Recapped vintage RCA question
 

Hello, I recently recapped a RCA Victrola model 7EY2HH 3tube. This did rid itself of the humm but I still cannot get any sound from it. I am new at this and just found it interesting to give it a try. I also wondered if anyone knows what the rectangular "thing" marked 120 located in the box at the left. Seems it is a bit corroded and may causing this phonograph to not work. I put a Ohm meter on it and it shows resistance. Would it be a resistor? and what size would it be I have not schematic.

http://static.flickr.com/60/186552099_d3bfc12c94_m.jpg

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Yes, that is a power resistor and they look that way even when new as they are covered with a sand like material when made as an early attempt at disbursing heat since these get extremely hot. Obviously is ok for now if your tubes are lighting ok. Did you try touching the leads that go to the cartridge and see if you get a humming noise? If you did then you might have a faulty cartridge as these were well known for. Some of the changers in these had a mute switch connected inline with the cartridge leads underneath to mute the sound when the changer goes through its cycle so check and see if it has one and if so make sure its engaging and disengaging. Worst case on this switch you can bypass it temporarily until you go thru the rest of your checks. If your not getting no sound what so ever then recheck your caps to make sure nothing got hooked up backwards or wrong during your recap which is easy to do in such a small space. Also check your output transformer that goes to your speaker as sometimes powering it on with bad caps will short this out. If everything checks out ok then you'll have to get a schematic and start measuring the values on your resistors as one might be open or way off in value. Good luck!
Tony

That's on of those 45 changers isnt it? It would have a crystal cartridge that would probably be bad. If Tony's test proves the amp is working, you'll either need to replace the cartridge with something modern, or get the cartridge rebuilt. There is a guy named Syl over on http://antiqueradios.com/forums who rebuilds crystal cartridges. No personal experience, but thats who I'd look up.

John

Thanks for the replies. I grabbed the wires while removing the crystal cartridge and it did hum quite noticeably. Sorry for any confusion.

Stupid question but I have a Sony turntable in the house (10yrs old), could I take the cartridge out and adapt it to this RCA or would it damage the amp? The RCA turntable is a RP190D.

No damage but it probably won't work. Carts from hifi turntables put out a very low signal and it would be too low to drive this amp.

Thank you

From your latest reply it sounds like your amp is ok then. John's recommendation about using Syl to rebuild your cartridge is a good one. I've had him do one for me and it was reasonable and works perfectly and will work better than any modern replacement would. It sounds like your well on your way now to hearing it play again and you'll get many hours of enjoyment ut of it. Good luck!
Tony