Asi radio repairs

[David T]

Has anyone had any recent experience getting their ASI radio repaired and by whom? My radio won't work anymore on AM, FM is weak, and the sound cuts in and out on one of the channels. I am thinking of sending it out over the winter for repairs. I am guessing all of the caps have aged to death and need to be replaced and the radio realigned. I also probably need all new rubber belts and pulleys for the tape drive.

[Bikercmbc]

check with sdg3205, he has been refurbishing both the craigs and asi radios, I was talking to him about mine and he said the asi radio parts are hard to come by.

[DMCH James]

Has anyone had any recent experience getting their ASI radio repaired and by whom? My radio won't work anymore on AM, FM is weak, and the sound cuts in and out on one of the channels. I am thinking of sending it out over the winter for repairs. I am guessing all of the caps have aged to death and need to be replaced and the radio realigned. I also probably need all new rubber belts and pulleys for the tape drive.

Ray's Auto Stereo in Sacramento has done both Craig and ASI's for me. I have sent them all the schematics and parts lists.

James

[David T]

Ray's Auto Stereo in Sacramento has done both Craig and ASI's for me. I have sent them all the schematics and parts lists.

James

Thanks James, I have a Service Manual but it is good to know that you are recomending him. I will get in touch with him in a little while, I am 3 hours ahead of them.

[David T]

Ray's Auto Stereo in Sacramento has done both Craig and ASI's for me. I have sent them all the schematics and parts lists.

James

I guess we are going to have to find another place to go to. Larry passed on 12/2/13. His funeral was this past Saturday. I hope you didn't have anything out for repairs James! Got another vender?

[micmak]

Didn’t someone comment a while ago about having found a radio repair shop that would upgrade an ASI or a Craig to have a USB port?

.......Mike.......

[David T]

Didn’t someone comment a while ago about having found a radio repair shop that would upgrade an ASI or a Craig to have a USB port?

.......Mike.......

Just about any radio shop can do that, it is just adding an adapter into the circuitry. Repairing a radio is another story. It takes a higher level of skill to do that.

[micmak]

Oh! Ok. I didn’t realize it was a simple task to install a USB port onto these radios. Sorry I guess I didn't really make my point very clearly which is that someone had found a shop that was willing and able to repair the radios in addition to upgrading them. I just don’t remember who.

.....Mike.....

[sdg3205]

USB? Yeah, maybe an AUX but not USB. I don't think the Ol' ASI reads 1's and 0's!

David - I have an ASI all refurbed and ready to go. Even has an AUX IP. We could talk a buy/swap via PM if you like.

If you want to keep your own unit I can refer you to my guy.

Cheers.

[micmak]

USB? Yeah, maybe an AUX but not USB. I don't think the Ol' ASI reads 1's and 0's!

David - I have an ASI all refurbed and ready to go. Even has an AUX IP. We could talk a buy/swap via PM if you like.

If you want to keep your own unit I can refer you to my guy.

Cheers.

I would have thought the same thing, Dave. But someone on here a while back said that they found someone who had installed a USB port on theirs.

......Mike......

[NightFlyer]

I would have thought the same thing, Dave. But someone on here a while back said that they found someone who had installed a USB port on theirs.

......Mike......

Must have also installed a D/A converter then. :smile:

[sapphirexae]

Our original stereo works perfectly except the cassette function. Anyone else experience that and have any suggestions on a fix?

Thanks!!!

[sdg3205]

Must have also installed a D/A converter then. :smile:

Apogee?!

[sdg3205]

Our original stereo works perfectly except the cassette function. Anyone else experience that and have any suggestions on a fix?

Thanks!!!

Probably the drive bands

[David T]

James from DMCH sent me a list of repair stations. On it was BC Electronics in PA. I called and spoke to them. I will probably send my radio out to them. Now I have to remove it from the car!

[wrkey]

How much are the estimates to repair? I am going to pull my radio soon and depending upon cost for someone else to do it, I may attempt the basic refurb myself. My radio works but lost of distortion and such. I suspect it's the old caps and I am thinking I might be able to do that myself. Also the cassette doesn't work and I'm pretty sure it's the drive band(s). Again something I think I can fix.

But then again, I won't be able to tell until I open it up. If the vendor repair option is priced right, I'd just send it in... provided the turn-around time isn't too much.

[David T]

How much are the estimates to repair? I am going to pull my radio soon and depending upon cost for someone else to do it, I may attempt the basic refurb myself. My radio works but lost of distortion and such. I suspect it's the old caps and I am thinking I might be able to do that myself. Also the cassette doesn't work and I'm pretty sure it's the drive band(s). Again something I think I can fix.

But then again, I won't be able to tell until I open it up. If the vendor repair option is priced right, I'd just send it in... provided the turn-around time isn't too much.

From many the quote is flat-rate around $150 plus shipping. Typically you need to replace most, if not all, of the power caps and many filter caps. The radio needs to be aligned and you can't do that without a lot of expensive bench equipment. All of the rubber transport parts probably need to be replaced. There are also probably some cold solder joints that have cracked and need to be found and reheated too. Maybe even a failed component. It isn't worth it to do yourself. You might want to wait for me to have mine done and see how it turns out before you decide to send yours out. Don't waste ANY money fixing the radio if you haven't (or will but haven't gotten around to it yet) replaced all 4 speakers. The foam on the cones of the original speakers is gone and until you replace them, no radio can sound good. I am having my radio fixed for originality but someone else may want things added like an aux input or more power. That costs more.

[David T]

Sent the radio out to BC Electronics. I could not find what price an ASI radio is going for these days but a Craig is selling at DMCH for over $700 so that is what I insured the ASI for. They got it and said because of the holidays it will take about 1 1/2 weeks. I will keep everyone informed as to how this turns out. The basic fee is $63 just to look it over and estimate it which goes towards the repair (if you tell them to repair it). Besides that I also have $26 in shipping and insurance. Took about 20 minutes to actually get the radio out of the car. Not too bad.

[David T]

Got the radio back. Waited for a warm day. Got it installed and still had no AM. Forgot I had an antennae booster in. Removed it and the AM worked. Still had a LOT of distortion when I cranked up the volume (motor not running). Looked for voltage drops and found an undocumented filter on the power and ground feeds to the radio. Removed it and all is good now. The radio controls are all cleaned up and smooth. The cassette still does not work because the rubber is all bad and BC wanted over $500 to have the parts custom made. Bottom-lining, it cost me about $63 plus around $50 for the shipping both ways. Nothing really wrong with the radio except for cleaning the controls and the old rubber for the transport mech.

[mluder]

Ray's Auto Stereo in Sacramento has done both Craig and ASI's for me. I have sent them all the schematics and parts lists.

James

Went to check out Ray's in Sacramento about fixing my Craig stereo... Sadly it looks like the owner, Larry, has passed away this last December.
http://www.raysautostereo.com/
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sacbee/obituary.aspx?n=lawrence-schmidt&pid=168432484

Steve

[David T]

Went to check out Ray's in Sacramento about fixing my Craig stereo... Sadly it looks like the owner, Larry, has passed away this last December.
http://www.raysautostereo.com/
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sacbee/obituary.aspx?n=lawrence-schmidt&pid=168432484

Steve

Exactly why, when I contacted James E, he gave me a list of shops he was going to explore. I picked BC Electronics from his list. DMCH is in the predicament of having to find another shop for this work. Ray passed the weekend before I was going to send my radio out to him when he unexpectedly expired. Not unusual for many of these small businesses to be a "One Man Show". Check out BC for your Craig. If you have a manual for it send it along. BC now has the manual for the ASI from me.