You Never Know What You'll Find At A Yardsale

Of course I go to yard and garage sales looking for the elusive Pioneer SX-1250 in perfect condition for $20!  And of course it has yet to happen.  I have found some interesting things in my many wasted Saturday morning hunting expeditions.  So, you you are bringing a treasure home and wonder what to do next.  I have described below the procedure I follow when checking out yard sale purchases.  The intent is to determine quickly is this a purchase worth of the investment of my time or headed to a new home at Goodwill.  This is not a comprehensive guide as the type of hifi gear (receiver, amp, or preamp) may involve specific checks.

• Visual inspection:  I tend to focus on the power cord and fuse to see if they are intact.  If the power cord has been repaired it is an indication this has come from a donation center where they typically cut the cord if it does not power up.  While family pets can also damage cords it unfortunately tends to end badly.  Any sign of power cord repair suggestion a cautious approach to powering up the find.   If there is a chassis mounted fuse I then check to see if it is open.  The absence of a fuse or worse yet a bypassed fuse is a strong indicator something bad has happened that will require care to test without risking further damage.

• Cleaning inside:  Next I remove the cabinet cover to see the internal condition.  For tube gear it is extremely common to find a lot of dirt around all the components that get hot in operation.  I have also found animal droppings, nicotine deposits, and hidden drugs in some particularly crusty units.  Some care is suggested as some things in these old pieces can be toxic or trigger cleric reactions.  At this point I typically have the unit being evaluated outside and use compressed air to clear as much of the surface dirt as possible.  It is also a good idea to use gloves as old electronics may have cadmium white powder on the surface of the chassis - again toxic.  I also look to see if water has been present - also a very bad sign.  Some manufacturers located fuse inside and will be checked at this step.  Pioneer in particular seems to always hide at lest one soldered in fuse in their high power receivers.

• Internal component inspection:  This step does not involve test equipment only your eyes.  What I look for is pc mounted components that show sign of heat stress or out right failure.  This would include dark discoloration of circuit boards or parts. Burned resistors, or capacitors that have expired and leaked electrolyte fill on to the circuit board.  I also look for signs of corrosive glue particularly on Sansui and Harman Kardon gear.  If I don’t find obvious failed components I replace any open fuses and prepare to power up the unit.

• Initial power up:  First a warning.  Powering up vintage electronics that may have set for many years may cause something to fail dramatically including starting a fire.  I highly suggest you have a small chemical fire extinguisher near at hand and a quick way to pull the power if bad thing (smoke or fire) start happening.  I use a dim bulb test setup to power up initial with a 100 watt incandescent bulb.  This (usually) prevents damage to the unit if there is a short in the power supply.  If the bulb stays bright after 10 seconds or so from turning the power on then it is time to turn it off and start looking for the shorted component(s).  This is the point where evaluation becomes a repair exercise.  Note that this is a general guideline for solid state equipment.  Tube gear will draw high current for several minutes and requires a Variac too slowly bring the gear up.

• Assuming the piece of equipment has powered up without emitting magic smoke, catching fire, or blowing fuse the next step is to test the basic operation.  This depends on the type of equipment obviously as you are looking to determine does it work at least to some degree as the manufacturer intended.

Yes, I confute to look for the elusive holy grail of vintage hifi.  I believe the odds are better than playing the lottery.

By Tim White