{"id":615,"date":"2012-11-06T11:27:42","date_gmt":"2012-11-06T10:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/storycase.co.uk\/radio\/?p=615"},"modified":"2020-07-05T07:40:36","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T07:40:36","slug":"roberts-r250-no-mw-lw-hiss-fault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/storycase.co.uk\/radio\/radio\/roberts-r250-no-mw-lw-hiss-fault\/","title":{"rendered":"Roberts R250 – No MW \/ LW Hiss Fault"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dial\"<\/a>Do you have a Roberts Revival R250 radio with only hiss on some wavebands? It’s a fairly common problem with these radios caused most likely by a batch of faulty components or rough handling.<\/p>\n

Warning \u2013 this gets technical but it\u2019s really not difficult and you can have your radio working again in an hour or so.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All you need is a voltmeter, soldering iron and some spare parts and it’s a fairly easy fix.<\/p>\n

If the AM wavebands just hisses and no station can be tuned in on MW or LW there are several\u00a0likely causes. To find out which follow the checks below.<\/p>\n

Cause\u00a01: Broken aerial wires \/ set rattles<\/strong> – \u00a0the internal ferrite rod aerial has two sets of coils one for MW and one for LW. The wires are fine and there are four wires for each waveband. Unfortunately the studs and glue that hold the ferrite in place can break and the rod becomes detached and rattles around inside. If you have bought a radio from eBay and had it shipped by MyHermes then this is the likely problem (I’ve had several damaged this way by MyHermes and don’t mind publishing the fact although of course other couriers may be just as bad. I’ve seen the MyHermes lorry throwing sacks of parcels out onto the road in the early morning for the local drivers\u00a0to pick up and scurry away into their cars and vans.) \u00a0Parcels are subjected to excessive g-force and the high mass aerial suffers. Best just send it back as eBay covers buyers. But if you have a broken aerial read on.<\/p>\n

It’s possible to re-solder the wire if it’s not broken right next to the coil. Don’t try to strip back the insulation, just heat each wire end with the soldering iron and the insulation should dissolve so that a solder joint can be made. The wires are colour coded so if several are broken it may take some detective work to figure out which goes where. The circuit board has cryptic lettering to help – MG – medium wave green, LB – long wave black. It’s likely the wires are still partly in place so you can see where they connect to the board. If the ferrite itself is broken it can be super glued together but best use an elastic adhesive to fix the whole aerial back into the clips.<\/p>\n

Cause 2 – Oxidised wave change switch<\/strong> – this can affect FM as well but mostly shows up when switching to MW or LW due to more contacts in use. The problem is crackle when changing bands and sound may return if the button is held pressed down repeatedly. The fix is a squirt of switch cleaner – pop into Maplin and pick up an aerosol contact cleaner ideally with lubricant. Apply a little to the top of each switch in turn while pressing the button up and down to clean the contacts. The hiss should disappear and wave change return to normal. It may take several goes to clear the problem. If there’s rust showing around the switch housing it’s likely the radio has been exposed to moisture and may not recover. The switch assembly is interlinked with numerous connections that makes replacement (assuming you have one) only for the brave.<\/p>\n

\"Ceramic<\/a>

Ceramic capacitor suspect<\/p><\/div>\n

Cause 3 – Faulty ceramic capacitors<\/strong>\u00a0– the main chip controlling the AM\/FM receiver is a BA4236L. It’s temping to think this is the problem particularly if the main audio chip has also blow (see Roberts R250 – No Sound Faults<\/a>) when the problem lies in a cheap ceramic capacitor. Look for small buff coloured disc about 5mm diameter with the number 103. If you have an ohmmeter check to see if it’s low resistance it should of course show no reading. Replace with a 0.01uF (10nF) ceramic capacitor. There are two – C23 \/ C24 – the ones connected to pins 8 & 9 seem problematic.<\/p>\n

Circuit diagram for\u00a0Roberts R250<\/a> from http:\/\/vintage-radio.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you have a Roberts Revival R250 radio with only hiss on some wavebands? It’s a fairly common problem with these radios caused most likely by a batch of faulty components or rough handling. 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