Hi All,

I have had a issue with the sharp, the sound was only coming out of one channel. Tracked it down to the selector switches and cleaned them. But, I now have a very muted sound. I can hear the amp in working in both chanels but can bearly hear anything. I have to have it at full voulume just to detect the anything is playing. This issue is across all functions.

Help!

Alexis

Not familiar with that model,
but sonds like the line in selector switch
is in wrong position.
Something like that.

Hi,

Thanks for your help, but I think it is a circuit board issue. I took it apart and now it works less than when I started!!

Alexis

"WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY, TO SAY GOODBYE TO THE DEARLY DEPARTED. IT WAS DEARLY, AND IT HAS DEPARTED. THUS WE CALL IT THE DEARLY DEPARTED. IN OTHER WORDS, YOUR BOX IS DEAD"!!!....................................Taken from the eulogy from Richard Pryor's 1975 album, "Was It Something I Said"?

Hey Alexis, before you do anything else, you may want to consider searching for another one on E'Bay or somewhere, because it may cost you an arm, or a leg if you get it repaired by a Professional.

But hey, perhaps you may already KNOW a Professional!!!

Good Luck

'NUFF SAID

OH!

I was looking on eBay today, but I will have to wait for a rough one to come by as they are still selling for more than I am wiling to pay to strip it for parts.

I have removed the circuit again and will have another play. Can't do any worse than my last attempt!

I guess you can still hear the AM and FM?
Record player?
so its still switching.
Some bad connection developed.
Maybe a connector was pulled a bit.
Look for the simple stuff first
Unless something got shorted.
Easy repair for any good tech guy.

Can't strip a VZ for parts.
All of them must be restored.

I guess you are right, should not strip one down.

Yes it is still switching, just need to find someone who can look at it.

I`ve got 2 vz2000,1 perfect worker (even the record deck works) the other has a simular problem to yours,mine has sound only out of the right channel,the left channel sounds like yours,if i slide the balance,its just hiss with very faint sound,i`ve had it for years but just left it like that

quote:

rfect worker (even the record deck works) the other has a simular problem to yours,mine has sound only out of the right channel,the left channel sounds like yours,if i slide the balance,its just hiss with very faint sound,i`ve had it for years but just left it like that

Hi Alexis,
Since you were working round the selector switch it could be a problem caused by said switch. There's a possibility that if two or more inputs are selected at once, the combined impedance of the two pre-amp circuits would cause the output level to drop. Try this by using two of the sources at once - can you hear both, or can you still choose between them? If you can hear both, check the contacts in the switch; they may have slipped.

Thanks! I am going to check it tonight.

Thanks for the advice, it is my daily user and it was working fine about six months ago, but the sound started to crackle, then became intermittent. So I thought I would try and sort it out.

Alexis

alexis,what part of uk are you ?? not manchester ??

Might be a capacitor problem too.
Bad electrolytic or the orange cap problem.

Sounds like wholesale electrolytic capacitor replacement will restore your unit. Not that this is a cheap service but this is a common problem on most vintage audio gear. I've done many boomboxes and home receivers and the service almost always results in much improved sound quality and performance and "ghostly" issues tend to disappear. Mind, you this isn't a panacea and replacing capacitors won't correct a defective transistor but it WILL rule out capacitors as a contributing factor. Just understand that capacitors could fail either shorted or open and depending on how it's coupled in the ciruit, could simply result in poor/no operation OR cause other more serious component failures such as transistor failures. While it's possible to replace only the offending component, I recommend wholesale replacement because the other components will be the same age and if one fails, the rest are sure to follow soon.

In your case, sounds like you aren't technical enough to do this yourself and if this is the case, then you may be better off selling yours to someone who has the expertise to do this (like me ) and find yourself another trouble free unit. Doing this will in most cases, be less costly than outsourcing the work.

Hi Ghettoman,

No not Manchester, I am in Essex.

Alexis

Hi Phil1212,

Cheers for the advice I have checked it out and yes, I can hear the tape across all functions, radio is quiet and can be heard faintly across most functions.
LW and MW just have interference.
The amp is buzzing until I touch the volume switch (bare metal rod) and if I put my hand near any of the capacitors on the board that houses the balance, Battery/Signal meter etc.. switches the interference feedback gets worse.

Does that sound like the kind of thing you were thinking of?

Alexis

Still sounds to me like bad capacitors could be at play.

Might be a bad ground connection too.

Hey Alexis,i've got the selector board on a breaker vz ,you've had a load of stuff of me so i'll send it to you free if it helps,can't let the VZ die without a fight.

Hi Alexis,

quote:

Does that sound like the kind of thing you were thinking of?

Yes it does, unfortunately I don't know how the selector works on these, it was just generic advise. It could also be a short circuit somewhere joining both sources together.

quote:

The amp is buzzing until I touch the volume switch (bare metal rod)

That does sound like a grounding problem, i.e the amplifier is using the volume pot and you as a ground, rather than making its own circuit.

Hi Andy,

Thank you.

Check you PM.

Alexis

Oh, I've got to know how this drama turns out! I want a VZ-2000 and am interested to know if the are robust and if you you can actually use them.

If it helps, there are 3 VZ-V20 units for sale on Yahoo here in Japan. All are 3000 yen or less! I could get one for ya and sent it!

I need an assortment of knobs and switches and stuff for it. If you can help with that, you will get many kowtows from me...

Lasonic920. The VZ2000 is a great sounding box but almost all the ones for sale are not working to some extent. That being said, they sound great however, they are not portable at all. They are a real B***CH to haul around as they are HEAVY!!!!!!! I threw my shoulder out trying to manuever it around my room. It is bigger than you think and bigger than it looks in pictures.