Becker Europa II Amplifier

[swdunne]

Most recently my radio, 1972 280 SEL Becker Europa II which has worked flawlessly the past 6 years, has started putting out static. The static occurs after the radio has been on for about 10 minutes and is most noticeable when the volume is low. It does not change with the change in reception and in fact is more like a crackling noise than radio static. Raising the volume seems to knock it out a little though I am not sure if the radio is just louder than the static it or actually "replacing" (for lack of a better term) the static. I suspect the amplifier as it is worse on the right speakers. So my two questions is this best left to a radio expert and if so any suggestions on who would be best suited for the repair. Thanks

[bwostosh]

Snd it into the becker rebuild shop or get a used one to compare it to
first check the wires and speakers..

[Tomguy]

Does the fade knob on the dash affect the sound quality at all? You may need to try some electrical contact cleaner in this knob if so.

[Coastal220]

Interesting post. I have some distortion--not exactly static--at volumes I would think the stereo should be just fine with. I have a Europa Mono. I haven't investigated too far into it because even at moderate volume Neil Young sounds great while cruising along Highway 1. The speaker is new--definitely the unit that is putting out the distortion.

For your static: I would pull the unit, check the antenna plug on the back, open the stereo up, clean out all the dust and crap, and use contact cleaner on all the moving parts. Check all your speaker connections. Seems like a maintenance issue and not a part failure. Look for corrosion and oxidation.

Cheers.

[ScooterABC]

The amplifiers usually either work or they don't. I suppose you could borrow one from me (at your postage expense) and see if that fixes your problem. You could send it in for repair, but it will cost you probably more than a replacement. My suggestion would be to go buy a can of CRC tuner electronic contact cleaner, open up your radio, and spray the hell out of everything with the cleaner. As much as you can around the volume control, etc. I suppose same for the amp, but there is less going on in there. You can substitute your early style stereo amp with a later style (smaller) stereo amp and it will work, although the speaker plugs will probably be different styles.

[NC-Diesel]

Just as an aside question does the Becker Europa II require an amplifier unit to work?

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by NC-Diesel

Just as an aside question does the Becker Europa II require an amplifier unit to work?

Now that you mention it, I think of a Europa II Stereo as being a radio that does not have a separate amplifier.

[swdunne]

Yeah actually Europa, not II... My bad. Sent radio and amplifier to Becker in New Jersey. It was the amplifier and i don't know what the thyristor might have had a bad rasterator or something. While it was there they fixed a few other things I didn't know were bad, like the stereo didn't work (sounded like an old radio to me) and the signal lock was weak. Got it back in about a week and wow what a difference a little tune up makes! yeah I spent $200 but really not that pricey when you consider it preserves the originality of the car and works pretty much like new.

[ScooterABC]

I think $200 is a good value for what you got. I would have expected more...

[hurd2390]

I pulled out the Becker radio last night on my 1971 280SE and the wire that runs from the radio through the firewall just kept coming and is cut on the end. Where does this wire go?? Please help and thanks...

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by hurd2390

I pulled out the Becker radio last night on my 1971 280SE and the wire that runs from the radio through the firewall just kept coming and is cut on the end. Where does this wire go?? Please help and thanks...

There should be a wire (usually black) coming out of the becker that is the POWER wire. Power goes to the radio through that wire. There is optionally another wire with a connector tip plugged into a spade tip on the becker - that is the power antenna signal feed. When the radio is ON, that terminal becomes +12V and that tells the power antenna to go up. When the radio is off, the terminal becomes nothing and the power antenna goes down.

So I'm not sure which wire you are talking about, but those are the only two wires going to a becker that are not speaker pair wires. (Ignoring optional things like short wave radio adapters....)

[hurd2390]

The wire that I mentioned is probably the antenna wire...we are not getting power to the radio and we have changed all the fuses under the hood so I think someone had mentioned in a previous post there is a fuse behind the radio somewhere?? Does that sound right to you ScooterABC??

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by hurd2390

The wire that I mentioned is probably the antenna wire...we are not getting power to the radio and we have changed all the fuses under the hood so I think someone had mentioned in a previous post there is a fuse behind the radio somewhere?? Does that sound right to you ScooterABC??

The antenna wire is plugged into the back of the radio with a spade tip connector. The power wire just goes directly into the radio. BOTH of these wires could route to what appears to be the same location.

There are two possible places for the radio fuse - one is in-line, behind the radio, which is less likely. The more correct place for the radio fuse (IMHO) is in a auxiliary fusebox located on the passenger side under the hood near the firewall. See attached picture. I mean the little brown fuse box that holds two fuses.

[hurd2390]

Copied the picture and will check it out today. Scooter ABC thanks for your time!!