Yorx clock radio with 8-track
 

So I got another one of these digital clock radios. The good news is that the clock, radio and 8-track all work. The bad news is the radio won't turn off. I can switch from the AM/FM/FM stereo to the 8-track, but it won't turn off.

Assuming the problem was just the on/off button, I took the switch apart (and broke it in the process:sigh:). But I figured since it was apart and I could see what connections the switch made when it was off, I could just duplicate those connections with clip leads, and the radio would be off. But no, it's still on. :no:

So now I need to find a replacement for the switch I broke (in the 2nd pic). And it would be so much easier to sort this out with a schematic, but it's not even listed in my sams index (Yorx R5260). Where else could I look?

Hmm, I used to have a radio with that problem. There was physical damage somewhere, possibly a broken trace. I wish I could remember exactly.

NOW I remember, because I saved the board with the VFD attached and just had a look. A trace is scratched clean through, possibly keeping the "alarm" on. I didn't notice this until I was parting out the radio.

Looks like your switch - 6 contacts, probably close in size:

http://www.talonix.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=15339

Cheers,

Cool, now at least I can replace the switch. So, I poked around some. The power supply is on the same board as the clock. And it is working just fine. Even though I don't see how the power supply not functioning could cause something to be always on, I tested all the resistors, and swapped out the e-caps. I even tried substituting in different diodes, it made no difference.

Now it looks to me like where the B+ hooks into the radio board is connected right into the power supply, so it would have to be on all the time. The switch hooks into the same spot on the power supply as the radio, while what I would consider the output of the switches (on/off and auto/manual are tied together) seems to go back into the clock circuits. I can hook the what I identified as the main B+ input to the radio board to that 'switch output' and the switches function like you would expect and turn the radio off. But the alarm (or sleep function) does not work when it is connected like that. It doesn't look like the wiring was ever modified, so I'm sure I just don't completely see how it is supposed to work.

Then I shorted something out poking around, and now the radio is dead (even though there is power getting to the radio board) :sigh: I don't think I'm going to get this to work without either a schematic, a 2nd similar Yorx clock radio for parts, or both. I almost never work on anything this modern, but that Realistic clock radio was such an easy unit to repair (with just those 2 bad coupling caps in the left channel and the dial light out) that I thought I would try another.

I've seen the same radio branded JC Penney. Most didn't have the 8 track.
Penney had an outlet store that sold anything cheap, that was returned or discontinued. Also, items that were trouble-prone. There was a lot of that model around. :sigh:

Wow .I've seen lots of cassette model clock radios but many stereo 8 track clock radios.


I hope you get it to turn off Adam.

I see alot of those type switches on old TV's use as the AFT/AFC switch and other functions.

I had one just like that that I had gotten from my old piano teacher years ago, and it worked perfectly but then all the sudden it started to do the same exact thing that yours did and so I basically junked it because I wanted a working alarm clock radio (specifically a vintage one) I never bothered to look into what caused mine to have the issue it did (as back then I didn't know too much about repairing things extensively, I only knew enought to get myself into trouble and that was it.)

I used to have a newer model Yorx 8-track/clock/radio I think it developed some issue I opened it up, let it sit for a few months, lost enough parts to stop caring about it, and junked it. That was my first 8-track machine.

Just got around to looking at it today. They switch the negative on this radio, the transistor that did that was open.. Replaced that, and it works fine now.
I managed to repair the power switch as well, used parts from another one in my junk box.

It's satisfying to fix something from junk parts isn't it? I almost pitched an old cable converter box whole but found out it had feet that would fit my old Kenmore microwave which came to me with two feet missing. Now I'm not getting rid of anything that doesn't take up too much space. If it does, I'll pull and save parts.