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Home | First message in thread | Previous messageLooks like I fixed the problem with the Sony STR SE501 Stereo Unit. The problem was cracked/cold solder joints on the Main Board. Removing the Main Board, I inspected the bottom for cracked or cold solder joints which would cause the intermittent signal loss/relays going off. Sure enough, there were approximately 12 cracked/cold solder joints. The problem areas were the relay solder connections to the Main Board -and- the RCA jack connections to the Main Board. On mine, only one side/row of solder joints were cracked on both the relays and the RCA connections. Therefore, I oly soldered the ones that were apparently cracked. Here are some suggestions on the repair. If you don't know how to solder, you may want to have it repaired for you but I found it wasn't that bad. Took about 1/2 hour to repair. Un plug unit from wall voltage. 1) Remove all black screws from sides and back of case. 2) Slide black cover back first about one inch and then up (front edge is held down by slide-in tabs from front panel). 3) You will see the Main Board on bottom, a Video Board and DVD Board attached to the back panel (indicated by the yellow and orange RCA Jacks). The DVD (Orange) board stays with the Main Board during removal due to a white plastic standoff which is too troublesome to remove. 4) Remove three gold screws holding down main board. Remove four gold screws holding down silver metal large waffle-like heat sink (note heat sink screws are shorter than all other gold screws). 5) CAREFULLY unplug with slight pull/jiggle the ribbon cables going to the main board and Video and DVD boards. Note: the beige/brown plug ribbon connections on the main board should be left alone (remove the cable from the opposite end, usualy a different board. Some of these ribbon cables come from the front panel area and some from the power supply area. Another comes form the antenna Coax area (be very careful not to bend this one to much as it is fragile). 6) Remove all gold screws from rear panel of unit with the exception of the Coax antenna input module (that can stay attached to back panel) AND the video (yellow) and S-Video modules. 7) Slide power cord holder from back panel cutout. 8) Remove back panel (Video and S-Video boards still attached to back panel). 9) Remove Main Board (DVD board still attached) 10) Using a high power magnifying glass, inspect solder joints on underside of Main Board - pay particular attention to the underside connections of the BLUE relays (RY730, RY740, RY601, RY550, RY560) -AND- the solder joints for the RCA connectors near the back edge of board. Cold/Cracked solder joints may appear as a very slight circle or "crack" line halfway up the solder bubble from which the soldered-in pin protrudes. After a few minutes of inspecting the good solder joints, you should easily be able to spot any bad ones. Inspect the entire board for the cracked solder joints (my guess is the relays and rca connections are the primary touble spots). 11) Farm this task out if you can't solder but not having soldered in a few years - I was able to do it relatively easily taking care not to bridge any PC board connections that were not meant to be bridged (which means you need very very little solder to just touch up the joint - less is more in this scenario). SOLDER the cracked joints with a fine tip soldering iron and electronic solder (from radio shack). Just give the cracked joint a slight touch of heat and solder to cover the crack. It may not look as pretty a the factory job but it should work. 12) Inspect each area you soldered to ensure you did not use too much and bridge any pcb connections. Scrape off any slight solder veins which may have bridged. 13) Reassemble taking care to press straight down on ribbon cable connections.Be especially careful with the RF antenna ribbon/flat cable as it bends easily. (Don't force, inspect any connection pins you suspect may have gotten bent at removal). 14) Test unit. Like I said, this process too about 1/2 hour and was fairly easy. Just make sure to use the correct tools to do the job. Good light, magnifying glass, fine tip soldering iron, decent solder, and careful dissasembly. Good luck - I hope this helps.
14 comments, pages: 1 2 »
Pages: 1 2 »
The information you posted allowed me to repair my Sony STR DE445, a similar model to the SE501. I take computers apart but have never soldered electronics before. The sound on mine had been cutting out after a half hour or so, for about 2 years. I just didn't feel like dumping it in the trash. Finally, a few days ago, I'd bought a new 5.1 home theater receiver for $350, but, before setting it up, I did a little more searching and found your post. It was interesting, because I thought finding a badly soldered pin would be too improbable, without special equipment. Goodguys instructions are sound and worked for me as well. It seemed impossible to predict when it would drop and first I thought it was heat related but I got past that because the center channel would drop when I switched between speakers A/B. After opening the unit up, I could not find any suspicious solder joints so I re-soldered all the connections on the four blue relays and the unit seems to be working just like new. Thanks so much for posting this. Goodguys instructions are sound and worked for me as well. It seemed impossible to predict when it would drop and first I thought it was heat related but I got past that because the center channel would drop when I switched between speakers A/B. After opening the unit up, I could not find any suspicious solder joints so I re-soldered all the connections on the four blue relays and the unit seems to be working just like new. Thanks so much. Thanks for posting this information. I have the same receiver and had the same problem. Followed your instructions and now the problem is gone. No more dropped audio in the middle of a movie. As your instructions suggested, all the cold solder joints (that I could find) were in either the relays or the RCA jacks. I touched up each one with some new solder and it's been working great for several days now. THANKS for posting! I was having the exact same problem. I touched up the solder job ad it WORKS!!! Thank you SO MUCH!! Thank you so much for posting this information!!! I did exactly as you said, and the speakers are no longer cutting out. The stereo is working perfectly. I'm glad I took an electronics class in high school and learned to solder. I never thought this would work. But it really really worked. Thanks a million. Even though it works now, many a times it goes to Protect mode. So I am keeping the receiver ON all the times. Even though i soldered all the cold solder join, my center speaker still doesn't work. I dont' have any idea about it. Can anyone.......!!! Any idea? thanks SVN I had the same problem with the STR DE445. I used to just walk up and give the thing a smack, and eventually the dropped speakers would come back on. It started with the rear, but after my last move the other channels started to deop. On the 445 there are only 3 blue relays. Touching any one of them would turn off the L/R, Center, or Rear speakers (depending on the one touched). Not having a magnifying glass I went ahead and resoldered all of the connections on each relay. It appears to have worked. Awesome! I don't have experience with solder but I could do it. The only problem was when i turned on the receiver and was shown the message "Protect". But I've reopened, resoldered and when I tested again, everything went well. Very good to hear all speakers on the tone test. THANKS!!!! (Sorry for the english, I'm from Brazil.) Thanks for the detailed instruction for repairing the receiver. It took me a little while, but after resoldering about twenty spots on the motherboard, the rear speakers no longer cut out after a few minutes of use. Now if we can just get Sony to reimburse us for all the time and mental anguish... |
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