GE Model RP-1160A Issues
 

Hello everyone, Today I'm working on a GE Model RP-1160A Suitcase Record Player for a friend of mine and for some reason or another its not wanting to put out audio or at least very little audio, and a little earlier when I was working on this and replacing some tubes in it that had tested no good on my B&K tube tester I noticed a really strong burning smell almost like the smell of burning oil coming out of the record player and then there was a whiff of smoke. I'm hoping this isn't the case but I'm wondering if the output transformers didn't get smoked... :sigh: Anyways any known issues with these old GE Record players? Also it is a cold chassis unit, but like I said it seems to be having a few issues that I can't seem to resolve, any help would be appreciated.

Have the capacitors been changed? That's always the first suspect. They go bad from age.

If the filter caps short, you can fry the power transformer.

No they haven't been changed but the unit isn't humming like mad either which indicates to me that the capacitors might still be good yet surprisingly enough, this unit has a printed circuitboard with all of the components on them that is installed onto a metal chassis. I can get it to put out some sound every once in a while but its barely audible without having the volume turned up half way and the left channel makes no sound at all, in fact if you try to plug in the left speaker into its designated plug on the side of the cabinet, fits extremely loose and doesn't make a good connection even though the plug on the speaker is original to the speaker.

lack of hum doesn't mean they are good, they could be shorted. you get hum when they dry out and have less capacity. if they short out, you don't get hum, you get smoke!
if here are wax capacitors they should be changes to they get electrically leaky as the oiled paper oxidizes and degrades. paper and electrolytic caps go bad from age, if they are not bad already, they will be soon.

There are no paper capacitors in this unit, all ceramic capacitors, I didn't see where the power supply capacitors where in there, because like I said everything was on a printed circuit board that's attached to a metal chassis and then has a power transformer in it for isolation.

Edit: Found the power supply filter caps, it was a cardboard "can" with 4 wires coming out of one end, and the thing looks like it had gotten hot enough in its past to boil the wax coating a couple of times because the wax coating had bubbled up in several places and even leaked onto the plywood underneath that the case of the record player is made of and it looks like the capacitor might of even vented one or twice as the top of the capacitor housing was bulging pretty badly so I'm guessing that its going to need some new filter caps, its a 3 section can 100 MFD 400V, 75 MFD 400V and 70 MFD 25V. I have some pictures of what the capacitor looks like posted below.

The capacitor has some rather odd values in it so it might be a little hard to find some replacements for them. I'm sure my friend isn't going to be very happy to find out that the record player is going to need new power supply capacitors, because most of the record players he's bought haven't needed to have any work done to them except for having tube sockets cleaned or having to clean the cabinets or straightening out knob shafts that were bent. other than that they were working as found without needing any additional work done to them.

If this model has a crystal cartridge the cartridge could very well be bad. Crystal cartridges were cheap and easy to manufacture but they often went bad. If it is bad that could be a reason for the low output/volume. If I am not mistaken if the cartridge is in fact bad you would have to use a modern cartridge as I don't think crystal cartridges are made anymore. I do think they can be sent off to be rebuilt. Or you could rebuild it yourself which I think isn't all that easy.

Capacitor is completely shot from what I see. I hope it didn't take out anything important!

No, the cartridge it uses is one of those Astatic power-point cartridges like the 89T which I replaced it with a new cartridge and the audio was intermittent and very low. As for the tube line up and whether or not the power supply capacitor took anything important out, it uses a 5Y3GT Rectifier tube which tested good yet, no shorts, a set of 6AQ5s both tested fine, no shorts, and a 12AX7A tube which also tested fine, so the capacitor didn't take out any of the tubes, and the power transformer is still good because the turntable still works yet and the tubes still light, and if the transformer would of been dead none of the machine would of worked.

I'm thinking that maybe the capacitor just shorted a section or two which is why its not working right.

for the capacitor, you can replace with individual caps just have to figure out how to mount them securely. couple times I've used a hose clamp, then attached that with a screw to the chassis or cabinet, and run wires to the board.Multi section caps are a lot more expensive. The values don't need to be too exact, those old caps were probably 20 percent tolerance at best. Just don't go lower on the voltage rating. The ceramic caps should be fine. tubes lighting means the primary is OK, and the 6 v. winding is good, but doesn't mean the transformer is good, you should check the high voltage winding to be sure. If the cap is shorted that would be across the HV winding, which is made with fairly fine wire. On most players the motor is powered directly by 120V, not through the transformer.

Even if that power supply capacitor had been working fine, you would still want to replace it, they fail over time, and its way past its lifespan, and could have started smoking at any time.

Depends on the type. The pF range ceramics and ceramic disc types are reliable, but the white tubular ceramics in the uF range such as those lousy "Elmenco" brand caps are often bad....Tubular cased ceramics tend to use the same crappy paper dielectric in the average paper cap (and die for the same reasons), but with a fancier wrapper.

All Ceramic Disc caps, no Elmencos, or other types of Ceramic Tubular Caps in this unit.

I was planning on trying to get those power supply caps replaced. As for the "high voltage" winding, how would I test it to see if Its still good?

if its good you will have continuity with an ohmeter, but best test is if its putting out the right voltage. just unplug the 5Y3, and test the voltage at that socket. you should get high voltage betwwen the filament pins and the plate pins, or measure plate to plate.

Continuity, or better yet connect an AC voltmeter across the high voltage secondary with the rectifier removed, power up and check the voltage. It will probably be in the 250V-600V range depending on the B+ specification.