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New to the forum but not Carver.


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Hi all! After lurking here and reading many threads, it's time to say hello. I bought my Carver system new in 1984 and ran it up until a few years ago when it started to have some issues. I have an M1.5t amp, C-1 preamp and a TX-11 tuner attached to a pair of Celestion SL6 speakers. Most of the problems were caused by dirty switches and pots on the C-1 which were taken care of with DeoxIT which seems to be a lot better than the regular contact cleaner I've used in the past. The sound quality has definitely deteriorated since it was new and I joined this forum to get ideas on repaired and upgrades. I was unaware that Carver equipment had such a following to this day and there is such an active community involved with keeping this equipment working at or above it's original quality until I found this site. I also recently picked up a dead TFM-45 amp to play with. I learned to solder at 6 helping my dad built Heathkits and and built my first Heathkit transistor radio at 9. I haven't been doing much audio electronic work recently, but do repair a lot of wiring malpractice Mini Coopers. I repair them for a living and I cringe at the lack of knowledge that is applied to automotive electrical systems. Anyway, that's me. 🙂

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Welcome to the Carversite. I joined this site back in March of this year after getting my MXR150 repaired by @Nahash5150 and I too seen the Carver following and didnt even know it was here. I have been in OCCD mode since then and I am enjoying it all the way. 

 

Lots of wonderful people here with tons of knowledge that will help you in your journey. Good luck with the refurbish of the 45 and keep us posted through your progress. We always like to hear and help. 

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Hello SRGresham, and welcome to thecarversite.com. We're glad you're hear. ;) There is a lot of information here, much technical know how, and a pretty good bunch of folks that are happy to help.

 

I think you'll fit in here quite well. Many of us here are long term Carver owners. I bought my first Carver amp in 1983, an M-400t, and then another a couple of years later. They served me well. You'll also read about the techs here cringing at repair malpractice. :D 


Once you get to Novice status, please consider uploading some pics of your gear in the Members Systems area. We all like pics of all kinds of audio gear.


In the meantime, kick your shoes off, turn up the music, and welcome aboard.

 

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16 minutes ago, Sk1Bum said:

Hello SRGresham, and welcome to thecarversite.com. We're glad you're hear. ;) There is a lot of information here, much technical know how, and a pretty good bunch of folks that are happy to help.

 

I think you'll fit in here quite well. Many of us here are long term Carver owners. I bought my first Carver amp in 1983, an M-400t, and then another a couple of years later. They served me well. You'll also read about the techs here cringing at repair malpractice. :D 


Once you get to Novice status, please consider uploading some pics of your gear in the Members Systems area. We all like pics of all kinds of audio gear.


In the meantime, kick your shoes off, turn up the music, and welcome aboard.

 

giphy.gif

 

I really want to upload a picture of the big power supply caps. There is a 4500µF zip tied and connected on top of the two original 9000µF caps. Does that even work? 🙂

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25 minutes ago, SRGresham said:

I really want to upload a picture of the big power supply caps. There is a 4500µF zip tied and connected on top of the two original 9000µF caps. Does that even work? 🙂

 

You should be able to upload pics now. :D

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1 hour ago, Sk1Bum said:

 

You should be able to upload pics now. :D

Thanks! The amp is at work so I won't be able to take a picture until Monday. I knew something was up before I took the top off when I saw a big blue cap through the grille. The caps on the power supply board also are no longer glued to the bottom of the chassis and the amp boards were popped out of the molex connectors bowing the power supply board. After resetting the boards in the connectors I slowly brought op the AC power to 120v to see if the fuse would blow or something would smoke. Nothing happened so I measured the rail voltages which were about half of what they should have been. I pulled the amp boards and measured again and got 124v on the high rail. The other rail voltages were about double, also, but I didn't write the down. I know I saw something about low voltage in the troubleshooting section of the manual so I'll look at that next.

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Welcome.jpg.80353bcdacc4fab2c2e3721ef5dee514.jpg

 

Welcome to thee site, @SRGresham!  Glad you found us- you are definitely in  the right place for keeping your Carver gear working great.

 

clearly, there's no point in warning you of  the perils of OCCD -  that TFM-45  makes it cleat you're way  past saving!  :D

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2 minutes ago, johnrotten said:

Does it parallel both high rail caps? +118  and -118 is 236v potential.

I haven't gotton that far yet. The high rail is about 60v and the others are about half of what's expected. I've only spent about a half hour on the amp so far.

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3 minutes ago, Brian_at_HHH said:

Welcome.jpg.80353bcdacc4fab2c2e3721ef5dee514.jpg

 

Welcome to thee site, @SRGresham!  Glad you found us- you are definitely in  the right place for keeping your Carver gear working great.

 

clearly, there's no point in warning you of  the perils of OCCD -  that TFM-45  makes it cleat you're way  past saving!  :D

Yeah, I forgot to mention the TX-12 tuner, too. 🙂

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3 minutes ago, Maddmaster said:

Welcome to a great group of people. Great information sharing and knowledge base here.  There’s always room in the rabbit hole we all are in called OCCD.  😂😂😂😂😂

Yes, I can see it in all the posts I've been reading. I've read almost all the technical posts back to 2014. 🙄

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7 minutes ago, SRGresham said:

Yes, I can see it in all the posts I've been reading. I've read almost all the technical posts back to 2014. 🙄

I almost feel like I know most of you from the posts I've read. I recognize all the names that have posted in this thread so far. 😀

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Welcome aboard @SRGresham!!!  Glad you found us here, and as has already been mentioned previously, it appears you've already encountered OCCD.  There's no stopping it now, you're already well on your way into the wonderful world of OCCD!!! 

 

I always admired the Phase Linear gear as a youth reading about their awesome power output specs.  I also admired Carver gear back in the 80's, but little did I know I would be so captivated as I have been by my repaired, re-capped and refurbished M-1.5t paired with a C-1 I completed the BillD on.  Wow! Has it ever been a fabulous, abundant, seemingly endless source of clean, clear power for a daily dose of aural bliss for me.  

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