Restoration Marantz 2226 Receiver

This article is once again a picture story. The protagonist is a “Marantz Model 2226 Stereophonic Receiver” built in 1977.

The unit was in excellent condition after 42 years of operation, so the restoration consisted mainly of a meticulous cleaning. Nevertheless, a few small things had to be fixed

one of the big knobs was no longer original
the dial illumination was defective
squeaking noises during tuning
broken off plastic corner at the scale holder

I found a new original knob on the internet for an outrageous 10 Euro or so. For the scale illumination I replaced the 6x30mm 8V pilot bulbs with 12V versions. This makes the illumination darker, but it lasts forever and the plastic parts are no longer stressed by heat. I also reversed the unconventional conversion to E10 bulbs. I got rid of the squeaking noises by using Ballistol on the idler pulleys. And the broken off plastic corner I glued back on with rather toxic Dichlormethane. The potentiometers had only a slight scratching, so nothing has been done here yet. That will be repaired in 30 years.

During cleaning I moved a 78XX voltage regulator with heat sink too much. This caused a hairline crack to form next to the solder joint and of course the receiver stopped running. But the fault was quickly found and fixed.

There was also a bit of family history involved, as the unit traveled with my girlfriend’s family to Buenos Aires in the late 70s. After a few years there and at least one repair, the receiver came back to Germany as part of the family. A sticker of the service workshop “Maxwell Electronica” still testifies to the stay in Argentina. At least Google Maps still finds the company at the given address.

The workshop apparently repaired the scale lighting and adapted instead of the pilot bulbs incandescent lamps with E10 base. They had too much power and the plastic parts got too warm. Fortunately, the resulting discoloration can only be seen from behind.

But now the photos, without comment. First the initial state and part two with pictures after the repair.