Burial in the back woods?

[burdette]

Although I'd given up on this... thought I'd throw it out just once and ask....

We have ... uh... (boo hoo) had two Onkyo TX-84 receivers in the house. I bought mine new in 1989 and my girlfriend (now wife) bought one used a couple of years after that. One of them.. not sure which although I could figure it out... died a couple of months ago. Wifey called me at work and asked why the stereo didn't work... I (what good luck!) found a blown internal fuse (original equipment), replaced it, and the unit failed the smoke test, i.e. turned it on and *poooof* a little swirl of smoke issued from something on one of the boards (took me back to my Design III days in EE school). It now fails to drive speakers although I can't be sure where exactly the problem is in the signal path...

A couple of estimates put repair over $100 (and that was just guessing based on 'average' parts cost), which is what led me to instead pay $140 (negotiated down from about $190) to CC for a DD receiver. On the bright side.. we're thrilled with our minimalist-expense transfer to DD sound and being able to take advantage of our DVDs.

My question concerns repair... in a perfect world, I'd find a hobbiest willing to look at this thing for parts cost only... anyone.. anyone... once I got the bug to buy a new receiver, I thought I'd keep it for parts and between the two TX-84s, keep our secondary system going for a few more years.

This is my baby... sold my ENTIRE system in college just to buy this thing new at the time.. I can't imagine just chucking it into the trash. I don't know if the parts idea is even workable...

So, just looking for gut reactions, if anyone has an opinion.

[HBombToo]

If only there were take back... after my carver blew, I through a temper tantrum and trashed it. "I really screwed the pooche!"

I wish I would have tucked it away.

[TroyD]

sometimes you just got to let go man.......

BDT

[RuSsMaN]

How heavy is it? Do you have a boat? Might make a good anchor.....

[nadams]

If you've got the space in the attic... thow it up there. You ususally end up wishing you did anyway. That's why I kept the pair of 8" subs out of an old pair of MA-3DX's.... just in case I someday want to rebuild them and fix them up nice. Of course, depending on what's dead in the receiver, it may become harder to find the parts to fix it.......


DooD

[TroyD]

You know, generally, I find that if I don't use something within a year, I ditch it. I've found all the things I've ever saved because I might use / fix / whatever later NEVER happens. Sorta like the lovely Wendi, she will save a half used package of paper Christmas napkins for NEXT Christmas. Of course when next Christmas rolls around, she will want a different design. I got a TON of **** like that.

Cut the chord, throw the **** out.

BDT

[RuSsMaN]

At least find a good parking garage to hurl it off of, get some entertainment value out of it at least.....

[gidrah]

Sometimes little gnomes come in and repair stuff. Usually they break stuff that was previously fine, but you never know.

Do you still have both receivers? what's the problem with the other one?

I bought a Dynaco only to find out that one side is fried. It works, but has excessive noise at the higher fq's. I bought another that works good. Some day I'll use one to help me troubleshoot the other. Unfortunately I've never found a calender that lists 'someday'. Just Monday-Sunday and their always booked.

[meestercleef]

Just a thought--do voc trng schools use stuff like this for their students? I mean, it's not the latest equipment, but at least it's something to work on. I know that some people have donated old beaters for auto repair students to work on, so maybe there's something similar for electronics. In my town, there's one dealer who will sometimes pay a small sum for stuff that he thinks he can fix up & resell (I'm not talking junk dealer, but a long-time quality a/v guy)--maybe there's someone like that in your area. Just taking a stab at ways you could help others or maybe get enuff dough for a 12-pack, rather than just tossing it.

[joe logston]

donate to the good will they have people that can repair it

[mantis]

I gotta go with Troy on this one.
get it out......junk is junk.....saving it for another day most of the time doen't come around.I used to have a stock pile of gear waiting for me to use once again.Teh again never happens so I get it all out.I have more room now.

[jcaut]

I keep everything!

Seriously though, I've had pretty good luck repairing stuff (except for a #@$%^ minidisc deck I'm working on now:supermad: ) . Have you attempted any troubleshooting on it? Might not hurt to poke around in there with a volt meter and see if you run across something. Did you happen to see what it was that smoked? If I had to guess I'd say that the trouble is likely in the power supply. It might be something as simple as a bad diode or shorted capacitor. (I re-read your post--- If I'm understanding that it now lights up, but won't make any sound, then that's not it..)

Jason