We gave this one the day-spa treatment, after an electrolytic re-cap and a few touch-ups here and there. Come for the repair, stay for the joyous banter.
We have an air compressor at the audio repair shop, for blowing out dust, dirt and debris from inside customer's equipment. Pet fur is of course very common, but a number of our customers apparently keep *birds* and I've seen lots of small feathers inside amplifiers and receivers. Some units arrive with a carpet of what appears to be clothes dryer lint, occasionally so thick that you can barely see the components! The worst is when the equipment isn't in an enclosed cabinet and the owner has cats. Cats love to lay on warm electronic equipment, even after it's been off for a half hour, and sometimes they pee a little in their sleep. A couple drops of cat pee can cause major corrosion damage.
Great video! I just purchased one of these for not a lot of money, and is in mint condition (cosmetically). Opened it up, and looks like it has already had the output TO-3s replaced (Sanken -> Motorola), with gobs of new heatsink compound. The loudness rotating switch is very tight, (stripped the knob) so will try to loosen that up. I was curious to where you found the info on measuring the required current of 11mA across the testpoints - is there a service manual available for download somewhere? Cheers 🍺
At about 18:40, watching you swap the meter probe position and polarity ---- for years I've even telling myself I want a knee-operated button under the bench to reverse the meter-probe polarity without me having to physically move the probes. Some of the stuff I work on might have 4 to 8 output devices per channel and there are always a few transistor locations with stuff in the way, where it's difficult to reach in and make good contact with the probes. Checking driver and differential transistors for shorts can definitely be a pain when you have to reverse the probes. I usually use an analog meter for this, a Triplett with a polarity-reverse switch, which can be usefull. but it often requires a "third hand" to operate the switch while holding the probes....
Re, the loose volume control: Almost all vintage Japanese hifi has a locating tab on the pots and a hole in the chassis for the locating tab to sit so that the pot can't easily spin around and around unless the shaft nut has loosened several whole turns. Few if any guitar amp manufacturers have ever done anything this sensible.....
Hola amigo. La limpieza que haces al final del panel frontal, es solo con el trapo humedecido en agua o le pones algùn producto....Muchas gracias....El video muy bueno..
Hey Brad, Great video, I am having trouble removing the volume knob...What do you need to loosen the screw? It doesn't seem to look like an allen key fit like the input selector knob etc. Also my Allen keys aren't long enough to reach it to even try,,,is it worth cutting them and using a spanner? 🤣
I have one of these amps. What is the power supply voltages? This is important info and was not checked in the video -- between projects, that I get. The unit I have is a plus/minus 38.5 volts on the supply rails. Is this proper? Nowhere in the schematic or service manual that state the rail voltages. Thanks!
I don't show everything in the videos or they'd be hours long. The schematic on the service manual references voltages at many junctions. It claims + / - 33VDC on the main rails. 38.5VDC should be fine.
Buy yourself a set of ceramic-tip tweakers made specifically for RF alignment ---- it should have all the tip types and sizes you'll ever need for tweaking bias pots. For those who aren't aware, some bias pots look like they take a Philips bit but actually require a special Philips variant screwdriver with a flat, not pointy tip. Possible to grind an ordinary Philips screwdriver to flatten the tip, but I prefer not using a conductive metal screwdriver for adjusting bias.
I would not recommend it. Stick to the user manual recommendations for any given amplifier. However, if it's just a matter of a 6R tweeter, I'd confidently use it, as they likely have attenuation and there's not much energy being transferred there anyway.
Hey brad. Ive got this same yamaha amp i need restoring. Im in Sydney. After watching your video id be more than confident in your workmanship. Do you have contact information mate?
Hi Brad, I have a CA 610 and am replacing the meter globes. Any chance you could let me know where I could get the replacement globes you used? I'm in Australia. Thanks.
I have the same amp and it stopped working, the power LED comes on but no sound coming out of it. also that little click you mentioned was the speaker relay - and it stopped 'clicking' for me. I swapped it with a new one thinking that's the issue but same as before. Would you have any specific thing to check before I re-cap the whole thing?
Check the solder connections in the speaker protection circuit. This one was good for several months, but came back with random cut outs. I found the voltages in the relay triggering circuit to be fluctuating due to a leaky transistor. Replaced it and it has been.good since. But yes, there were many leaky caps on this one so replacing them all was necessary first.
Wonder if anyone on here can help me here…… I have just bought a “working” CA-610. However…..the “protection cut out” keeps cutting out. Im using 8ohm speakers, and have not turned these up properly yet. It also cuts out while speakers are disconnected! Totally random too. Sometimes i can use it for an hour without issues….sometimes 2 minutes! Help 😂
People make fun of Americans saying "sodder"; but then there's words like chassis, which we pronounce "chass-ee", where Australians say "shazzy" and some British say "shassy" or even "chass-iss".
I just recently bought a working 610 appreciate you showing your knowledge of these receivers.
I had one of these in the early 80’s. I loved its sound, it’s styling etc. I wish I had never sold it!
Thank you very much for this video!
I am going to restore a CA 610, and thanks to your research, it will be an easier job!
I've got another to do today.
We have an air compressor at the audio repair shop, for blowing out dust, dirt and debris from inside customer's equipment. Pet fur is of course very common, but a number of our customers apparently keep *birds* and I've seen lots of small feathers inside amplifiers and receivers. Some units arrive with a carpet of what appears to be clothes dryer lint, occasionally so thick that you can barely see the components! The worst is when the equipment isn't in an enclosed cabinet and the owner has cats. Cats love to lay on warm electronic equipment, even after it's been off for a half hour, and sometimes they pee a little in their sleep. A couple drops of cat pee can cause major corrosion damage.
Well done brad , well explained
Great video! I just purchased one of these for not a lot of money, and is in mint condition (cosmetically). Opened it up, and looks like it has already had the output TO-3s replaced (Sanken -> Motorola), with gobs of new heatsink compound. The loudness rotating switch is very tight, (stripped the knob) so will try to loosen that up. I was curious to where you found the info on measuring the required current of 11mA across the testpoints - is there a service manual available for download somewhere? Cheers 🍺
It's available many places online.
Отличный усилок, отличная работа!👍
At about 18:40, watching you swap the meter probe position and polarity ---- for years I've even telling myself I want a knee-operated button under the bench to reverse the meter-probe polarity without me having to physically move the probes. Some of the stuff I work on might have 4 to 8 output devices per channel and there are always a few transistor locations with stuff in the way, where it's difficult to reach in and make good contact with the probes. Checking driver and differential transistors for shorts can definitely be a pain when you have to reverse the probes. I usually use an analog meter for this, a Triplett with a polarity-reverse switch, which can be usefull. but it often requires a "third hand" to operate the switch while holding the probes....
Re, the loose volume control: Almost all vintage Japanese hifi has a locating tab on the pots and a hole in the chassis for the locating tab to sit so that the pot can't easily spin around and around unless the shaft nut has loosened several whole turns. Few if any guitar amp manufacturers have ever done anything this sensible.....
I like your vids. I saved a ca1010 and the baby 200 so far.
Great to hear, mate!
And you're right, It's always Taco Time!
Hola amigo. La limpieza que haces al final del panel frontal, es solo con el trapo humedecido en agua o le pones algùn producto....Muchas gracias....El video muy bueno..
I used about 20% of a general purpose cleaner called "Nifti", mixed with plain water.
Often just plain water works by itself.
@@BradsGuitarGarage Muchas gracias por tu amabilidad.
Hey Brad, Great video, I am having trouble removing the volume knob...What do you need to loosen the screw? It doesn't seem to look like an allen key fit like the input selector knob etc. Also my Allen keys aren't long enough to reach it to even try,,,is it worth cutting them and using a spanner? 🤣
There are one or two allen keys on the shaft, behind the front panel. They're accessible through the gap between the front panel and the chassis.
I have one of these amps. What is the power supply voltages? This is important info and was not checked in the video -- between projects, that I get. The unit I have is a plus/minus 38.5 volts on the supply rails. Is this proper? Nowhere in the schematic or service manual that state the rail voltages. Thanks!
I don't show everything in the videos or they'd be hours long.
The schematic on the service manual references voltages at many junctions.
It claims + / - 33VDC on the main rails. 38.5VDC should be fine.
What is your opinion of CA2010 & CT1010? Thanks
Buy yourself a set of ceramic-tip tweakers made specifically for RF alignment ---- it should have all the tip types and sizes you'll ever need for tweaking bias pots. For those who aren't aware, some bias pots look like they take a Philips bit but actually require a special Philips variant screwdriver with a flat, not pointy tip. Possible to grind an ordinary Philips screwdriver to flatten the tip, but I prefer not using a conductive metal screwdriver for adjusting bias.
How much $ USD would you say these are worth as is cond ?
Hey Brad from the US & A. (Borat)
Hi Brad. In your opinion, can this amp comfortably run 6 ohm speakers?
I would not recommend it. Stick to the user manual recommendations for any given amplifier. However, if it's just a matter of a 6R tweeter, I'd confidently use it, as they likely have attenuation and there's not much energy being transferred there anyway.
@@BradsGuitarGarage Good information. Thanks Brad.
Hey brad. Ive got this same yamaha amp i need restoring. Im in Sydney. After watching your video id be more than confident in your workmanship. Do you have contact information mate?
G'day Simon, chuck the name into Google and we'll be the first thing that pops up.
@@BradsGuitarGarage thanks mate. Will do
@@BradsGuitarGarage no way. Im in St marys. Ill reach out this week. 👊🏻
Hi Brad, I have a CA 610 and am replacing the meter globes. Any chance you could let me know where I could get the replacement globes you used? I'm in Australia. Thanks.
Wagner Electronics, mate.
@@BradsGuitarGarage Thanks mate.
I have the same amp and it stopped working, the power LED comes on but no sound coming out of it. also that little click you mentioned was the speaker relay - and it stopped 'clicking' for me. I swapped it with a new one thinking that's the issue but same as before.
Would you have any specific thing to check before I re-cap the whole thing?
Check the solder connections in the speaker protection circuit. This one was good for several months, but came back with random cut outs. I found the voltages in the relay triggering circuit to be fluctuating due to a leaky transistor. Replaced it and it has been.good since. But yes, there were many leaky caps on this one so replacing them all was necessary first.
Wonder if anyone on here can help me here……
I have just bought a “working” CA-610.
However…..the “protection cut out” keeps cutting out.
Im using 8ohm speakers, and have not turned these up properly yet.
It also cuts out while speakers are disconnected! Totally random too. Sometimes i can use it for an hour without issues….sometimes 2 minutes! Help 😂
What's a service on one of these cost?
This one was around the AU$450 mark.
I can't speak for the cost of other units of different conditions and failure modes.
@@BradsGuitarGarage worth the service charge. The new stuff these days is constructed like shit and microprocessor hell.
People make fun of Americans saying "sodder"; but then there's words like chassis, which we pronounce "chass-ee", where Australians say "shazzy" and some British say "shassy" or even "chass-iss".
"Shazzy" or "Shazza" is also Australian for "Sharon".
@@BradsGuitarGarage , I thought "Shiela" was Aussie for "Sharon" ! 🤔
@@goodun2974 It's pronounced "SHOILA"
@@goodun2974 Did you know that if you say "my cocaine", you just said Michael Caine in his own accent?
@@BradsGuitarGarage is a "Karen" pronounced as "Cairn" down their? I've got a stubborn terrier who is a bit of both!