6250 help needed

Hi, I am new to the site. I own a Carver 6250 receiver which I purchased new in '88 or '89. It has performed flawlessly driving my Polk SDA's. This year the sound has been dropping out, reducing in volume originally, then dropping out all together. At first, I thought it had something to do with the the Tape switch because when I jiggled it the sound came back. Now that doesn't work. I then switched my speakers from Terminal A to Terminal B and run on the B speaker setting. This solved the problem for about 8 months, but now the sound dropping out is starting to occur again. The dealer I purchased it from actually recommended purchasing a new unit instead of repairing it. Of course they want to make a sale.
Any suggestions for an electronics newbie? I don't really want to tear into the unit, except for maybe cleaning some pots.

Hi, I am new to the site. I own a Carver 6250 receiver which I purchased new in '88 or '89. It has performed flawlessly driving my Polk SDA's. This year the sound has been dropping out, reducing in volume originally, then dropping out all together. At first, I thought it had something to do with the the Tape switch because when I jiggled it the sound came back. Now that doesn't work. I then switched my speakers from Terminal A to Terminal B and run on the B speaker setting. This solved the problem for about 8 months, but now the sound dropping out is starting to occur again. The dealer I purchased it from actually recommended purchasing a new unit instead of repairing it. Of course they want to make a sale.
Any suggestions for an electronics newbie? I don't really want to tear into the unit, except for maybe cleaning some pots.

Hi and welcome to the forum bdhoun.

Carver receivers from that series were often afflicted wth a similar problem. Tell me, was the problem always on both channels at the same time or did it start with only 1 channel? If so, it might be the notorious speaker relay problem. The factory relays tended to pit their contacts because the relays were not quite strong enough for the job. Many times they would just fuse shut resulting in no sound at all.

If you are comfortable with opening the case yourself (and careful where you put your fingers) you should find the 2 relays right at the speaker terminals (2 ice cube sized black or transparent boxes). If they are stuck, tpping the cases with the insulated handle of a screwdriver might just unstick them long enough for you to know that this is the problem. Cleaning the contacts inthese relays is not really recommended as the problem will come back a few days or weeks later, but might get you back in business while you wait for spare parts to arrive.

They should look something like these

Axiom Banana.JPG (227.19 KiB) Viewed 566 times

MXR-130 speaker relays

It sounds like the same thing that happened to me on my pre-amp. The terminal connection cracked/broke losing connection. I have replaced my pre-amp with a Sunfire TGP-III but still intend to send in my pre-amp for repair down the road. If your RCA's were "to tight" like using turbine style RCA's (those are BAD) for breaking connection. Could be something else, but anyway it sounds like you need repair. Bob Carver just opened up A repair shop in Washington $170.00 covers all repair! Search post Bob and Rita opening up repair shop for phone #, or Rolland at Carveraudiorepair.com
Good luck

OBI is the man! That is more than likely your problem.

Thanks for having some feedback already.
THe dropping out in sound / volume was occuring on Channel 1. It was sporadic, and was not a complete dropout. Rather it almost seemed that the unit went into mute and then minutes later the sound would come back. Then dropoff again, then back on. It made it very hard to listen to. When this started on Channel 1, i then switched my speakers to channel 2 and started running the 6250 on channel 2. This seemed to have fixed the problem, but now it is happening on channel 2. Not a complete drop out, but a fairly drastic volume change.

Still think it might be the relays? I would have thought those would drop the volume out completely.

Dave

Thanks for having some feedback already.
THe dropping out in sound / volume was occuring on Channel 1. It was sporadic, and was not a complete dropout. Rather it almost seemed that the unit went into mute and then minutes later the sound would come back. Then dropoff again, then back on. It made it very hard to listen to. When this started on Channel 1, i then switched my speakers to channel 2 and started running the 6250 on channel 2. This seemed to have fixed the problem, but now it is happening on channel 2. Not a complete drop out, but a fairly drastic volume change.

Still think it might be the relays? I would have thought those would drop the volume out completely.

Dave

That pretty much sounds like the problem I'm describing. The sound will cut out either completely or mostly on either the left or right side and come back a few minutes later or after a small vibration from touching a control, lowering the volume or rapping the top of the amp near the speaker relays. It could be conuntless other things, but this has been, by far, the most common problem like this that I have come across on these receivers. And, best of all, it costs you nothing to test.

Welcome bdhoun and if you follow OBI'S advice you will more than likely find your problem

Welcome bdhoun

Welcome bdhoun

Thanks for the warm welcome. I have sent an e-mail to Ontario Audio/Video Service to see what they can do for me. They are located just 5 minutes from my workplace. Any other repair shops in Ontario that anyone can recommend?

Thanks
Dave

Well, I finally received a quote from Ontario Audio Video to repair my receiver. They are changing out the speaker output relays, changing out 8 capacitors, cleaning up the controls, total refurb up to or exceeding specs for $269. Doesn't sound to bad to me. I guess I'll know more when it is time to pick it up. Rick says another week or so for the repair.