Hi there Mike's Radio Repair. I am new to this and am just making a small comment. I had attended school and learned about technology a little. While in school I borrowed a book from the school library with the title "Communications Equipment Repair". I read the whole book whish is about 100 pages or so. I still did not have the confidence to work on electronics gear. After watching the above video I fell more confident to make my own repairs to commuications equipment and doing so more cost effectively than I would have before watching "Basic repairs even you can do. Use your built in tools, your senses." Thank you to Mike's Radio Repair for making this video and posting it to UA-cam and making it available to people like me.😀👍
For those who want to re-cap their own radio, please use good quality capacitors. Nichicon and Panasonic make great caps. Capacitors have also gotten smaller over time which means that you will have the space to replace them with capacitors of a higher voltage rating which will make them last longer. Using cheap or underrated capacitors is one of the most common ways that companies keep the cost of manufacturing down. Capacitors have tolerances. This doesn't just apply to the capacity, it also apples to the voltage rating. Because mobile CB's operate on 13.8 volts, many contain 16 volt caps. Automobile voltages can sometimes reach as high as 14.8 volts when charging the battery, not counting any transients in the system. That's WAY to close to the capacitor voltage rating. If you can fit a 25volt cap in place of a 16 volt cap, you'll extend the life of your radio and won't have to worry about re-capping for a long time. Here's a real-life example of what I'm talking about..... Myself and a lot of my friends ride motorcycles and use "Battery Tender" brand battery maintainers. They work well, but they all eventually fail. Every time one fails, the cause is a cheap 47uF/16V cap. I replace them with 25V caps and never see them again. My only other advice is to buy your caps from Newark, Digikey or Mouser so that you know you are getting genuine parts. Take your time, replace the caps one at a time and watch the polarities. If soldering isn't your thing or you don't feel comfortable inside your radio, take it to a good tech. It will cost you less in the long run if the tech doesn't have to clean up your work before diagnosing the original problem or performing an alignment. Hope that helps. Have fun!
Hi Mike, I really appreciate your videos, I have several radios that needs to be fixed, Your videos are very good learning tools for the public. Thank You 🎙️
Hi Mike, I'm just getting started with tinkering with a small radio, going to get a vote meter tomorrow. + have a old Cobra 25 to super tune. I think you should stay with trouble shooting + repair videos, to me they are definitely hard to beat. Really appreciate the information!! + The tips!!!
Excellent video. I've repaired a few of mine using your advice. I would have wasted a lot of money shipping them out for repairs and as you probably know, not a lot of good techs up here in Canada. Shipping is expensive within Canada and even more to the USA.
The Radio Shop Attitude is probably one of the most important tools. Think you can't fix it and you know what, you probably won't. Have a can do attitude and it's amazing what you can do. Well that and a voltmeter. ;-)
Speaking of fuses... you won't believe some of the things I've seen over the years in CB's, power amps, guitar amps and stereos. (Then again, you probably will.) For example, I've seen blown fuses covered with aluminum foil and pieces if 1/4" copper tubing used in place of fuses. People don't realize when they do this that they turn a $100 repair into a $200 (or more) repair. Even after explaining not to do it anymore, people will do it again and then expect it to be repaired under warranty. You can't fix stupid. I spent 38 years as an RF engineer for the government. I'm retired now and do CB, ham radio and music equipment repair part time to support my other hobbies. I really like your channel. It's enjoyable to watch people that know what they're doing and use common sense when performing repairs. Take care!
Hi Mike hay I've got a Cobra 142 GTL that I got from a fleemarket for a $100 and it powers up but no lights no wair not even ch.display.can you help me out?
i had a little miss hap recently 1 of the wires for a light in my midland13-879B touched ground but my fuse poped quickly i had a 2 amp fuse in it cover says 1.5 i was running off the 120v side
If you diagnose and replace the bad crystal to repair the transmitting and find that it is out of alignment but don't need any of that equipment, what is the point in replacing the crystal if it needs alignment or any other type of repair if none of the other equipment is required.
Starting to delve into car stereo repair, actually just a stack of Jeep Cherokee AM/FM Cassette Players that I have accumulated from online salvage yards and a local one for my 1991 Jeep Cherokee Laredo. As you know, car stereos are just a scaled down version of home stereos so anyway my original 56002467(1991) had a left channel that was going out, so I have been basically taking a chance and hoping these players would be in good playing condition. Well, most of these radios have faulty tape modules so I swapped out the tape modules in two 2467 cases and now have me some rocking tunes. Would like one or two backups on standby so I hope you can help me tackle the issues with some of these players. My original 2467 has a good tape module but bad left channel and another 2467 has a bad right channel and took the good tape module out of this one to put into a good 2467 left/right channel case. Have a 56009004(1992) with slightly low volume with the volume knob maxed out. Need just a little more volume to be ok. Have a 56003019(1990) with a high squeal with no AM/FM reception with faulty tape module and the rest are 56003021(1988) with faulty tape modules. They have a motor that draws in the tape and lowers it into position. None will draw the tape in, so you have to manually push the tape in then you have to pull the tape out with needle nose pliers. You can hear the motors running though. The 3019&3021 have different looking boards and modules so I know not to buy any more of these. If I cannot get these repaired, I will search for two more good 2467 cases for the two good modules in my original 2467 and 9004.
I recapped my radio...I had no idea about values and voltages...I simply bought a capsitor kit for my 148gtl and one cap out one cap in, it was that simple.. then I took itnto the truck stop technician he re aligned it and did some clean up and added channels for me 100 dollars out the door.
Hi there, @MrBrian8749 I am new to this. Do you notice any difference inyour 148gtl's performance after recapping? Did you use higher value voltages on the caps by any chance to prolong component life? Curious😀
No. Manual labor only with small pointy scraping tools. If the glue is on or around a part then remove it and take care of the underside if it seeped under it.
I'm very new to this stuff (old in age) and wish to learn. Could you point me in the right direction to start the learning process and where I should go to purchase the proper tools. There is no rush (on the tools) because I this point I know very little. The good news is that I can recognize a CB when it is labeled that way! LOL
Start out with a good soldering iron such as a weller I build computers for a living and not having a good temp controlled soldering iron will ruin a pc board quick like. Also you don't have to have the fancy desolduring tool he uses a hand actuated vacuum solder sucker will work absolutely fine and there cheap. Get your radios schematics learn how to read them learn what components do inside a radio. That will get you started a decent swr and watt reader will get you in the ballpark. Anything more and your going to start spending some real money on things like an oscilloscope and signal generator and more. Oh and get you a volt meter a good one not harbor freight
This corrosive glue is a new on on me... so are you suggesting that I open all my old Uniden/Cobra/Realistic radios from 1980-1998 and remove any of this glue I see? Replace it with anything?
Mikes radio repar my hobbies are painting pictures 🖼 and listening to shortwave and ssb I have 5 shortwave receivers iam thinking about getting my ham license
i have a uniden washingt can help me out ? i live in western kentucky and i need it worked on.....is there any way you could do this for me ? there is nobody in my area that does this type work ..........thanks eric....
Great video. I decided to do just that and opened up my broken treadmill before carrying it to the curbside for the trash man. Low an d behold, I found 2 bad diodes next to each other om the circuit board. Looks like they got really hot. Researched the internet and found that this board is a common problem at the same location. I tried getting a schematic so I would know what to buy but i was told that Proform will not release it. I have no idea why not. You can get a relpacement board for 189.00 but thought it would be cool to but the diodes in. Just cant find out what to buy...Lol
I did remove them and try and see the numbers with a crappie little magnifying glass I have. I believe one is a sener diode with "c15ph" and a small black one with one gray stripe with "C804, BZV, 47C, 24" of course all that may be miss read. Lol
Julius Canale II Sounds like your working on a MC70 motor controller board. The C15PH is a 1 Watt 15 Volt zener diode. The BZV47C24 is a 2 Watt 24 volt zener diode. Be sure to check the high wattage resistors and the electrolytic capacitors. The resistors are known for failing and taking out the zener diodes.
MikesRadioRepair wow, you're awesome. That's the exact control board I'm working on. I will pick up those parts and check the rest of the board. Thanks again.
Hey there @juanfgonzalez2039! I have read the term Golden screwdriver somewhere beofre with reference to CB radios. Do yu know what the phrase means? Regards, Richard.😀😀
My pet hate is people using more solder thans actually needed. If you have a good clean connection and properly heated. You'll get a good solder join. You dont need a ton of solder to make a good connection.
i see here in north carolina i rather fix my own radios i have all classics an i simply dont trust techs here in north carolina..i have a few trusted amp guys but far as radios cant find one that knows what there doing i ve send them test radios an they cant fix them so i no for sure not to seen them a classic radios hello
Hi there Mike's Radio Repair. I am new to this and am just making a small comment. I had attended school and learned about technology a little. While in school I borrowed a book from the school library with the title "Communications Equipment Repair". I read the whole book whish is about 100 pages or so. I still did not have the confidence to work on electronics gear. After watching the above video I fell more confident to make my own repairs to commuications equipment and doing so more cost effectively than I would have before watching "Basic repairs even you can do. Use your built in tools, your senses." Thank you to Mike's Radio Repair for making this video and posting it to UA-cam and making it available to people like me.😀👍
Mike is always in a good mood...a true working man's friend...thanks
I agree! 😀
I wish you were still making videos, I have learned a lot by watching them. thanks Mike.
For those who want to re-cap their own radio, please use good quality capacitors. Nichicon and Panasonic make great caps. Capacitors have also gotten smaller over time which means that you will have the space to replace them with capacitors of a higher voltage rating which will make them last longer. Using cheap or underrated capacitors is one of the most common ways that companies keep the cost of manufacturing down. Capacitors have tolerances. This doesn't just apply to the capacity, it also apples to the voltage rating. Because mobile CB's operate on 13.8 volts, many contain 16 volt caps. Automobile voltages can sometimes reach as high as 14.8 volts when charging the battery, not counting any transients in the system. That's WAY to close to the capacitor voltage rating. If you can fit a 25volt cap in place of a 16 volt cap, you'll extend the life of your radio and won't have to worry about re-capping for a long time. Here's a real-life example of what I'm talking about..... Myself and a lot of my friends ride motorcycles and use "Battery Tender" brand battery maintainers. They work well, but they all eventually fail. Every time one fails, the cause is a cheap 47uF/16V cap. I replace them with 25V caps and never see them again. My only other advice is to buy your caps from Newark, Digikey or Mouser so that you know you are getting genuine parts. Take your time, replace the caps one at a time and watch the polarities. If soldering isn't your thing or you don't feel comfortable inside your radio, take it to a good tech. It will cost you less in the long run if the tech doesn't have to clean up your work before diagnosing the original problem or performing an alignment. Hope that helps. Have fun!
i realize I'm kind of randomly asking but does anybody know a good website to stream new series online ?
@Cyrus Zaire Flixportal xD
Good advice. May I ask, what can you say about the caps from klodykesmike cap kits?
Hi Mike, I really appreciate your videos, I have several radios that needs to be fixed, Your videos are very good learning tools for the public. Thank You 🎙️
Mikes radio repar you are good at restoring vintage cbs radios and vintage shortwave receivers with ssb
Mike, I really appreciate your help. The videos you make are great, I wish I had more radio savvy, so I could fix more stuff.
Great video. Glad to see more new ones as well. This is one of the few channels that I've subscribed to. I hope that you're doing well Mike.
Nice video, thanks. What do you do with agun on your banch? Shoot the radio when it's beyond repair?
Mike, with your attention to detail and dexterity skills you would make a good surgeon.
He is a surgeon, a radio surgeon.
I like the big round meters on that radio and its a nice looking old vintage radio.
Thanks mike easy tp understand for someone with very little knowledge of electronics
Hi Mike, I'm just getting started with tinkering with a small radio, going to get a vote meter tomorrow. + have a old Cobra 25 to super tune. I think you should stay with trouble shooting + repair videos, to me they are definitely hard to beat. Really appreciate the information!! + The tips!!!
Excellent video. I've repaired a few of mine using your advice. I would have wasted a lot of money shipping them out for repairs and as you probably know, not a lot of good techs up here in Canada. Shipping is expensive within Canada and even more to the USA.
Great video Mike. This shows the young players how to start out. I worked on cb radios for years with nothing other than a volt meter.
The Radio Shop
Attitude is probably one of the most important tools. Think you can't fix it and you know what, you probably won't. Have a can do attitude and it's amazing what you can do. Well that and a voltmeter. ;-)
Thank you Mike
My needle is going to far when transmiting do you know which one is for the needle turn down
Speaking of fuses... you won't believe some of the things I've seen over the years in CB's, power amps, guitar amps and stereos. (Then again, you probably will.) For example, I've seen blown fuses covered with aluminum foil and pieces if 1/4" copper tubing used in place of fuses. People don't realize when they do this that they turn a $100 repair into a $200 (or more) repair. Even after explaining not to do it anymore, people will do it again and then expect it to be repaired under warranty. You can't fix stupid. I spent 38 years as an RF engineer for the government. I'm retired now and do CB, ham radio and music equipment repair part time to support my other hobbies. I really like your channel. It's enjoyable to watch people that know what they're doing and use common sense when performing repairs. Take care!
wjustic1
Yep, unfortunately there's no repair for stupid. I sometimes feel like I'm talking to a box of rocks.
Hi Mike hay I've got a Cobra 142 GTL that I got from a fleemarket for a $100 and it powers up but no lights no wair not even ch.display.can you help me out?
I almost bought a Uniden Washington but the meter didn’t move on the dead key any ideas? How do I find out where your shop is?
Thank You for sharing your Tech knowledge👍👍♥
i had a little miss hap recently 1 of the wires for a light in my midland13-879B touched ground but my fuse poped quickly i had a 2 amp fuse in it cover says 1.5 i was running off the 120v side
If you diagnose and replace the bad crystal to repair the transmitting and find that it is out of alignment but don't need any of that equipment, what is the point in replacing the crystal if it needs alignment or any other type of repair if none of the other equipment is required.
Starting to delve into car stereo repair, actually just a stack of Jeep Cherokee AM/FM Cassette Players that I have accumulated from online salvage yards and a local one for my 1991 Jeep Cherokee Laredo. As you know, car stereos are just a scaled down version of home stereos so anyway my original 56002467(1991) had a left channel that was going out, so I have been basically taking a chance and hoping these players would be in good playing condition. Well, most of these radios have faulty tape modules so I swapped out the tape modules in two 2467 cases and now have me some rocking tunes. Would like one or two backups on standby so I hope you can help me tackle the issues with some of these players. My original 2467 has a good tape module but bad left channel and another 2467 has a bad right channel and took the good tape module out of this one to put into a good 2467 left/right channel case. Have a 56009004(1992) with slightly low volume with the volume knob maxed out. Need just a little more volume to be ok. Have a 56003019(1990) with a high squeal with no AM/FM reception with faulty tape module and the rest are 56003021(1988) with faulty tape modules. They have a motor that draws in the tape and lowers it into position. None will draw the tape in, so you have to manually push the tape in then you have to pull the tape out with needle nose pliers. You can hear the motors running though. The 3019&3021 have different looking boards and modules so I know not to buy any more of these. If I cannot get these repaired, I will search for two more good 2467 cases for the two good modules in my original 2467 and 9004.
I recapped my radio...I had no idea about values and voltages...I simply bought a capsitor kit for my 148gtl and one cap out one cap in, it was that simple.. then I took itnto the truck stop technician he re aligned it and did some clean up and added channels for me 100 dollars out the door.
Hi there, @MrBrian8749 I am new to this. Do you notice any difference inyour 148gtl's performance after recapping? Did you use higher value voltages on the caps by any chance to prolong component life? Curious😀
Mikes radio repar the owner am /SSB 40 channel CB radio is awesome
Mikes radio repar iam thinking of getting a hand held am/ fm ssb 40 channel CB radio
Is there a solvent to get rid of the corrosive glue?
No. Manual labor only with small pointy scraping tools. If the glue is on or around a part then remove it and take care of the underside if it seeped under it.
I can’t imagine doing that lol 😂
Excellent information! Thanks for the tips. Now subbed!
I will send it to you
I'm very new to this stuff (old in age) and wish to learn. Could you point me in the right direction to start the learning process and where I should go to purchase the proper tools. There is no rush (on the tools) because I this point I know very little. The good news is that I can recognize a CB when it is labeled that way! LOL
Start out with a good soldering iron such as a weller I build computers for a living and not having a good temp controlled soldering iron will ruin a pc board quick like. Also you don't have to have the fancy desolduring tool he uses a hand actuated vacuum solder sucker will work absolutely fine and there cheap. Get your radios schematics learn how to read them learn what components do inside a radio. That will get you started a decent swr and watt reader will get you in the ballpark. Anything more and your going to start spending some real money on things like an oscilloscope and signal generator and more. Oh and get you a volt meter a good one not harbor freight
This corrosive glue is a new on on me... so are you suggesting that I open all my old Uniden/Cobra/Realistic radios from 1980-1998 and remove any of this glue I see? Replace it with anything?
Mike when you are my age the shaky hands would not let me do stuff like this
Mikes radio repar my hobbies are painting pictures 🖼 and listening to shortwave and ssb I have 5 shortwave receivers iam thinking about getting my ham license
Is there a interal fuse in a radio 😮😮😮
i have a uniden washingt can help me out ? i live in western kentucky and i need it worked on.....is there any way you could do this for me ? there is nobody in my area that does this type work ..........thanks eric....
eric chilton His channel is pretty much abandoned, for some reason...
You are the scraping dude 😂😂😂😂
I have an old radio, it has a weird problem. the power cord needs attached to the board It is a twenty five 10
Great video. I decided to do just that and opened up my broken treadmill before carrying it to the curbside for the trash man. Low an d behold, I found 2 bad diodes next to each other om the circuit board. Looks like they got really hot. Researched the internet and found that this board is a common problem at the same location. I tried getting a schematic so I would know what to buy but i was told that Proform will not release it. I have no idea why not. You can get a relpacement board for 189.00 but thought it would be cool to but the diodes in. Just cant find out what to buy...Lol
Julius Canale II
Can you see any numbers or letters printed on them?
I did remove them and try and see the numbers with a crappie little magnifying glass I have. I believe one is a sener diode with "c15ph" and a small black one with one gray stripe with "C804, BZV, 47C, 24" of course all that may be miss read. Lol
I could send you a picture of them.
Julius Canale II
Sounds like your working on a MC70 motor controller board. The C15PH is a 1 Watt 15 Volt zener diode. The BZV47C24 is a 2 Watt 24 volt zener diode. Be sure to check the high wattage resistors and the electrolytic capacitors. The resistors are known for failing and taking out the zener diodes.
MikesRadioRepair wow, you're awesome. That's the exact control board I'm working on. I will pick up those parts and check the rest of the board. Thanks again.
Golden screwdriver 🪛 ✨️
Hey there @juanfgonzalez2039! I have read the term Golden screwdriver somewhere beofre with reference to CB radios. Do yu know what the phrase means? Regards, Richard.😀😀
Nice pistol on your bench...😎🤙
Can I get a phone number for a radio to get repaired?
Mike do you still do repairs?
I need to send u a radio mike..retired larry..
bigger fuse gets more output right ;)
Hmmm, I wonder if those "...cringing techs" are the same ones who mounted the mods we saw earlier today inside the plastic bags? ;-)
My pet hate is people using more solder thans actually needed. If you have a good clean connection and properly heated. You'll get a good solder join. You dont need a ton of solder to make a good connection.
Gun on the bench, PACE desoldering equipment, I approve.
thats clean
I was wondering what type revolver is in that suede holster... Colt or Smith???
Just another tool!
:-)
+mariodesmo
Charter Arms Bulldog 44 Special.
Interesting
i see here in north carolina i rather fix my own radios i have all classics an i simply dont trust techs here in north carolina..i have a few trusted amp guys but far as radios cant find one that knows what there doing i ve send them test radios an they cant fix them so i no for sure not to seen them a classic radios hello
Have you ever had a radio you wanted to point that holstered weapon at :-) lol lol lol
+Clark Wimberly
LOL, all to frequently.
Hahahahahaha
Just don't find the capacitors lol
That is not a firearm on his desk that’s a special drilling equipment it does not identify as a gun
😮😂
LOVE your insight and invaluable experience! PLEASE STOP CUTTING OFF YOUR SENTENCES AND REPEATING YOURSELF BY SAYING "AND AGAIN..."!!!!!
Channel 9 channel switch = poo
FEWER WORDS , MORE IS LESS
I would pay $$ if you would stop cutting off your sentences. Please finish sentence before moving onto next idea!!!!