Services

R390A Services Offered - Restoration, Service, Parts-

If you are on this page, you are interested in contacting me about restoring a receiver, rebuilding capacitors or modules for your own personal receiver. Please read through this material before doing so. At the bottom of this page, there is an "E-Mail Me" contact link. Also note, because of scarcity, I DO NOT SELL R390A receivers.

I have enjoyed the lore of the R390A for some years. These are superb performing receivers which can last a lifetime if properly cared for. As an adjunct to my own participation in the radio hobby, I restore R390A’s on an informal basis. Happily, there is an ever-growing number of do-it-yourselfers who take on this rather large project themselves. I am willing to help these fellow enthusiasts by performing some of the less understood procedures and alignments on individual chassis for them. Please call first or drop me an E-Mail to make arrangements before sending anything. I am also able to offer limited advice by phone. The best times to reach me is via E-mail.

One caution: Before taking on an R390A repair or restoration project, understand that the precision design ties receiver mechanicals and electronics “at the hip” making it one of the more complicated and difficult receivers available to the average hobbyist to understand and service.

Pricing, where applicable, is posted next to each individual item with return shipping, packing “insurance” charges in (quotes). Note: Due to export entanglements, shipment to destinations outside the United States is not offered at this time.

Click on the following for the information needed:

Restoration Solid state conversion of Power Supply

Filter Capacitor Rebuild PTO Rebuild

RF Deck Overhaul Front Panel Restoration

IF Deck Overhaul/Calibration R390A Parts Sales

Interested in having me restore your R390A front to back? I have an extensive restoration FAQ. Clicking here takes you directly to the Restoration FAQ.

Filter Capacitor Rebuild: (Strongly Recommended)

Most vintage equipment is dated by the available life of its electrolytic filter capacitors. These components age and fail even if the receiver has never had power applied to it. With the R390A, I find the most common source of intermittent snapping, popping and over-dissipation of the power supply is caused by the 2 multi-section, electrolytic filter capacitors, C603 & C606. These easy to remove and install, plug in components are located in clamps on the R390A audio chassis. Once removed and shipped to me, I disassemble each and replace the internal components with modern design, quality Mallory components. The capacitor is then re-assembled, re-potted and each section is individually tested for leakage and value on an Hewlett-Packard capacitor checker. This procedure gives your receiver a new lease on life while preserving its original look using the original capacitor cans.

If you do nothing else to the receiver, have your filter caps rebuilt while the limited supply of replacement internal components lasts. Price is

$75($3.50) per pair.To the right are 2 finished, rebuilt filter capacitors.

Taking on the job yourself for your own personal radio? Great !! Some specialized help might make give that edge to give you a completed receiver project you are really happy with. I can help.

RF Deck Gear Train Overhaul - $125 ($12) I’ll dissemble the gear train, soak the parts to remove the grease and dirt, lubricate with synthetics, reassemble and perform the mechanical alignments, gear timing and counter overlap.

IF Deck Overhaul/Calibration - $75 ($9) Replace the “problem capacitors” and properly align the filters and stagger-tuned IF coils.

Here is a post-rebuild EAC RF and IF deck that arrived grease coated and in typical disrepair.

Solid state conversion of Power Supply - $20 ($11) Replace the 26Z5W rectifier tubes with reliable, solid state diodes. (This is easy enough for most to do themselves. Contact me for instructions)

PTO Rebuild - $50 ($8) I will disassemble the PTO, lubricate it internally and properly set the end points.

Front Panel Restoration- $200 ($9) Front panel in bad shape? I can restore your ENGRAVED front panel stripping it to bare metal, filling scratches, and re-priming. It is then repainted in a medium gloss, Acrylic Enamel automotive finish then re-lettered using paint and not a cheap silk-screen. Yes, its expensive but the process is very detailed and takes approximately 4 days to complete.

This is an example of a nearly completed repainted and re-lettered front panel. The white lettering paint will be removed from the screw holes prior to re-installation.

Page prepared by R. Charles Rippel

E-mail to: Charles Rippel
URL: http://www.R390A.com
Revision: 03 March 18, 2001
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