Jameco Part number 136080

Jameco Part number 136080

Electronics
One of the most trusted names in
consumer electronics helps you solve one
of its most nagging problems
In this thoroughly updated new edition of his best-selling guide, Homer Davidson, one of the most respected and
prolific authors in the field of consumer electronics, provides experienced, hands-on information and advice on how
to troubleshoot and repair a wide range of electronic units--when you don't have the benefit of schematic diagrams.
Davidson, who actually ran his own successful radio and TV repair business for more than 40 years, shows you
how to diagnose and solve the circuit problems that commonly occur in audio amps, auto receivers, TV chassis,
cassette decks, CD players, AM/FM receivers, VCRs, car radios, stereos, boom-boxes, and more.
Included are more than 400 detailed drawings and photographs that illustrate the most efficient methods for
locating, testing, and repairing defective components. In addition, Davidson offers:
n

A list of typical mechanical problems that can crop up in each type of electronic unit

A corresponding chart that points out where to check for those problems in a given unit

An abundance of all-new case histories that demonstrate how repairs have actually been made

Instruction on how to tackle "tough dog" problems

Indispensable to today's professional electronic repair technicians, this goldmine of practical guidance will also
prove highly useful to electronic engineers, sophisticated hobbyists, and advanced students of electronics.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Homer L. Davidson has written more than 35 books and more than 1,000 articles in the field of technician-level
electronics troubleshooting and repair. His highly popular books include Troubleshooting and Repairing Audio
Equipment. Third Edition, Troubleshooting and Repairing Compact Disc Players, Third Edition, Troubleshooting
and Repairing Camcorders, Second Edition, and Troubleshooting and Repairing Solid-State TVs, Third Edition. He
is currently the TV Servicing Consultant for Electronic Servicing & Technology magazine.
Cover: Square One Design
Cover Photo: Ken Karp

McGraw-Hill
A Division of The McGraw-Hill Companies

Jameco Part number 136080

Introduction
The need to troubleshoot and repair consumer electronics without a schematic occurs every day in the life of a busy
electronics technician. The technician who repairs all types of electronic equipment must make quick and practical
repairs; otherwise, he or she will be out of the business within a few years. It is difficult to have every schematic of
the electronic product that appears upon the service bench. Remember, these technicians turn out hundreds of
electronic repairs each week, month after month, without a schematic.
Even the largest and best-equipped establishment cannot have all the schematics required to service every piece
of equipment that crosses the service bench. The more experienced and better informed the electronics technician is,
the more productive in troubleshooting and repairing consumer electronics he or she will be. This book will help the
beginning, intermediate, and experienced electronic technician service and repair different types of consumer
electronics without a schematic. Besides servicing tips and valuable information, practical case histories are found
throughout the book.
The purpose of this book is to provide practical service experience and methods for servicing electronic
equipment without a schematic. Of course, repairing certain types of electronic products cannot be accomplished
unless a certain schematic is available. There are many repairs you can make without a circuit diagram. The tough dog
and intermittent service problem are difficult to find without a schematic.
Most repair centers afford every schematic on consumer equipment. Others simply to do not have room for them.
In addition, some schematics for import models are difficult to obtain. It might take weeks or months to get them, and
the electronic product sits for days, in pieces, until the diagram arrives. Sometimes the schematic never comes; they
are no longer available.
Troubleshooting and Repairing Consumer Electronics Without a Schematic begins with servicing methods.
Chapter 2 shows you how to locate, test, and repair the electronic product. Repairing audio amps, large and small, are
given in Chapter 3, with the list of required test equipment, symptoms, and methods of servicing these amplifiers.
Chapter 4 is on servicing the auto or car radio receivers. Trou
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Introduction

bleshooting the cassette player is found in Chapter 5, with the various symptoms, tips, and actual case histories.
In Chapter 6, you will learn how to repair the black-and-white TV chassis. Chapter 7 shows you how to service
the compact disc player, found in the boom box, table-top, auto, and CD changer. Troubleshooting the color TV
chassis is found in Chapter 8 with the many different circuits and troubleshooting tips. Repairing power supplies is
covered in Chapter 9, which covers all power sources found in the many electronic components. Chapter 10, on
servicing stereo sound circuits, covers most stereo audio circuits located in the many electronic products within the
consumer electronic field.
Troubleshooting AM/FM/MPX circuits is located in Chapter 11. How to service VCR mechanical and electronic
problems is covered in Chapter 12, which provides various symptoms, VCR problems, and actual case histories.
Chapter 13 shows you how to test the remote control and the infrared receiver circuits. The many service problems
within the boom-box cassette and CD player are given in Chapter 14. Last but not least, 20 tough-dog symptoms and
repairs are found in the Chapter 15.
Of course, in a book this size, it is impossible to show how to repair every type and model of consumer electronic
products. However, information on how to troubleshoot and repair audio amplifiers, auto receivers, cassette players,
black-and-white TVs, compact disc players, color TV chassis, stero units, AM/FM/MPX circuits, and VCRs is found
throughout the various chapters, without schematics.
Don't push that electronic unit aside and wait for the correct schematic. Apply the methods within this book to
turn out more repairs and fill up that cash register. Electronic products collecting dust provide no income.
Troubleshooting and repairing consumer electronics can be fun and quite rewarding, even when the schematic is not
available.
Homer L. Davidson

Jameco Part number 136080

Contents
Introduction

xvii

Acknowledgments

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Servicing methods without a schematic

Take a good look
Listen, listen
Hands have it
Bright lights and Broadway
Snap, crackle, and stop
Smoke gets in your eyes
Hit between the eyes
Nose to the grindstone
Different model, same chassis
Same track record
Highway lines
Body part numbers
Pills and more pills
Double-trouble
Down under
Outer space
Don't put it off to tomorrow
Time, precious time
Test points
Say it isn't so
Ten points of servicing
Yesterday's hero
Loss of life

1
1
3
4
5
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6
8
9
9
10
11
12
15
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23
24
27
29

How to locate, test, and repair

Correct test instruments
What's the sympton?
Case histories
Isolation

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34

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Locating components on the PC board

Defective parts off the PC board
Burned or damaged components
Hot ground
Running hot
Too hot to touch
Another chassis
Resistance measurements
Continuity checks
Waveform tests
Time to vaccinate
External amp
How to test transistors
NPN or PNP
Checking diodes
Checking ICs
Defective boards
Intermittent problems
Part replacement
Way down under
SMD parts
Removing surface-mounted components
SMD replacement
ESD FCC ID numbers
Clean up

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62
62

Repairing audio amps, large and small

Required test equipment
The various sound problems
Ears for a day
Servicing the small phono amp
Repairing the audio amp
Cassette amp repairs
Dual IC amp
Signal trace with test cassette
Very weak sound
Blown speaker fuse
Loud hum: Blown fuse
Car radio problems
Stereo amp repairs
Servicing the TV audio amp
Servicing high-power amps
Power output resistance measurements
Audio amp troubleshooting chart

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Contents
4

Servicing auto receivers

Required test instruments
Front and rear section
Varactor tuners
There she blows
Keeps blowing the fuse
Common man
No AM
Weak reception
Intermittent front-end reception
Surface-mounted components (SMD)
Weak audio
Distorted sound
Dead left channel
Intermittent audio
Speaker problems
Noisy reception
Noisy outboard
Stacked boards
Look outside the PC board
Auto receiver hookup
Various symptoms
Audio radio troubleshooting chart

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102
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107
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109
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113
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127

Troubleshooting cassette players

Required test equipment
Dragging your feet
Dead, no operation
No tape motion
No fast forward
Will not rewind
Tape pulling
Jammed cassette
The squealer
The slush pile
Piling on
Dead right channel
Weak left channel
Intermittent right channel
Eye contact
Transistor replacement
IC replacement
Recording problems
Poor recording
Noisy operation
The runaway

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Contents
Motor resistance
Tape head resistance
Broken plastic door
Cassette player symptoms
Cassette player troubleshooting chart

150
151
152
153
160

Repairing the black-and-white TV chassis

The pocket black-and-white TV
Dead, nothing
Keeps blowing fuses
Intermittent raster and sound
No raster, no high voltage
Sides pull in
Horizontal drifting
Only a horizontal white line
Insufficient vertical sweep
Six inches deep
Rollaway
Vertical rolling
Vertical fold over
Dead, no sound
Weak sound
Distorted sound
Humbug
Intermittent video
Fuzzy/dark picture
Bright sunlight
Poor brightness
Unusual picture
On a diet
Storm watch
Black-and-white TV symptoms
Black-and-white TV troubleshooting chart

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Servicing the compact disc player

Laser circuits
Eyes have it
Play it safe
Digital signal processor
Digital/analog converter
Headphone amplifier
Low-voltage power supply
Focus error amp
Drag and sag
Loading motor
Disc and slide motors

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Contents

Important waveforms
The portable CD player
The CD changer
Boom-box CD circuits
Similar schematics
Checking SMD components
Troubleshooting RF amp and pickup
Troubleshooting the digital signal processor
Troubleshooting the D/A converter
Servicing the audio mute system
Servicing headphone circuits
Servicing servo circuits
Poor loading
No disc rotation
Symptoms
Troubleshooting charts

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210
212
215
215
216
217
217
217
217
218
219
220
220
223

Troubleshooting the TV chassis

The shoot out
On first base
The different TV sections
The horizontal circuits
Horizontal circuit problems
Horizontal output transistor
Horizontal oscillator problems
Hold-down safety circuits
The narrow road
The defective flyback
Hot output transistor
Red hot H.O.T.
Intermittent raster
High-voltage shutdown
Chassis shutdown
A pulled muscle
High-voltage problems
Bowed legs
The vertical circuits
Vertical circuit problems
Locating vertical circuits
Only a white line
Insufficient vertical height
Intermittent vertical circuits
Vertical crawling
Lines at the top
At the top
Vertical oscillator or countdown circuits

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Vertical fold-over
Vertical rolling
Identifying vertical components
Tuner/IF circuits
IF/video circuit problems
Color circuit symptoms
Sound problems
Surface-mounted components
Grapes come in bunches
Dogs everywhere
Down on the farm
TV symptoms

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252
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257
258
260
261
261
261

Repairing power supplies

Only half way
Bridge over water
Low-voltage regulators
The buck stops here
Servicing the radio power supply circuits
Alarm-clock radio ac power circuits
Troubleshooting clock power-supply circuits
ac adapter repair
Repairing cassette player power supplies
Humming along
Locating low-voltage parts
Troubleshooting car radio power supplies
Servicing large stereo amp power supplies
Troubleshooting CD player power supplies
Transistor, zener diode, and IC regulation
Repairing black-and-white TV power circuits
Keeps blowing the line fuse
Servicing color TV power supplies
Troubleshooting SCR-switching regulator circuits
Night and day: power circuits
No high voltage, no raster (J.C. Penney 685-2012)
Intermittent turn on (Sharp 19A61)
TV power supply symptoms
Power-supply troubleshooting chart

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276
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299
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301

10

Servicing stereo sound circuits

Radio stereo circuits
Car radio stereo circuits
Auto sound circuits
Big amps
Portable stereo circuits
Compact disc stereo circuits

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Contents
Stereo cassette decks
Stereo audio circuits
Too hot to touch
Dead to the left
Weak to the right
Intermittent left channel
Now and then
Holy cow
Signal tracing audio circuits
Distorted audio
Noisy sound
Solid cone
Different sound symptoms
Amplifier troubleshooting chart

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316
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319
321
322
322
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332

11

Troubleshooting AM-FM-MPX circuits

Look me over
Which end is up
Common circuits
No AM reception
Cracked ferrite antenna
Weak AM reception
Intermittent AM reception
No FM reception
Weak FM
No AM or FM, defective IF circuits
Intermittent AM and FM reception
Control circuits
Weak AM and FM reception
Checking transistors in-circuit
Replacing front-end transistors
Meter movements
LCD display
The varactor tuner
Digital tuning controller
Other new receiver circuits
AM-FM-MPX symptoms
AM-FM-MPX circuit troubleshooting chart

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342
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347
347
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348
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351
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362

12

VCR mechanical and electronic problems

Symptoms
Head cleaning
Cleaning audio head
Normal load and speed problems
Dead: no operation
Loading up

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13

VCR in TV chassis
Intermittent problems
Belt replacement
Eats tape
Cylinder problems
Capstan speed problems
Starts to play then stops
Tape loads then shuts down
Tape will not eject
Improper rewind
Erratic tape speed
Dead VCR
Goldstar 6HV1265M shutdown
Voltage regulators
Emerson VCR910 distorted picture
No audio in playback
In a Goldstar, the drum will not rotate
No picture in playback
The capstan motor in an Emerson VCR951
Poor recording
No sound or no video
No audio erase
Shutdown problems
No display features
Service schedule of components
VCR symptoms

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384
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386
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389
389
390

Testing the remote control circuits

Too many hands in the pot
Remote functions
Infrared remotes
Nothing operates
No see--Aim high
Try another one
Sometimes operates and sometimes not
Infrared power meter
Infrared remote circuits
Universal remotes
Servicing the remote control unit
Remote or receiver
Troubleshooting the infrared receiver
Denon DCM560 remote sensor
RCA CTC145 TV chassis remote receiver
Standby power supplies
Servicing standby circuits
Intermittent remote: Sanyo 91C90 TV

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400
402
402
402
403
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405
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Contents

14

15

No remote receiver operation

Dead remote control receiver
No standby voltage: Goldstar CMT2612
No remote: Dead TV
Remote control troubleshooting chart

413
413
414
415
416

Servicing the boom-box cassette/CD players

417

Required test instruments

Without a schematic
Solder up
Accidental erase
Continuous tape playback
ac power to you
Boom-box circuits
Boom-box amp circuits
Audio comparison tests
Separate transformer
The warbler
Speaker problems
Headphone amplifier
Boom-box motor circuits
CD player operation
Take a look
Location of motors
The defective CD motor
Motor driver circuits
CD voltage sources
dc-regulated circuits
The CD pickup
The RF amplifier
Digital signal processing
D/A circuits

417
420
422
423
423
423
425
425
427
428
430
430
431
432
434
434
435
437
439
439
440
441
443
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446

Twenty actual tough dogs

449

Cassette players
Car radio
AM-FM-MPX receiver
Cassette deck
Amplifiers
TV
Conclusion

449
453
454
455
458
463
468

Index

471

About the author

476

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