General Electric RC-1674a

[halzg]

Hello, I have inherited a GE RC-1674a mini console. This is the type that can be wall-hung, although this one never was. It was the main stereo in my childhood home, and has been stored in my father's (damp) basement for the past 25 years, unused. I've been checking it over and researching it for a few weeks, and here is what I've learned so far:

The unit powers on and plays. I had not read the warnings about old electrolytic capacitors, but now that I have, I will not apply power to it any more until I have the filter caps in a better state.

The Garrard changer appears to be an Autoslim-P model. It was sluggish but functional when I first brought it home, so I removed the changer and cleaned / lubed the pivots and bearings, and did a mild resurface on the drive wheel, and now it works as it should.

The amp works, it has a light 60 cycle hum. All the inputs work, including the RCA plugs for the tape input. The pots were all scratchy, but have cleaned up with some de-oxit.

Both speakers work and sound decent for their age.

The tuner works but is very difficult to tune and drifts badly. The FM-ATC and FM-Stereo circuits both work. The tuner has a more pronounced 60 cycle hum than the amp alone.

I have the Sams Photofact Set 674 Folder 9, which is for this unit.

[halzg]

Here are a few photos of the inside. I've read the advice that the entire electronic assembly should be removed as one, due to the indiviual chassis being hardwired together. I'd appreciate any insight as to how to access the chassis mounting screws for the tuner. It appears to be screwed to the underside of the cabinet top, and the dial is screwed to the cabinet front. There is one screw hidden behind the tuner flywheel, looking in from the back. I'm not sure how to access that.

The amp board shows some darkening around the tube sockets. The board is also flexible enough to make me nervous about breaking traces while removing and installing tubes.

I'm fairly acquanited with tube amps, due to experience with guitar amps. Tuners, however, are a mystery to me.

I've noticed a few other members here either have the same console, or a console with a different cabinet but the same electronics inside.

[halzg]

As it turns out, the screws that look like they secure the tuner dial to the faceplate are adjustable standoffs, so I removed two screws holding the tuner chassis to the top of the cabinet and the whole thing slid back. This after I (unnecessarily) removed a few cabinet screws and took the faceplate off. d

Overall the tuner looks good visually. I'll post photos tomorrow and continue working to get the electronics out.