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olllie - 2013-07-17 23:33

Let me start off by saying I'm a complete newbie to all this. Impulsively bought a JVC RC-M70 from gumtree last night for £60 (was that a good deal?) and would like to restore it to its former glory. I don't have much knowledge of boomboxes.

Almost everything seems to work perfectly apart from DIN IN mode (LINE IN on some models?). I tried plugging in an mp3 player to the phono aux input using this mode but it sounds really quiet and distorted. Not sure if this is normal. Plugged in a turntable using PHONO mode and it sounded great. It's also missing one antenna but the other is perfect. The body is quite dirty and discolored and battery contacts have corrosion.

Can you recommend any techniques or products to make this thing shine?

Technically is there anything essential that I should be looking at to make sure its healthy?

Thanks in advance. This could be the first of many restoration projects!
Ollie

northerner - 2013-07-18 00:49

Welcome to the forum! £60 for an M70 is an absolute steal...it's one if the top mid size boxes out there so you're starting off on a high!!

Phono in is at a much lower input level than line in (euro m70's don't have a proper line in unlike US ones) but its easily fixed with a phono attenuator that steps it down. They're about a tenner from eBay and the most common ones are made by MCM...I've got 3 and they're all working fine.

As for cleaning tips there are loads on the forum, just do a bit of a search. But it depends how brave you are...a proper clean is a full strip down and giving the casing a hot soapy bath! But don't use anything abrasive...hot soapy water, soft cloth, cotton buds, tooth brush etc and you're good to go

But obviously keep the speakers etc dry.

You should also get some servisol switch cleaner from maplins/eBay and clean all the switches...again to a bit of a search and you'll find loads of info on this.

The final thing you have to do is take some before and after pics of it and post them on here as we love that sorta stuff!!

northerner - 2013-07-18 00:51

Oh and it depends on how corroded the battery contacts are as to whether a sand/file will sort it or they need replacing.

olllie - 2013-07-18 04:22

Thanks for the tips! Planning to take it completely apart over the weekend and give the casing a bath. I've heard Stardrops is a good detergent. I will also take your advise on the Servisol whilst I'm at it.

For the phono I ordered one of these yesterday: http://www.juno.co.uk/products...converter/432333-01/

How easy is it to replace battery contacts? The springs look OK but the contacts on the other side don't look great.

I'll be sure to take photos before and after.

northerner - 2013-07-18 05:08

Good choice!...a proper bath is always the way to go imo, there's nothing better than getting a really grubby looking box properly cleaned of 30 years of grime and shining like new again...well worth the effort

That phono box is spot on.

If the springs are good then thats good as the flat parts are usually easier to replace and more likely to clean up easily with a bit of sandpaper or a file. Can't remember how the contacts are set up in the M70 but I'd file the things before deciding what to do as some are dead easy to replace and some aren't so easy...when you take it apart you'll know....at the end of the day they're hidden so as long as they make a good contact with the battery its not so important what they look like.