My sister's Cambridge Audio T500 FM tuner

Chris

Have you had a look at the internal fuse on it /

That might help.Good luck

Random image (which is says it) of a T500...

Check that (a) the switch internally (on the top left board) is operating via the long rod from the front panel button and (b) that same board has a fuse, check that is not blown.

Thanks both. My first thought was an internal fuse and/ or the switch too. The mechanical operation of the switch seems normal.

I've got the lid off.

On the small board (top left in Eloise's web pic) there is only one blue blob, not two. Nor are there any fuses.

I have a sense that landfill may not be very far away....  :-(

Chris

Dear Chris,

At least give it the chance of being looked at by a repair engineer. If there is nothing looking dodgy under the hood, the chances are that it is something really simple. It may be be terminally ill, but then so was my Trough Line. I will not go into detail, but the Trough Line cost less to repair than anything you can buy in a Naim packaging box. Sometimes repair really is the best way.

Do you have an old fashioned radio repair shop that you know off? They would soon advise, at least before you give up. I can recommend - as a former owner - that the Rotel AL 850 is really superb in the way of modern tuners [i.e. solid state good Japanese]. It is quite sensitive, and it is not hard to get a high quality lock onto VHF/FM with a basic wire dipole aerial [less than £5 from Maplins for example]. It is old enough to be worth a couple of ten’ers, and is easily found in good condition from the normal internet market place. 

That would be if yours is caput!

ATB from George

Dearie me, no. You must dispose of it in accordance with the WEEE regulations. 

Thanks George, for your kind words. To fill you in a bit with something that I didn't really want to mention, my sister asked me to shift it on eBay. she moved happily to DAB years ago and couldn't remember if the T500 was working or not.

I've a Nat03 but I thought I ought to check the T500 first before I advertised. Even back in the day it wasn't a dear radio, and, all these years later, I'd have thought barely worth the cost of an hour's labour at a little TV and radio repair shop on the edge of town. So, with my non-wholemeal trouser eco credentials already being shredded, it does look like the bin.

Cheers, chris

Dear Chris,

Sounds like the electronic waste bin to me.

Never mind - as you have the '03! 

I like the Olive slimline look, and the’re completely under-rated these days as performers. Hang onto it! 

Nice to exchange a post. thanks,

ATB from George

It could be the display back light that has failed. There are 3 small bulbs that light up the display, these had all failed in my old T500. The tuner will also mute if there is no signal/not tuned in giving you the impression that it is completely dead.

You might be able to prove this by putting a small plastic torch inside the case just behind the display and then power up the tuner and look to see if there are any numbers appearing on the front of the display.

Even if it's just the bulbs that are faulty it wouldn't be worth repairing unless you were doing the repair yourself, assuming you could source the bulbs.

Sadly the audio bin is calling.

Andy,

You are a Super Heterodyne T500 genius! It had never occurred to me that the display might have failed. Have just connected it all up, heard some hiss, and by a process of trial and error button pressing (in the absence of a display) have found R4.

Will now see what my sister wants to do with it, can't see there being much demand without display, even though it otherwise works. But could be a landfill reprieve.

Thanks.

C.

I've never been called a "Super Heterodyne T500 genius" before

There's also a chance that there's a dry joint/bad connection as it's unusual for all three bulbs to blow at the same time.

Is it an LCD display?  For some reason these seem prone to backlight failure.  I kitted my Mother out with a NAD CD player that sounded pretty good for the money but had the annoying habit of the backlight to the display failing every couple of years.  It was just a simple little bulb soldered in place, but annoying all the same.  It had to go...

Yes Richard, LCD. I gently pulled the wires to it around a bit but it refused to light up.

Quite a modern sound I would say. My 03 sounds warmer and not quite as clear. The output from the T500 is also much higher.

C.

 I replaced a lot of these types of bulbs back in my service engineer days. I didn't bother repairing my T500 at the time as i used it as an excuse to get a Nat03 .

I have found someone who sells bulbs for car audio displays, he has some that are the same size and voltage as the bulbs in the T500 but no mention of wattage. I might take a gamble on a couple of quid and get some to try in mine.

Richard, are we ok to continue this as we're heading deeper into diy territory?

Best stop right there I think Andy.  The rules should be applied fairly regardless of whether it's Naim or  any other make.

No problem Richard, i thought i might be pushing my luck.

None of which are problems  :-)

C.