Possibly I am a young dumbass who doesn’t know how to plug old things into the wall. We were so excited to get this awesome console stereo - it’s a Blaupunkt we-think-Arkansas of some model. It came… very packed. Palleted, several blankets, plastic wrap, etc. We THINK we found everything in there! (We almost missed the legs.)
Thing is, we can’t figure out the power cord. Maybe we don’t understand how to… plug it in? Okay, here’s the back of it. (The cats are very interested.) This is the end of the wire they sent that doesn’t go into the wall. Okay, that goes into that bit at the lower left, right? Only it doesn’t. It doesn’t go all the way in (we don’t want to force it!) and it certainly doesn’t stay in or feel secure at all. It was advertised as working, so they must have… plugged it in to test it, yes? (I’ve contacted them to make sure it’s the right cord… but it does look right.) Are we missing something there?
Also, there’s a cord coming up from the right that has some sort of plug at the end that we’re not sure if we need to plug into one of the two matching holes. Maybe that’s coming from the record player? Do we need to plug it in? And where?
If it doesn’t work, I can’t imagine it would be too complicated to fix, but I have no idea where to find somebody to do it (and have no desire to put this thing back on a truck, it’s heavier than it looks and I don’t want to damage it.) Or where to get the parts. There’s what I hope is a spare tube just rattling around in there? (Why you so complicated, mid-century?) So if this cord won’t work, I suppose it may be possible to have somebody just rewire it to a nice safe modern cord?
Update - if you make your husband hold the plug in place while simultaneously bitching at him to be careful and not electrocute himself the lights light up. (Not sure about sound, as there are A LOT OF SWITCHES and we didn’t want to blow the whole thing up.)
So the cord works but is very, very, very loose in its socket. What do you do about that? (Electrical tape?)
Some of those plugs (the one that doesn’t fit into the receptacle on the bottom left of the first pic) have different shaped plastic casing so they only fit in a particular orientation. Did you try flipping the cord over and trying to plug it in both ways?
Can you post clearer pics of the receptacle and the cord ends?
You don’t know what model it is? Could you post a pic of the front so maybe someone can find a match online?
I’ve been looking at radiomuseum.org and it’s definitely a Blaupunkt Arkansas but none of the pictured models are exactly right. It’s the kind with the bar on the left side (although at some point in its lifetime it seems the glass door went missing.) It does have legs but they’re not on it right now, and it’s not in a good place to get a good picture. (It’s sooo PRETTY.)
It does go in better one way than the other but it’s still either extremely loose or extremely tight (IOW we can’t tell if we have it in all the way or not.) Here’s a better one of the plug. It’s really hard to get enough light into the interior without blowing it all out, but this might be better. That’s definitely where it goes, as we made a light come on at risk of life and limb.
Closest to the 57 4345 but there isn’t a diamond pattern on the speakers and the knob is a bit different. In the detail photos on the site the wood is much darker on the enclosure for the radio than what we have and the face of the radio looks different. The 4635 looks very close but I can’t really see the stereo or record player because it’s a drawing. Ours also has what I guess is a little rack for 45s by the turntable but I suppose that could be aftermarket.
Is it bad that I could tell from the first picture exactly where the power cord would plug into without even seeing the power cord?
Most likely what has happened s that the cord side has been ‘rounded out’ - an easy way to tighten it up (and without risk to the hardware side) would be to take a pair of pliers (square jawed) and ***gently ***squeeze the plug down a little - this will give the plug side a little better grip strength.
I’m sure you’ve thought of it, but I wouldn’t let my cats anywhere near the inside of that thing. Looks like it could have pet killing capacitors (hold a charge when unplugged!)
Yeah, we kept shooing them away when we were working on it and it’s against the wall now. Which reminds me - would it be okay to put a backplate on the thing, cardboard or something? Or does it need to get rid of heat? If it ever works?
It’s loose because you are being too gentle. This thing is German and it only understands force, so force it. (First part of that sentence was a cheap and obvious joke, but the second part is true.) Wiggle it while shoving it hard. Show it who’s Führer.
Had a cat that liked to barf into things with tubes.
Electrical tape is worthless. Doesn’t stick and, once stuck, doesn’t stay stuck. The old tarry cloth tape was better, but you had to warm it to get it to stick. Warmth should not be a problem inside a tube amp, which is why your cats will like it more once it’s working.
Old tube gizmos like that take a while to warm up. You won’t get any sound for a good half minute.
It may be best to just replace that brown cord with two wrappings of electrical tape unless they aren’t really covering bare wire. Did I mention that I hate electrical tape?
I didn’t refer to male or female side - you are correct, I am talking about gently squeezing down on the female (plug) side to close up the internal parts just a bit.
So Hal’s got me worried - and now I’ve got a piece of cardboard taped over it, since by the wall still leaves a gap plenty big enough for our adventurous cat. Are the capacitators in this dangerous? I have the vague idea that tubes were replaced by capacitators, am I completely offbase?
ETA - meaning I understand that this is supposed to be a tube-based gizmo. (And what’s up with that tube lying around in there anyway?)
I’ve never heard of squeezing the lady end with pliers, only male prongs.
Yes, it’s okay and highly recommended; secure it well to keep the cats out and don’t push it right against the wall. Yes, so cut ventilation slots in it. Of course it will work; that thing would survive a nuclear war, laughing off the electromagnetic pulses that will kill your more-modern devices.
Yes, the capacitors are that dangerous, from the first time you plug it in until as much as a month after you unplug it. Tubes were replaced by transistors. Capacitors are still with us. That tube might be bad, a spare that’s good, or something that got packed by mistake. Save it.
I knew the ones in TVs were, didn’t really think about anything in a stereo (was worried about the stereo more than the cats!)
ETA - I mean now that I’ve thought about it I’m worried about the cats! But originally, the stereo. The ugly-ass one my grandparents had, the 70’s horrid neo-colonial one, that one will outlive us all. This one is too cute and pretty to be sturdy, surely.
