Audio Systems: Olympic Solid State Am/Fm Stereo 8 Track Turntable, fake fireplace logs, fireplace mantle

Question
QUESTION: Dear Dan, I hope you can help me.  I have an old solid state "Olympic" brand stereo am/fm radio with turntable and 8 track tape player.  It is a console unit and the stereo is located in the top lid of the unit which is a fake wooden fireplace mantle.  On one side there is a place for wine bottles so it is a sort of bar and stereo unit incorporated into a fireplace mantle with electric fake fireplace logs.  I remember these units being very popular around 1974.  The unit was working and had a great tone quality to it with some nice bass which I like very much.  Recently, I was using it for a few hours and noticed that the sound was not clear anymore and was becoming a bit garbled,boomy and distorted.  I shut it off thinking perhaps I was using it too long.  When I turned it on the next time, I noticed a sort of hum that I didn't hear before.  The hum which is not very pronounced is present even if the volume is all the way turned down. The unit still plays with lots of volume, but it is not clear sound and is distorted on both left and right channels.  This sound distortion is present whether you are listening to the record player, tape player or the radio.  The unit is very heavy and solid wood so I cannot bring it in to be serviced.  Although I am not an electronics expert, I have done some electronic repairs in the past and wondered if there is any way I could pinpoint what the problem is.  I called some TV/Stereo Repair places where I live and none of them wanted to deal with it saying it was too old and that parts were not available.  One guy saying that it would cost hundreds of dollars to get it fixed and that it wasn't worth it..he said to just go get another one second hand somewhere.  The unit is a nice unit and I want to fix it if I can but do not want to spend lots of money on it.  I would greatly appreciate any assistance you can offer in this.  Thanks so much!  Eddie

ANSWER: This unit is old enough to contain power supply filter caps that are in aluminum cans.  These are most ikely dried out and need to be replaced.  You are not likely to find exact replacements.  As ong as the value and voltage ratings are the same, you can replace these with new caps.  Only someone familiar with the older type of gear would want to play with this.  This is not a simple "replace the board" type of repair.  It is a relatively simple repair for anyone that has done one before.  Figure about $20 or so for parts and a couple of hours labor.

Dan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Dan, Thanks so much for your quick response.  I am assuming that your mentioning "caps" means capacitors.  I have not undone the back of this unit to look for these aluminum cans.  As previously mentioned, the unit is very bulky and extremely heavy so I cannot bring it anywhere and no one wants to bother with it for its age.  Is there any way that I could be walked through doing this repair myself?  I do have soldering equiptment and heat sinks that came with the soldering wand.  It is a nice unit but takes up much a considerable amount of space.  I feel if it is here I would like to use it and not just let it be one of those "I will get to" projects that never gets done.
Any ideas that will help me get this working properly will be so appreciated.
Thanks again,
Eddie

Answer
I'm not familiar with Olympic in particular, I just know from working on numerous units from that period that the caps are the first thing to look for.  Each aluminum can will contain 2-3 caps.  The can itself is a common ground.  You will need to read on the can the values and voltages of each component cap.  Purchase Axial lead caps (the leads come out from each side).  Leave the can in place and cover the leads of the new caps with insulation (strip from hookup wire).  Connect the new caps to the correct place (follow the wies from the old caps and connect the other side to ground.  The new caps do not need to connect to ground at the same point, just make sure they are connected with thte proper polarity.
Keep us posted.
Dan