Restoration of a Saba Freiburg 11

      Hi,
      I am enjoying reading this forum very much. I was wondering does anyone please have a copy of a Saba Freiburg 11 service manual with the parts listings? In the downloads section there is a circuit of the radio but not a copy of the parts listings and numbers used in this radio.
      Also is there a thread or information of servicing and lubrication of the Saba automatic tuning motor?

      Hi,

      Peter shows a disassembled motor-unit of a Freiburg 9 in this thread:

      http://saba.magnetofon.de/showtopic.php?threadid=1491

      There are a few difficulties when disassembling and reassembling the unit:

      1. be careful with the 4 coils and the connecting wires - they are quite delicate

      2. in most motors there is a gear that consists of two halves. These halves are kept under tension by a spring to reduce clearance.

      3. put every single part in its place again ;) (especially washers, springs etc.)

      4. be very careful with the rotating alloy-cylinder and it`s attached small gear since it`s made of a very "soft" material

      As for lubrication - I think every high quality lubricant for precision mechanical parts will do.
      SABA used a grease containing graphite dust for some parts like gears made of non-metal materials though...
      Achim

      Hi Achim,
      Thanks for your tips. I notice from the schematic, there are 2 shielded x .022uf capacitors (3 leads) with a ground lead used on the inputs of the grids on the EABC 80 and ECL 86. Are the purpose of these special capacitors with grounds on them to stop the possibility of hum pickup? If so, I don't suppose the normal .022uf capacitor could replace them as they may need a ground, as a three lead .022uf is hard to get. I am wondering what would happen when a two lead .022uf could be used?
      Also there are two diodes Gr.c E62,4 and a Gr.b E12,5. I assume these are low current diodes? 4ma & 5ma? Are these original diodes selenium, germanium or silicon? If so, can I use a 1N4148 to replace these?

      Hi,

      it´s hard to find shielded capacitors today.
      I usually take a regular capacitor and wrap it in a piece of thin self-adhesive copperfoil. (I solder a thin lead to the foil before wrapping the capacitor.)
      The "finished product" looks like this:



      You can use some shrink-tubing for isolation afterwards.

      Shielded capacitors _should_ be used at the EABC80 to prevent the gate from picking up hum as you assumed.
      In the case of the ECL80 the shield is necessary to avoid malfunction of the automatic tuning circuit which can easily be disturbed by 50 / 60 Hz signals.

      You can replace the small one-way selenium rectifiers by silicon diodes like 1N400x when they are faulty. In most cases they are still doing well.
      Achim

      Hi Achim,
      The radio is playing well on all bands with good sound. I cleaned the motor and greased it up. However the tuning motor is very slow. It goes reverse and forward ok but is very very slow. It increases slightly in speed when the button is held in. The voltages appear ok on the motor. What regulates the speed of the motor?
      Thanks for your help. These radios are very complicated compared to what I normally worked on.

      Hello,

      yes - all gears that can be tensioned must be tensioned. I´m not sure how many of those gears can be found in the motor-unit of a Freiburg 11. (There are motor-units with one and later units with two)
      I normally adjust the tension until about half of the possible movement is made. This should be about 3 notches. Don´t overdo ;)


      As for the speed issue - did you check the resistors at the pushbutton unit?
      Some voltages of the motor in search mode and in speed mode would be useful.
      Please make sure all the little pulleys for the dial cord run easily.
      Achim

      Hello Achim,
      Sorry for the confusion. I have two Saba's. One is a Freiburg 11 which I wanted information on and the other is a Meersburg 125. I am currently working on the 125 the simpler of the two! The Freiburg 11 is working and I am amazed at the sound quality. That is the magic of Saba!
      The 125 has two gears that I will adjust now since I have cleaned the motor. I need to replace a few more of the electrolytics of the 125. The motor is running faster now, the ECL 80 was weak. When the tuning gets to the end of the scale does the motor keep turning or turn off? I assume it keeps turning and slips on the clutch? Sorry for all these basic questions. The radio is at this stage playing with good sound although the automatic is not stopping on too many stations especially mw, maybe some more capacitor replacements will help things along. On the FM it searches but only stops on very few stations and does not quite tune right on to stations, and often the sound is quiet until the automatic is switched off. Maybe with a few more capacitor changes B+ will be improved which may help. Today a friend will test all the valves on his tester.

      For the automatic to work properly both the ECL80 and the EABC80 must be in superb condition, new if possible.

      You also need to replace _ALL_ the paper capacitors and WIMA Tropydur capacitors (brown candies).
      Here´s a picture of some replaced capacitors in a Freiburg125 which should be similar:

      http://saba.magnetofon.de/showtopic.php?threadid=4393

      Before all these capacitors are replaced it´s no use to do any troubleshooting!

      I agree - if these radios are restored properly the have a stunning sound!
      Achim

      Hello Alfredo,

      you can find the schematics and full service-manual in the download area. Look up at the top of the page, there you'll find the link.
      You have to register there one more time (like you did here) to get access.

      If you have registered, here is the direct link (will only work if you are logged in the download area!):

      http://download.magnetofon.de//index.php?&direction=0&order=&directory=Geraete/S/Saba/Service%20Manuals/Roehrenradios/Freiburg%2011

      Greetings to south america!
      Gruß, Gunnar

      Gunnar Grub,from Denmark?
      thanks for your help.(I am a old collector of Transistor B&olufsen ) Now i was infected by the tubes sound.and I like start with an old Saba.I buyed an old Freiburg 11 chassis only,and looking in Chile,I can buy a Saba freiburg 100,that the previus owner had partial dismanteled for to build a tube amplifier,.So,I have a donor and a host.I am a old thoracic surgeon(67) and I found a good thecnitian that in one day have my chassis working...

      http://articulo.mercadolibre.cl/MLC-38144183-radio-a-tubos-saba-freiburg-11-solo-chassis-_JM
      Unfortunly,I can``t enter for download the schematic. I did your advice,but...
      Can you send to me at asepulve@clc.cl

      Regards to Europe
      Thanks again
      Alfredo

      Hi all,

      I just got a Saba Freiburg 11 radio. What a magnificent example of engineering!!!

      The set is totally untouched, so all the original components are still in place.

      I turned it on slowly with a variac, and I noticed this:

      - only MW (AM) band works
      - the sound is totally distorted and low
      - The search motor moves forward but does never stops
      - on/off switch acts on the relay but mechanically does nothing
      - many other issues

      My idea is to replace all the capacitors, and then keep fixing mechanical problems.

      I would really appreciate it very much if you could provide the schematics for this model and (if it exists) the service manual. Something I am wondering, some caps are so hard to access that I cant read their values. Is there any drawing of the chassis with the name of the caps on it? (I´ve seen this in other sets).

      Any tips will be great. I love this radio and I wouldn´t like to do anything bad that destroys something irreplaceable.

      Thanks a lot in advance, I can´t wait to star recapping. As soon as I got the circuit I will start working!


      PD: I just saw how to start a new thread and opened one :)

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