I'm a Tube Guy Again - Fisher 500c

[mhardy6647]

Oh, and, @prime minister -- there's always Door Number 2 and Door Number 3.

I suspect you're familiar with the Monty Hall Paradox?

Monty Hall problem - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Actually, I still have a kinda, sorta urge to try to rehab the 500B just because it's different.
The poor little 400 is missing a switch, but I also still have a soft spot in my head heart for 400s, because my first two Fisher rehab experiences were with 400s for others, and I enjoyed both doing the work and hearing the results.

These receivers were/are all very nice hifis -- with a great mid-60s aesthetic to boot!

PS The original source of this triumvirate (to me) is also a member here at HFH -- I won't out him, but he may, or may not, wish to chime in if he sees this post.

 

[mhardy6647]

Belated PS Our first new car, perhaps counterintuitively, was another brand-new GM model, a 1988 Chevy Corsica.
We loved that car and got 188k mostly trouble-free miles out of it while living in three different states. It was comfortable for a growing family, very economical (40 mpg on the highway), reasonably fun to drive with a 5-speed & 4-cyl engine, and comfortable & well-built enough.

The worst problem with it -- after about 10 years, the paint was rather literally peeling off. I kept a roughly 10 cm square sheet of it as a memento mori when we got rid of it in the early 1990s (after 13 years of yeoman service).

 

[GuyK]

...The worst problem with it -- after about 10 years, the paint was rather literally peeling off. I kept a roughly 10 cm square sheet of it as a memento mori when we got rid of it in the early 1990s (after 13 years of yeoman service).

Ahhh, yes, the problem of early water based automotive paints not adhering to the primer. It was not limited to GM products. There were a number of manufacturers that this issue plagued, both foreign and domestic.

 

[mhardy6647]

Ahhh, yes, the problem of early water based automotive paints not adhering to the primer. It was not limited to GM products. There were a number of manufacturers that this issue plagued, both foreign and domestic.

Yup.

 

[JohnVF]

The problem with my '81 Citation was rust. When I'd shut the hatch you'd hear it rain rust and there'd be a red-brown line of dust below the car. It was mechanically reliable, though...but my father did put some sort of switch I'd have to flip a few miles down the road as the temperature sensor was shot and I'd have to manually switch the car from cold to warm. A year into it, my parents felt bad for me having to drive such a ... questionable looking rust bucket? And they surprised me with a 1984 Chrysler Laser which looked a lot better but was actually quite a bit slower and less reliable. Really a lemon...but its the thought that counts. The Citation went to my brother-in-law's brother, whatever that relation is, and soldiered on to well over 200,000 miles.

 

[mhardy6647]

...but my father did put some sort of switch I'd have to flip a few miles down the road as the temperature sensor was shot and I'd have to manually switch the car from cold to warm.

Wait -- you and I are brothers?!?

This is exactly the kind of solution my father would engineer.
Remind me to tell you some time* about the engine repair he effected on the '81 Plymouth Reliant K-car they had.
That vehicle was truly, deeply, and profoundly junk. Its life was nasty, brutish, and short.

PS my parents' batting average with Plymouths was 0 for 2 (a '56 convertible and the aforementioned '81) -- but I digress.
____________
* or not

 

[JohnVF]

Wait -- you and I are brothers?!?

This is exactly the kind of solution my father would engineer.
Remind me to tell you some time* about the engine repair he effected on the '81 Plymouth Reliant K-car they had.
That vehicle was truly, deeply, and profoundly junk. Its life was nasty, brutish, and short.

PS my parents' batting average with Plymouths was 0 for 2 (a '56 convertible and the aforementioned '81) -- but I digress.
____________
* or not

Every Chrysler product my family had over about 20 years, which amounted to 3 cars? 4?, with the exception of a pickup truck that they still have, was a total piece of crap. Hard to say on the pickup as they've put maybe 10,000 miles on it over 20 years. It's like a museum piece.

 

[forkliftman15]

Its life was nasty, brutish, and short.


____________
* or not

I see you invoked Hobbes, sans Calvin. Grateful for my liberal arts education, from Calvin University.

 

[forkliftman15]

And the prognosis from my tech isn't good. He says:

"Not a sound out of the entire unit no matter what input I use. Phono,FM,Tape,Am. No signall on meters for Fm or signal out.



She’s a dead one.



II checked all the tubes – all good readings on all supplied ones.



Time for something better, I think."

I got mine curbside on a cold New England weekend... President's day, actually. Stripped of tubes, knobs, power cord, bottom cover, various shields and covers, and covered in duct tape. The transformers were good, so I rebuilt it, and repopulated it with random knobs. It's expensive, but I do recommend the rebuild kit from Hayseed ham:

Fisher 500-C Re-Cap Kit

Hayseed Hamfest manufactures brand new multi-section can capacitors and re-cap kits for the Fisher 500-C.

hayseedhamfest.com

 

[prime minister]

I got mine curbside on a cold New England weekend... President's day, actually. Stripped of tubes, knobs, power cord, bottom cover, various shields and covers, and covered in duct tape. The transformers were good, so I rebuilt it, and repopulated it with random knobs. It's expensive, but I do recommend the rebuild kit from Hayseed ham:

Fisher 500-C Re-Cap Kit

Hayseed Hamfest manufactures brand new multi-section can capacitors and re-cap kits for the Fisher 500-C.

hayseedhamfest.com

That doesn't seem that awful. And thanks!

 

[marantzfan]

I try my hardest never to power up anyhting as old as a Fisher 500 with the original power supply caps in it. There ultimately is a fair amount of risk to doing this.

You'd want to open up the unit and measure the DC resistance between the B+ and each plate terminal of the output transformer to be sure they are somewhat close to the same value. You could also disconnect one HV lead from the power transformer to test the AC winding voltages.

No signal coming out of the speaker jacks isn't necessarily as big of a problem as blowing fuses. You or a tech will just have to feed in a 60Hz tone from a phone and follow it with a DVM or a scope to see where it drops out. That could be something as silly as a dirty switch that needs cleaning.

Amen to this, it was a switch that caused all my problems with the Scott 340b I redid.

 

[prime minister]

Is there currently an all seeing, all knowing Fisher repair and restoration guru?

 

[Nerdorama]

Dave Gillespie takes on restorations at times, I think. He's one of the most well know "gurus" at AK.
John

 

[prime minister]

Dave Gillespie takes on restorations at times, I think. He's one of the most well know "gurus" at AK.
John

Thanks. I hate the idea of shipping it, but I also hate the idea of it sitting dead.

In the past, I could have taken it to Dan Santoni, who was great and local. Not sure who to turn to now.

 

[mhardy6647]

Thanks. I hate the idea of shipping it, but I also hate the idea of it sitting dead.

In the past, I could have taken it to Dan Santoni, who was great and local. Not sure who to turn to now.

Don't let it become a money pit!
I'd say, first and foremost, assess the health of the transformers. If they're OK, any subsequent investment will make a lot more sense.

 

[JoeThePop]

Don't let it become a money pit!
I'd say, first and foremost, assess the health of the transformers. If they're OK, any subsequent investment will make a lot more sense.

Anytime somebody mentions money pit my brain goes here

 

[JoeThePop]

And there was a nice money pit display for Halloween on Tilson Street this year.

 

[prime minister]

Don't let it become a money pit!
I'd say, first and foremost, assess the health of the transformers. If they're OK, any subsequent investment will make a lot more sense.

That's one of those relative issues though, isn't it?

 

[JoeThePop]

Google is at it again. Anybody want an X-car junkyard gem?

 

[JohnVF]

Google is at it again. Anybody want an X-car junkyard gem?

View attachment 70108

I looked up that article and the best part was that new it started at $6127, the equivalent of $23,469 today. I can't imagine ponying up $24k and getting a rebranded Citation.