, and this letter is in the archive. Essentially, the fault was caused by problems with aluminium screening can covering the oscillator. Hacker were relying on the can to carry an earth connection across the PCB - but in some examples the riveted connections could go high-resistance. The fix was to add a short length of wire on the reverse of the PCB, joining together the two pins. Later versions had a revised PCB.
All the best,
Mark
