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Creek 3040 Tuner RECAP

keithsnaim

keithsnaim

Gone Fishing
I have just been asked to service a Creek 3040 Tuner. It's in mint condition visually,on the outside. Inside there is no obvious signs of abuse, no leaking caps etc. Problem is that it drifts off tune on a regular basis.
I have read in another thread that a change in caps could fix the problem. Managed to get all the values from the original caps, and will replace like for like. I may just change the 1uf electrolytics for1uf Wima's where possible.
Has anyone done a recap on this tuner, how easy is it to remove the 2 pcb's from the case. Cant find a schematic either.

Regards Keith
 
I've re-capped two, one 3140 and one T40 - very similar board layout. Both were drifting, both now rock solid.

They are very easy to work on but watch out for the wires breaking off from the tuning pot - this happened with both of mine, but easy to rectify by soldering them back on!

I wish you luck.


John R.
 
Hi Keith.

I can't really comment on that tweak for the Creeks but Richard, (Dowser) has reported positive comments on the Wima's in his A&R Cambridge T21 tweaks. Though he substitued loads of electrolytics for Wima's. Different circuit too mind!

Regards

John.
 
I will give them a try. Can always swap back if needed. I am using Panasonic FC caps for most of the electrolytics , used these before with good results.

Keith
 
Hi
So you are absolutely sure your outside antenna is bang on? The Creek 3040 is a lovely tuner and I have just been using one after getting it back from my dad.

Its got the lovely large display and metal tuning knob before some cosmetic cost saving on the later 3140 which I also have.

Mine hasnt drifted off tune once in 3 days testing with a good external. It did drift in the eighties when using a poor indoor aerial. It can sometimes use an extra initial tweak to make sure its bang centre on station

Im sure you know what you are doing and its well worth restoring. £99 then relates to about £267 today (by someones over precise calculation) and its a damn good FM tuner.
 
The Creek is a mate's. i have loaned him my A&R T21 for a week or two and it is working fine. Before that he had a Linn tuner that also was ok until it stopped working completely .So the antenna is good.
I emailed Creek Audio for a schematic. The Email states that they do not have any electronic copies of the schematic and that " We have listed the 3040 as non-economical to repair " .

Regards Keith
 
I've found both of my Creek tuners to be quite sensitive, the one in my workshop (T40) pulling in a very good signal with a simple roof mounted dipole.

My office one (3140) gets a really strong signal from a loft mounted 4 element Yagi.

John R.
 
I finished the recap of the 3040 this morning. I found the best way was to desolder most of the wires inside and the antenna too. This made it easy to remove both boards and work on them. The tricky bit was soldering the antenna back on, but got there in the end.
It has been running most of the day, and has stayed locked solid on tune. It was worth the effort, sounding very open, with a good bass performance and a nice wide sounstage.Handing it back to my mate this evening job done.

Regards Keith
 
I did take a few photo's with the boards removed and the new caps in place. I will try and post them later. Didn't manage to get a schematic either. I made a copy of the values if anyone needs them in future.
Handed it back yesterday to my mate, he has been using my reworked A&R T21 for a few weeks. Be interested to hear his findings between the two.

Regards Keith
 
The 3040 was an analogue tuner, so stability depended on balancing temperature coefficients of critical parts in the local oscillator. These will not be electrolytics.

I think that some of these electrolytics must be in a voltage regulator and had gone leaky, causing the LO supply or tuning voltage to drift with temperature. Back then a typical LO ran on 12V and with a tuning voltage of up to 33V
 
Sorry for digging out an old thread, but was interesting, as I have an all original 3040 from 1980s. It works beautifully. No drift, but rock solid superb sound quality it gives.
 
Hi all, 10 years later.. I just received a Creek T50 and have some issues I’m trying to troubleshoot. The LCD shows gibberish when brightness is set to off or low (shows station info too), the brightness level will not adjust on AM. It seems AM is drifting after locking on a strong signal ( shows arrows and locks then repeats - is this expected?). So far no issues with FM locking stability on strong signals. Could replacing the electrolytic capacitors fix the above? Manufactor date is 2003, and no visual signs of bad capacitors like bulging or liquids. thanks.
 
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