Dear All:

My wagon is fitted with the SC810 radio/cassette unit. I just found out that I can't hear sound coming out of the speakers on the right side. Thankfully, the culprit is not my right ear but it seems the main volume knob on the unit has gone bad. A random tap on the knob will sometimes give me full and clear stereo effect which lasts for a few moments, i.e., till I hit the next bump on the road.

Question is: Has anyone experienced such a problem? How difficult is it to open SC810 radios and do a fix? I am suspecting it is dirty contacts, loose solder connection or a bad potentiometer (in that order). Are there shops out there who fix volvo radios? OR, should i junk the SC810 and put in an aftermarket system? Any recommends on aftermarket systems preferrably a compatible tuner and cd-changer pair?

Thanks in advance for your help.

yona

Yona,

If you are lucky, Robert may be correct that you have a dirty volume/balance control potentiometer and spraying it with a cleaner/degreaser productmight do the trick. A bad pot usually displays the symptoms of a scratchy noise (and signal cutout in severe cases) when the control is manipulated. If you are experiencing these symptoms now or in the recent past then cleaning will solve the problem.

I would recommend a product called DeoxIT D5 (formerly called Cramolin) made by Caig Laboratories. You should be able to find it at an electronics parts shop or online from a electronics supply dealer. Through high school and college (an EE major too)I worked as an electronics service technician and later as a broadcast engineer for CBS. I've never found a better product. I used it about a year ago to fix my wife's wiper controls on her 745T (212K mi), saving an otherwise tedious replacement. It also worked recently on a bad sunroof switch.

Replacing the volume control is normally not as easy as just popping in a new one. Usually they are part of a proprietary assembly characteristic of a particular stereo. If one can find a generic replacement, it still will require some significant disassembly to get the old unit out and replace the bad section. I don't think that this is a DIY job unless you've had some experience with electronics repair. Also, I've never come across a bad pot that wasn't fixed with DeoxIT unless it was physically damaged.

If you're slighty less lucky, Matty's suggestion of a bad or "cold" solder connection might be the answer. Look for a solder connection (hopefully where the volume control attaches to the circuit board) that has a dull appearance or has small cracks visible in the joint. If you find this, heat up pin of the poteniometer at the solder joint, re-melt the solder and apply a small amount of new (rosin core) solder at the suspect connection. When cooled, it should now have a shiny appearance if done correctly.

Good Luck.
--
2000 V70R AWD: Laser Blue (441) w/ blue window tint, 16 inch 'R' wheels, dual muffler exhaust, strut brace, K&N air filter.

Dear Yona:

I had the same problem found this tip in the Brickboard archives and this worked for me. Go to Radio Shack and buy tuner cleaner. Then pull the radio (push in the tabs on the lower right and left sides of the radio and they will pop out - then pull on the tabs and the radio will slide out)disconnect the power leads and take the top cover off(be sure to have your radio code). Spray a little tuner cleaner on the white pot switch inside the radio (where the volume control connects). Turn the volmue control on and off and spray again. Reassemble and you should have cleared up the right channel.

Robert

Gain access to the volume control by opening the radio.The volume control will be a potentiometer(variable resistor) Normally is will comprise of two pots with one behind the other.Get yourself to electrical cleaning fluid.Then spray it into the pots.The electrical cleaning fluid will evaporate off and should clean the tracks within the pot.If this dosent work then i would suggest looking at electronic catalogs for replacement part.They are very cheap and simple to solder in.Also check the solder joints on the pot.

From:

Matty - (studying last year of "Electronic Engineering" degree)

I doubt that you'll be able to fix it yourself and before even going further with the idea, call your dealers parts dept as the reman radios for many Volvos are very inexpensive, cheaper than what it'd cost you to take it somewhere and pay someone to fix yours.