ALTEC 1589B Schematic

[Witwolf]

Oh dear,

We just got our ALTEC 1589B that we bought from EBay. Unfortunately we managed to blow it buy using the 120V unit in 230V. No it is not us that is stupid. The manual did say it is compatible with 120V and 230V so it actually was not our mistake! In fact I did not want to believe it.

I think there's not a lot of damage since none of the actual semiconductors burned. The transfomer got very hot and continues to blow the fuse. What probably happened is that transformer melted.

Does anyone know where I would be able to find a schematic. I googled but with no success. Thats allways the problem with vintage gear.

Regards,

Carel Burger

Technical Engineer
Sound and Motion Studios

 

[CJ]

You probably have been here already, not your number, but maybe there is something similar.
cj

 

[ciminosound]

Manual and schematic can be found here. Hey! I think I have one of those kickin' around here somewhere!

http://www.choiceestimating.com/altec/Altec-1589B-MixerAmp.pdf


:sam:

 

[Witwolf]

I would like to see if its not possible to get the original transformer somewhere. Looking at the schematics now the manual was right by saying it work on 120v/230v but did not say anywhere that you need to change the primary ratio of the power transformer. So technically it should work if I only use one of the primary winds on the transformer instead of both.

Does anyone know where I might be able to find the transformer. On the manual the order code for the trano is 56-08-007397-04.

 

[CJ]

Maybe try the battery mentioned in the manual to see if you damaged more than the transformer.
If it works with the battery, all you have to do is buy the transformer.

 

[PRR]

> the manual was right by saying it work on 120v/230v but did not say anywhere that you need to change the primary

It says to plug into "any 120VAC line". If you don't have a 120V line handy, you have to find one or fake one.

To run on 230V power, you have to switch the primary windings from parallel to series (you need both windings!).

The tranny is a plain small 24-0-24VAC transformer, at least 2.5VA. 5VA-10VA transformers are standard items. Find one with your choice of primary voltage. (Most these days are universal 120/240V.... be sure you get the wiring diagram for your wall-juice.)

 

[ciminosound]

[quote author="Witwolf"]I would like to see if its not possible to get the original transformer somewhere. Looking at the schematics now the manual was right by saying it work on 120v/230v but did not say anywhere that you need to change the primary ratio of the power transformer. So technically it should work if I only use one of the primary winds on the transformer instead of both.[/quote]

I don't know of any gear from that period that had an "intelligent" supply. The mains tranny looks like it would need to be rewired for 230V operation. If that's the issue a lot of trannys would work fine.

 

[CJ]

You could almost wall wart that thing.
Only needs 32 ma.

 

[bcarso]

Did you disconnect the secondary of the trafo and see if it still blows fuses after changing the primary ratio?

I think your diagnosis is correct, but that experiment would definitely rule out something downstream being at fault. You may still have blown semis there too, but at least you can confirm that the trafo is bad.

CJ's rec is roughly equivalent---use a current-limited ~24V supply into the battery connection and see if everything still works.