Hey Pcolamike,
I've been goofin around with radios for years and the biggest problem with any old radio is usually the capacitors.
When you hear someone say something about a tube radio not working, you'll usually hear,"..probably needs a new tube". More often it's the capacitors.
However, we're talking about solid state (transistor) radios here. It's the same thing with old solid state radios. The early electrolytic capacitors ("caps" for short) were made from layers of paper dielectric wound around with layers of aluminum and filled with electrolyte and housed in a cardboard tube. Well, over time, the electrolyte dries out and the cap loses it value and in some cases, can actually short out and cause even more problems. When you turn on an old radio or amplifier and hear a hum..it's usually bad electrolytic caps. There are also "wax" caps too..these are just regular non electrolytic types. They are covered in wax, hence the name, and they deteriorate too and they should be replaced as well. Those old paper and wax caps are usually found in tube radios and very early solid state radios. There are other types of caps in there too..but most of the time they are ok, but should be checked.
I sure blabbed on about that stuff huh? heh
I haven't worked on a car radio in years and with the temperature extremes, I feel a little more attention needs to be had when looking over the components.
The good thing is that modern electrolytic caps and are in metal housings and are much more stable and have a longer life as do the regular caps.
On a cautionary note, for you that might want to tinker with some of this stuff. Capacitors store electrical energy and can for quite a long period of time and when shorted out, it will release all it's stored energy immediately! Some can knock your butt on the floor and the bigger ones can kill you. So, if you don't know what you're doing..better take it to someone else or take an electronics course at your local community college. At least read up on this before you start poking a screwdriver around in something.
With an old solid state 12 volt radio, you should be ok if you feel like goofin with it. Just take it out and let it sit for a day or two and then go for it.
Remember the polarity of electrolytic capacitors when you replace them..positive to positive and negative to negative and replace the caps or any other part with like values (ie.. replace a .047 cap with a .047 cap).. Take your time, replace them one at a time and a good idea is to get your digital camera out and take pictures before you start replacing things.
If any of you read this all the way through and made heads or tails out of my rambling....that's good..then tell me what I was talking about so I'll know.
heh just kidding..
Have fun..
"rr"
