Hi!
I've been admiring those nice tube radios for quite some time. Last month I got lucky on the flea market and found a Meersburg 125 in not-so-bad condition. It's the first one I've ever seen or listened to and it's really great, although not everything's working the way it should.
I don't know much about electronics, even old fashioned one I can handle a voltmeter and a soldering iron, but apart from that... I did some research on the internet, found the schematics and now I found this very nice forum.
Well my Meersburg is missing a few bits but it works. First I did some mechanical work (fixed a broken dial cord, fixed the stuck clutch), then I've replaced almost all paper capacitors and some electrolytics also. The 0.022 uF capacitor near the Graetz diode bridge has melted during the first hour of playing (it's been replaced now), does that happen because of the bad capacitor or the diode bridge or something else ?
Also, the automatic seeking doesn't work. When I turn it on I can feel the vibrations from the motor and the knob very slowly turns in the direction of a strong station, but it doesn't have enough power or speed to move any further. I haven't replaced the big 0.3uF paper capacitor yet. Could that be the culprit for the weak automatic motor ?
There is another problem, a constant hum in the speakers, noticable when the volume is low. Even if I press the automatic-seek buttons, which turn the sound off, the hum is there. Is that normal ?
Thank you for your help,
Rok from Slovenia
I've been admiring those nice tube radios for quite some time. Last month I got lucky on the flea market and found a Meersburg 125 in not-so-bad condition. It's the first one I've ever seen or listened to and it's really great, although not everything's working the way it should.
I don't know much about electronics, even old fashioned one I can handle a voltmeter and a soldering iron, but apart from that... I did some research on the internet, found the schematics and now I found this very nice forum.
Well my Meersburg is missing a few bits but it works. First I did some mechanical work (fixed a broken dial cord, fixed the stuck clutch), then I've replaced almost all paper capacitors and some electrolytics also. The 0.022 uF capacitor near the Graetz diode bridge has melted during the first hour of playing (it's been replaced now), does that happen because of the bad capacitor or the diode bridge or something else ?
Also, the automatic seeking doesn't work. When I turn it on I can feel the vibrations from the motor and the knob very slowly turns in the direction of a strong station, but it doesn't have enough power or speed to move any further. I haven't replaced the big 0.3uF paper capacitor yet. Could that be the culprit for the weak automatic motor ?
There is another problem, a constant hum in the speakers, noticable when the volume is low. Even if I press the automatic-seek buttons, which turn the sound off, the hum is there. Is that normal ?
Thank you for your help,
Rok from Slovenia