Q
Quirt
Guest
I inherited an RZ3000 stereo receiver with a control amp problem. It
*appears* that the balance control is bad as the left channel never pots
down all the way, driving the amp to about 3 watts when the volume is all
the way down.
At the balance pot, the left channel signal pin never drops to ground
potential. This would generally indicate that the pot is bad, which it
probably is. However... the main volume board follows the output of the
control amp and the main volume pot has an extra pin on each gang which
appears to be a center tap of the resistive element. As far as I can tell
from tracing the circuit, the connections are thus:
The first pin is GND.
The second pin is the WIPER OUT.
The third is the SIGNAL IN.
The fourth pin is the CENTER TAP.
The CT loops back to the "Variable Loudness" control circuit, which I
assume is using the loop to modify the loudness control's preemphasis
curve in relation to the volume level. I might be totally off-base here,
but that's the best I can decipher of this setup without a schematic.
I'm not sure what, if any, interaction this extra loop would have on the
balance circuit. Since the balance pot is just a standard 3 lead pot, I'll
change it out first since I have a replacement handy. I've noticed that if
you wiggle the shaft rather violently, the channel intermittently goes
quiet. I took it apart and it looks like the composition is wearing off
that side of the pot's PWB. If the problem persists after changing the
balance pot, then I'll know the main volume pot is bad. Makes sense to me
anyway, unless anyone has any other suggestions.
Quirt Evans
*appears* that the balance control is bad as the left channel never pots
down all the way, driving the amp to about 3 watts when the volume is all
the way down.
At the balance pot, the left channel signal pin never drops to ground
potential. This would generally indicate that the pot is bad, which it
probably is. However... the main volume board follows the output of the
control amp and the main volume pot has an extra pin on each gang which
appears to be a center tap of the resistive element. As far as I can tell
from tracing the circuit, the connections are thus:
The first pin is GND.
The second pin is the WIPER OUT.
The third is the SIGNAL IN.
The fourth pin is the CENTER TAP.
The CT loops back to the "Variable Loudness" control circuit, which I
assume is using the loop to modify the loudness control's preemphasis
curve in relation to the volume level. I might be totally off-base here,
but that's the best I can decipher of this setup without a schematic.
I'm not sure what, if any, interaction this extra loop would have on the
balance circuit. Since the balance pot is just a standard 3 lead pot, I'll
change it out first since I have a replacement handy. I've noticed that if
you wiggle the shaft rather violently, the channel intermittently goes
quiet. I took it apart and it looks like the composition is wearing off
that side of the pot's PWB. If the problem persists after changing the
balance pot, then I'll know the main volume pot is bad. Makes sense to me
anyway, unless anyone has any other suggestions.
Quirt Evans