Electronics 2000

Hi there everyone

i posted a while back asking if anyone here would be interested in repairing some PA and guitar amplifiers for me - paid work of course - but got no response.

So, after years of building up a quantity of broken equipment i have decided to teach myself how to fix them! I got myself a breadboard and some basic components from ebay and have been experimenting a bit.

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a list of equipment i should buy that would enable me to do the work i need to do.
for example do i need a signal generator? oscilloscope? what other bits and bobs? any help would be appreciated.

My first real project will be a Carlsboro Marlin 150W PA top - from the 1980s.

Thanks in advance

Mike

If your going to take up repairing yourself seriously and you have not done it before, than you should get some theory and practice at your local college and then you will understand what is going on in the circuit.

But as for amplifiers you dont need much in speciliased equipment and a good multimeter and solder station is really about all you need.Your first signal generator can be a CD player or anything that generates noise.
A scope can be useful for seeing frequencies you cannot hear, for example your amp might be whistling on stage which is driving the young girl in the audience mad, but you as a middle aged (not saying you are just an example) man will not be able to hear it .

if you want help/somebody else repairing them , then this is probably the forum you need

http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/index.php

EXR wrote:Hi there everyone

i posted a while back asking if anyone here would be interested in repairing some PA and guitar amplifiers for me - paid work of course - but got no response.

So, after years of building up a quantity of broken equipment i have decided to teach myself how to fix them! I got myself a breadboard and some basic components from ebay and have been experimenting a bit.

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a list of equipment i should buy that would enable me to do the work i need to do.
for example do i need a signal generator? oscilloscope? what other bits and bobs? any help would be appreciated.

My first real project will be a Carlsboro Marlin 150W PA top - from the 1980s.

Thanks in advance

Mike

Oscilosopes are great for seeing distortion on amps, and a signal generator is great for testing the smoothness of the amp, a solder station of varying temperature is definately an asset but don't buy cheap rubbish. If you're going to use test equipment then use decent stuff. An additional suggestion would be get a solder sucker, a pad and pencil it often helps to draw what you see. A multimetre is a must for repairs these days and don't be afraid to use your other senses such as smell. That can tell you a lot. Finally i suggest heat shrink and a hot air gun. You can shrink heat shrink with a solder station set to around 275c but a heat gun is tidier. Tidyness is not a b****it standard. it can save you a lot of time. Keep your workbench tidy and be careful where you splash solder. I fixed an antenna tuner recently that was faulty simply because a splash of solder dropped under it and grounded it too early. Don't do as i did first time you pick up a soldering iron by picking it up by the wrong end. I still have the scar

send me some info on sead gear eg pics of it to see damage and layout wat problems its facing and any scematics uve got im very smart on electrics but still learning to be fluent in it and hav many vavle and other books and to be payed be nice =P any way fit to u

There are suggestions for the types of amps you should start with and those to avoid until you have a bit more experience. For amplifiers with common problems, you are told what to look for and how to correct the problem so that the amp is more reliable than when it rolled off of the assembly line. Of course, the information goes well beyond the basics.