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Your worst ever equipment mishaps...Real right offs !

The most recent one, he had a video of the tape deck working - sounded great and then on arrival, not working!

I wouldn't mind, but I'm trying to help this neighbour out and it's becoming a bit of a task!
 
Often that's just perished belts but understandable that you don't want to go there and need a working one.

Despite the chancers on eBay I'm sure a wanted ad here would come up with something, especially as you are in that London. I gave a youngster at work on old Teac that I got from a car boot, that after a clean was working fine. Nothing special, but then neither was the price and I doubt your friend is after a Nakamichi Dragon.
 
I dropped my LP12 while working on it a while back - I was using the tried and mistrusted method of balancing the deck across a pair of speaker stands, where there's very little room for error when refitting the baseboard - SMASH! I got very lucky. A slight nick out of the plinth and new springs needed, but bearing fine, and arm fine thank goodness. De-tipped my Rhondo Blue in the process though, so cost a few hundred for a new cart. Oops! Could've been much more costly though.
I very swiftly acquired a proper jig after that.
 
I dropped my LP12 while working on it a while back - I was using the tried and mistrusted method of balancing the deck across a pair of speaker stands, where there's very little room for error when refitting the baseboard - SMASH! I got very lucky. A slight nick out of the plinth and new springs needed, but bearing fine, and arm fine thank goodness. De-tipped my Rhondo Blue in the process though, so cost a few hundred for a new cart. Oops! Could've been much more costly though.
I very swiftly acquired a proper jig after that.
I made one using 3/4” box section, 30mm angle iron (3mm thickness), some all thread, some wing nuts and some neoprene... and a saw and a welder... and some paint... and primer... and my grandad to weld it all together. It’s in the attic section of my garage at the moment where I can’t get to it but when I acquire/build another LP12, I’ll get someone to retrieve it.
 
Well, this was shipping, but Fedex apparently did not do a good job of packing the Naim DVD5 I sent to Focal Naim America . . .
 
I reckon that if you're going to mess with your LP12, a jig is essential; I have one and it sits up in the workshop until I need it
 
I made one using 3/4” box section, 30mm angle iron (3mm thickness), some all thread, some wing nuts and some neoprene... and a saw and a welder... and some paint... and primer... and my grandad to weld it all together. It’s in the attic section of my garage at the moment where I can’t get to it but when I acquire/build another LP12, I’ll get someone to retrieve it.
I bought one of Theo Stack’s prototype jigs - it works like a charm and dismantles pretty flat, so easy to store until the next upgrade.
 
I used a lot of 0000 steel wool in my old workshop. The DV Te Kaitora was not happy.
 
I bought one of Theo Stack’s prototype jigs - it works like a charm and dismantles pretty flat, so easy to store until the next upgrade.
Excellent idea!

My grandad is a first class metalworker, he was visiting when I was discussing the ideas of buying one, I showed him some images of the Linn one, and he immediately responded with "I could build that in an afternoon"... and he did!

Next time he visits, I'm going to discuss buying some Kan stands for my Royd sapphires... He'll have those knocked up in the time it takes me to make a bacon sarnie and a cup of tea. He's 77 and fit as a fiddle, doing stuff like this keeps him fit as a fiddle too.
 
Mine was setting the output stage bias on a B&O Beomaster 5000 receiver I was repairing.

For those that don't know these, the process involves one hand to hold the negative multimeter probe on one end of a resistor, another hand to hold the positive multimeter probe on the other end of the resistor and a third hand to twiddle the adjustment pot. The resistor is nicely buried with little space around it and right next to the output devices.

Of course, I didn't need any help and knew I'd be fine holding both meter probes in one hand - what could go wrong? Answer: one probe slipped, there was a spark and a bang, leaving two dead output transistors. :mad:

I have since made some multimeter leads up with some very tiny hooks on the end specifically for this purpose...
 
I bought a lovely second hand Yamaha CT1010 tuner. The seller packed it well but used carpet remnants to pack it and forgot to protect the plug. When it arrived the plug was smashed to smithereens and the back of the tuner was caved in.

I did exactly the same years ago, it turned up having been dropped on the plug (which I always tell sellers to remove and discard) which was now embedded in the wood case. I just got a refund as I’m totally OCD about condition and that sort of damage would bug the hell out of me even with a huge discount.

The worst in recent years was an absolutely beautiful original Sugden A21, a real mint one. The seller failed to pack it properly (bubble-wrap is *not* a suitable material) and it had taken a drop onto the back panel smashing the heat-sinks in and cracking the circuit board. Another day, another full refund. So annoying when it is rare vintage kit that is so, so hard to find in mint condition.

PS I used to buy and sell vintage analogue synths back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the things I’ve seen damaged by idiot-grade packing beggar belief. It was here I learned just how much damage mains plugs can do and is why I always ask that they be removed.
 
When I need to set up my Linn LP12 I use a Black and Decker Workmate.Open it up to it's widest point, level it up,place the LP12 on top,level the turntable and off you go!

Easy to adjust the springs etc and no mishaps up to yet!
Regards.
Ray
 
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Only had one disaster and that was when I replaced some big smoothing caps and was trying to configure the transformers windings in my power amp.
I had it going through a Variac '150 volts'.

Went out for a few pints got back and the amp looked OK so decided to up the voltage to 240v, stumbled forwards, the multimeter probe pierced the insulation on the windings and a loud noise was heard.

Sod it I thought I'll have a look tomorrow! Woke up forgotten everything that happened the night before and there it was ' knackered'.

I actually though I had dreamt it all!

And that's what happens when your P....d.
Regards
Ray
 
I made one using 3/4” box section, 30mm angle iron (3mm thickness), some all thread, some wing nuts and some neoprene... and a saw and a welder... and some paint... and primer... and my grandad to weld it all together. It’s in the attic section of my garage at the moment where I can’t get to it but when I acquire/build another LP12, I’ll get someone to retrieve it.

nah, 4 wine bottles :)
 
Where do we start...

When I was very young (maybe 6 or 7) I had a fascination with car stereos and was given an old cassette player. Didn't know the difference between AC and DC and thought that voltage would be the same either way, so connected up an AC transformer from an old train set and fired it up. The radio worked for half a second or so and never again thereafter. In a later episode I connected up another car radio to a 12V drill battery. The radio wasn't fused and there was no inline fuse on the power cable. Connected it up backwards and melted both power lines.

Pioneer SA-8100 restoration, put one of the outputs back in backwards. Large bang, plenty of smoke. It was eventually restored with modern substitutes.

Fixing a cheap Sony amp that wouldn't power up due to a blown fuse. Didn't have the correct rating and the selection of small glass fuses was dwindling so opted for a jumper wire instead. The problem was in the amplifier module, though quickly spread through the power supply and even the input stage, blowing components in quick succession. It wasn't worth fixing anyway.

First ever raspberry pi project. Thought I'd see if I could at least get the thing to boot so grabbed the first power supply I had to hand. The cheapest phone charger imaginable rated (supposedly) at 500MA so woefully inadequate. It violently blew up, tripping the mains but not before blowing a few components off the pi.

Had a mint Technics 1210 in my main system for quite a while. Was playing a record one day when the platter all of a sudden spun up extremely fast, and the turntable went bang and smoked. Turned out the previous owner had wrapped the fuse in tin foil. I'm amazed it worked for as long as it did.

Newly rebuilt Thorens TD-150. Was setting up the suspension, periodically running the platter. Had the deck connected to the mains and shorted the power switch with the back of my hand. Received a nasty shock causing my hand to involuntarily fly up, nocking the plinth over, causing the platter to fall from the sub platter. Bent the main bearing, snapped the motor shaft and broke the arm in 1 go.

Marantz cassette deck. Sold it on eBay, buyer sent it back complaining that it was faulty. Turned out the mechanism had been swapped (I now security mark them when I work on them) and the solenoid that drives the mechanism was faulty as was the motor. Couldn't get another mechanism and eBay's seller protection didn't protect me at all, so I smashed it with a sledgehammer. The hammer was also used to 'repair' an LP12 with a bent sub chassis and a paper shredder that started giving out pretty severe electric shocks.

These are a just a few from memory. There have been a few more along the way, fixing things and forgetting to unplug them first, putting voltage where voltage shouldn't go etc. Some things are blown up or smashed on purpose because they've pissed me off or are beyond economical repair. off The things I build or repair do generally work for the most part though, and despite being a blind man I have never broken a stylus nor had any accidents with superglue, so I guess that counts for something.
 
Worst I've seen in a long while was a customer brought in a pair of Seas Excel tweeters that he had removed from his speakers for some daft reason like wanting to put boutique caps in the crossovers (they were new ish speakers) and wanted to know what the impedance was as he couldn't get a reading... which was because he'd been so cack handed that he'd ripped the terminals off both tweeters! £250 each!
 
Worst I've seen in a long while was a customer brought in a pair of Seas Excel tweeters that he had removed from his speakers for some daft reason like wanting to put boutique caps in the crossovers (they were new ish speakers) and wanted to know what the impedance was as he couldn't get a reading... which was because he'd been so cack handed that he'd ripped the terminals off both tweeters! £250 each!
I used to do custom in car entertainment installation, anything from swapping out a head unit or speakers, to completely panelling out a van and building a PA system on wheels, with all the electrical system to feed it. I’ve had quite a few jobs brought to me to tidy up after someone else’s “handy work”, and bad soldering is extremely common, but the best I saw was where someone (an absolute cock breath of an individual) I know had significantly under cut my price for a mutual friend, now here’s the thing, I’d not quoted a rip off price, I’d quoted a very appropriate price considering the parts involved... Keith (the cock breath), managed to under cut me by saving on things like fuses, fuse carriers, grommets, and cable... he drilled a hole in the bulkhead, really badly and in a structural area, but saving on cable length and labour time, pulled the cable tight (this was a 2 gauge power cable) through the hole, it was stretched round to the battery... he didn’t bother upgrading the battery, alternator or any other wiring... just as well really because it was the negative/ground wire between the battery and the car body that became the fuse/current limiter when the power cable wore through. The battery, battery tray, the ground wire and some other cabling and components in close proximity were melted but thankfully the battery drained before the car could completely catch fire. I managed to repair and rectify all the damage for under £500 luckily, but it could’ve cost him his car, and his insurance would’ve told him to f##k off
 


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