A Neglected BPL MAKE 2-IN-1 Model Black Pearl Brought Back To Life
This set belonged to a new customer, staying around 40 KMs away from my home and came to me through my neighbor who is his relative. The set was in a very bad shape and reportedly lying unused in the attic for a very long time. He requested me to look into the possibility of restoring it to working condition. I took interest as I worked in BPL from 1976 to 1995 and there was some attachment still remaining in the mind. The knobs of the tape were stuck solid and did not budge. One knob was already found broken. The function switch and band switch also refused to move! Even the graphic equalizer knobs were stuck. After cleaning the outside to the best extent possible, I managed to unscrew the five screws from the back cover and forced open the cassette door, as the eject button was stuck. Then dismantled the whole boards and did a thorough cleaning of inside to the extent possible. Then brought it to my service table. The dust collected over the years due to varying weather conditions had more or less become a part of its mold!
The Tape mechanism was rusted and broken in a few places and the springs were found missing. None of the switches functioned in spite of lubricating it well. So, I decided to restore only the radio part. After lubricating all the switches and slowly moving, almost all the switches became free. The function switch was found already broken and stuck with glue, which became worse in the process. A few screws were also missing inside the set. The telescopic antenna rod (TRA) was found hanging, with a crude pin inserted to hold in place of its original screw and copper washers, which I provided in the restoration process. Having put all these efforts, I applied power and found that it still had life, which gave me a hope. I checked the capacitors for ESR as well as values at random and found these also to be OK. The capacitors used were that of Keltron, known for its quality and long life. Then retouched the entire board from one endto the other without leaving any point untouched. In some places, I had to remove the solder and apply fresh. Let us have a look at some pictures, which might sooth our mind and recover from the dismay created by explanation of the pathetic condition of the set.
I used a self made SMPS fan as fume extractor so that I did not have to inhale the harmful solder+flux fumes. Here you can see a couple of pictures of the set up and how the board looked after retouch half way through with a contrast of how it was before the retouch.
I am sure some of you who are humor minded might say ‘The fan matched the set for dust collection!’ (LOL) Yes, this also was seldom used and I pick it up only whenever a large board has to be retouched from one end to the other. The weather here was good enough to work without the ceiling fan running, as it might hinder re-soldering touch work. After this, I cleaned the board thoroughly using IPA and brushed it neat and clean.
Looked for any man made short using lens and found such joints in six places! After ensuring that it was safe to apply power and check and see the outcome, I connected the mains cord and switched on. I was so happy to listen to the Radio functioning so well to the extent that it worked better than the new model Radios. All the three bands were working superbly without connecting an external antenna to the TRA.
After listening to FM music for a prolonged time and enjoying it very well, I fixed the cabinet back and just fixed the mechanism and cassette door without connecting the wires inside. I had to really struggle to place the front cabinet as the mechanism knobs were broken and not in proper alignment with the switches. After fixing the back screws, I put a few tapes to keep the knobs in place and applied Fevibond to hold them in place.
From the above picture, you would notice that the dust collection could not be removed well, despite my efforts. Though the surface looked clean on applying the cleaning liquids, it returned to this condition when the cleaner dried up. But in performance, there was nothing to beat this set! I forgot to mention that I re-fixed the function knob using superglue and Fevibond and advised the customer not to use it. Anyhow there was no need, as the tape section was closed and the customer was not going to use the Line In.
Mission got accomplished as the set survived with minimum unavoidable handicaps! Satisfaction of a different kind found its path to the collection bag!
This article was prepared for you by Parasuraman Subramanian from India. He is 74 years old and has more than 30 years’ experience in handling antique equipment like Valve Radio, Amps, Reel Tape Recorders and currently studying latest tech-classes conducted by Kerala State Electronics Technicians’ Association. He has done graduation in BBA degree, private diploma in Radio Engineering and retired as MD of a USA company. Presently working as Consultant to Hospital and other institutions.
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