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Pioneer Receiver vs Dust.


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Short version:

 

I have a Pioneer VSX-D507S receiver from the late 90s. The last time I used it, 5 or 6 years ago, it worked fine. Today I tried to use it and found most of the buttons don't work, and the ones that do, work sporadically. I decided to open it up, just to see if there was something obvious. It was either that, or buy a new one. 

 

The first thing I noticed was that, even with the cover off, was that I still couldn't see the buttons. The second thing I noticed was that everything was completely covered in a thick layer of dust.

 

Does anyone know if the dust could be affecting the functionality of the buttons?

 

 

 

Long, rambling version:

 

As I stated in my new members introduction, my wife suffered from M.S. and passed just last week. The past few years of my life has primarily been devoted to her care, and to looking after my sons. They are teens, however, and don't need as much looking after as they once did. Anyway, I need to fill my free time, and keep myself distracted, so I am getting back into some old hobbies.

 

Since my wife had not been able to go down the stairs, into the basement, where the audio and home theater were set up, I hadn't been in the room at all in close to 3 years. It had been 5 or 6 years since I had spent any time in the room. Off and on, my sons, and their friends, would spend some time in the room, but they never used any of the stereo equipment, as the do everything on their phones. 

 

I knew they had left the room a mess, so, today, I thought I would check out how bad it was. It was disgusting, so I decided to clean it up, along with the help of my younger son. I thought, that I might as well listen to some music while we cleaned. I turned on the cassette player, pressed play, and the tape started rolling. I pressed power on the receiver, but nothing happened. I pressed it a few more times, and it finally turned on. It was set to FM radio, but not to any station we can pickup around here. I pressed the tape button, but nothing happened. I pressed it a bunch more times, still nothing. tried some of the other buttons. I could get FM and DVD, but nothing else for inputs. The radio tuning buttons didn't work either. I started pressing random buttons, just to see what would work and what would not. I managed to switch from speakers A to speakers B, to which there is nothing is hooked up, but could not switch back. 

 

This is about the time I decided to open up the receiver. I labeled and unplugged all the inputs and speaker wires, so I wouldn't have to trace them back after> I figured, that it wouldn't hurt to look inside. Either it was something obvious, or I had to buy a new receiver. That's when I noticed the dust. The CD changer and the cassette deck are of the same vintage, but they both seem to work fine, I just cannot hear them, since I the receiver won't go into the right modes. 

 

If I had a proper remote, maybe I could it work, with out the buttons functioning. Unfortunately, all I have is a generic Pioneer remote, that only covers the most basic functions, and mostly based around TV/DVD. I bought most of the system new in '99. The receiver, Pioneer cassette deck, Pioneer CD changer, Samsung VCR, full set of Nuance speakers (now defunct Canadian brand) with center speaker, sub, and 4 towers. At the time I also bought a 32" Sony TV, because the big flat panel units were still selling for $10,000 to $15,000. For some reason, when I bought it, the store had only given me the one generic Pioneer remote for all the Pioneer equipment, but separate remotes for the TV and VCR. I am not sure if each component was supposed to have it's own remote, but I assume so. I never thought much of it at the time. A few years later I added a DVD. About 10 years after, I replaced the TV with a 50" for $1000. and replaced the DVD with a Blu-ray player, but the rest remained the same. I used to have a Denon turntable, but it got smashed when we moved, in 2015. I hope to replace it soon. 

 

Also, one of the kids seems to have spilled something sticky on the generic Pioneer remote, so what little functionality that did have, is no more. Maybe I can take it apart and clean it. 

 

If I have to replace the receiver, I think I will have to go with a used one. I was looking at the websites for the local(ish) electronics retailers. From what I can tell, most, or all of the new receivers have a bunch of HDMI inputs and only a few RCA. Since the only part of my system that outputs HDMI is the Blue-ray, that isn't very practical. I need to have inputs for satellite, Blue-ray, VCR, cassette, CD, phono, and, preferably, a couple more.  A friend of mine is lending me a reel to reel machine indefinitely, since he doesn't have room for it,  and his wife thinks it's ugly. I would like to have another input for mp3, as well. On each of those audio formats, I have some music that I don't have on any of the others, except the reel to reel. As it is I would need a small switchbox for everything. With a modern receiver,  I would need a rather large switchbox. 

 

Wow, that ended up even more rambling than I thought it would. Anyway, if anyone knows if the dust would cause this problem, let me know. Also, would compressed air be enough to clean it out, or should I be looking for some kind of contact cleaner spray?

 

Thanks , in advance, for any any advice. 

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