Thank you for this very helpful video, I was about to throw my radio out. My wife gave me this radio for my birthday 13 years ago and it broke my heart that it hadn’t worked for the past 5 years. I'm so happy to have it working again!
I had the pleasure of working for Henry Kloss in the 80’s at Kloss Video in Cambridge MA. He was the co-creator and designer of the Tivoli line of audio products modeled somewhat on earlier 60’s vintage KLH audio products.
Very nice video. I restore radios as a hobby. My tenor saxophone is made in France, its a Dolnet Belair. My parents presented it to me in 1968. I've even used 3-in one Oil on a few really bad volume switches , but contact cleaner is something you can't be without. Those radios are amazing for their size. thanks for sharing.
Thank you. It works great now. I was planning on getting rid of mine cause of this very issue. Once I removed the 6 black screws and removed the back, I used the end of a wooden spoon to pop the front out.
For the wood, I use Weiman Natural Lemon Oil. Any gouges or scrapes will darken because or the damaged grain. I worked as a bench tech in a music store and cleaned scratchy pots with similar clean/lube. It works really well. Great video!
I have the same model, bought almost 20 years ago as one of the first batch imported in Italy, and probably it needs the same operation! Sometimes I have to give it a "gentle bump" to let it work! I hav the digital version as well. I'll try to open the old one in a few days! Thanks for the video, it is long but I do not mind, I like it, just relax and watch!
if your tuner is scratchy or a bit off, meaning if you are listening to 95.5 and the dial shows 96.3 or so then try the following. this is from tivoli itself who says dust can build up in the tuning mechanism. turn the radio on, set volume at ZERO. then tune back and forth the entire roation of the tuning dial vigoursly for 3 minutes. this works out the dust and spreads the factory lube that is in the tuner. i just bought a used tivoli, the tuning was off, not correct for what i heard and what dial said. i did this and now the tuning is right on , and not scratchy. contact cleaner works great if you have scratchy volume knob.
I found the same blue/wood finish from an empty house. The only wrong with is the the water damaged cabinet. Took it apart and refinished the wood cabinet and voila! I have a nice radio.
They went from a tuning capacitor to a potentiometer. The potentiometers get dirty after use for a long time. The tuning capacitor was much more reliable and lasted forever
Because of the unfortunate camera angle, I could not see where you sprayed. This would have helped me a lot since I have the same exact model and I have disassembled it, but I cannot see where to spray because the potentiometer (or variable capacitor) appears to be completely sealed in an interior special metal box. I really do wish I could have seen exactly what and where you sprayed. Also, over here in the United States, for a deoxidizer and lubricant, many of us use a product called Deoxit-D5.
In case it helps anyone out there with scratchy tuning from a Tivoli Audio radio... I fully solved my scratchy noise issue by rotating the tuning dial through its full range of motion for about 3 to 5 mins. (radio was off and unplugged) My guess is that the varicon capacitor contains some sort of dielectric lubricant which needs periodic movement from time to time... spraying cleaner may in fact damage it permanently... just my guess.
Yes, this is actually what Tivoli recommended me trying, when I called them on the phone recently (Jan 2024) and got a bit of free advice. Exactly what you did with a couple of additional points: 1. Turn off and unplug radio. 2. Turn it upside down for at least 4 hours, to let the lubricant make its way back "up" to the top of the varcap or pot. 3. Turn the tuning knob all the way to left and right, back and forth, again and again, for 5 minutes straight. 4. Return to up-side up, plug in, and see if tuning is less scratchy now. In my case, i did the procedure and it helped, but did not completely eradicate the scratchiness.
Hello, That kind of distorition can also be caused of "too strong" antenna signal. But that's only my theory. Regards Stig Österberg from Dalsbruk in Finland.
Thank you for this very helpful video, I was about to throw my radio out. My wife gave me this radio for my birthday 13 years ago and it broke my heart that it hadn’t worked for the past 5 years. I'm so happy to have it working again!
Very happy to ear that ! it's a very nice radio / happy for you :-)
I had the pleasure of working for Henry Kloss in the 80’s at Kloss Video in Cambridge MA. He was the co-creator and designer of the Tivoli line of audio products modeled somewhat on earlier 60’s vintage KLH audio products.
Whaou ! It’s such a nice design, simple and elegant I think.
Very nice video. I restore radios as a hobby. My tenor saxophone is made in France, its a Dolnet Belair. My parents presented it to me in 1968. I've even used 3-in one Oil on a few really bad volume switches , but contact cleaner is something you can't be without.
Those radios are amazing for their size. thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the very nice comment !
I tried this and it worked -- I used WD-40 & and an aerosol dry lube -- before the tuner barely worked & now it seems perfect -- Thank You!!
Glad it helped and another of those great looking radio avoided the trash bin ! Sound is great with it. Thanks for the comment !
Thank you. It works great now. I was planning on getting rid of mine cause of this very issue.
Once I removed the 6 black screws and removed the back, I used the end of a wooden spoon to pop the front out.
Great ! Well Done !
For the wood, I use Weiman Natural Lemon Oil. Any gouges or scrapes will darken because or the damaged grain. I worked as a bench tech in a music store and cleaned scratchy pots with similar clean/lube. It works really well. Great video!
Hey thank you, I will have to see if I can find this product in France . Thanks for the comment !
I have the same model, bought almost 20 years ago as one of the first batch imported in Italy, and probably it needs the same operation! Sometimes I have to give it a "gentle bump" to let it work! I hav the digital version as well. I'll try to open the old one in a few days!
Thanks for the video, it is long but I do not mind, I like it, just relax and watch!
Thank you ! Glad you enjoyed the long video :-) cheers
Thank you for your video!
such helpful video.
thank you!!!
My pleasure ! Glad you liked it !
if your tuner is scratchy or a bit off, meaning if you are listening to 95.5 and the dial shows 96.3 or so then try the following. this is from tivoli itself who says dust can build up in the tuning mechanism. turn the radio on, set volume at ZERO. then tune back and forth the entire roation of the tuning dial vigoursly for 3 minutes. this works out the dust and spreads the factory lube that is in the tuner. i just bought a used tivoli, the tuning was off, not correct for what i heard and what dial said. i did this and now the tuning is right on , and not scratchy. contact cleaner works great if you have scratchy volume knob.
Thanks for your comment, getting the dust out surely helps, I also turned the dial a lot in my procedure, cheers.
I followed your video and fixed mine too
Thank you 👍🏻
Very happy for you ! Thanks for the feedback !
I found the same blue/wood finish from an empty house. The only wrong with is the the water damaged cabinet. Took it apart and refinished the wood cabinet and voila! I have a nice radio.
Nice ! I wish I could work with wood, I wouldn't be able to redo the wood cabinet so congratulations ! well done !
oh my god, a couple condensed air sprays fixed it. thanks! also saved this one from trash
Cool ! Thanks for your comment, glad it saved yours !
There is no electric contacts where you spray that stuf. 😆😅😂
Well it worked....
The points where the capacitor rotates is an electronic contact, else one set of the plates would just be floating
Thanks
My pleasure !
Thank you. Half of the video is on taking the four screws from the back.
This gives me opportunities to improve
I had the exact same problem with the screws, so I was actually glad you included all of it! 😂
I have the same exact radio but mine makes that horrible scratching when I adjust the volume. I’m going to try this this to see if that fixes it
Ok, tell me if that Works afterwards !
They went from a tuning capacitor to a potentiometer. The potentiometers get dirty after use for a long time. The tuning capacitor was much more reliable and lasted forever
Thanks ! That explain why it works, it’s like cleaning a potentiometer because in fact it’s one …
Because of the unfortunate camera angle, I could not see where you sprayed. This would have helped me a lot since I have the same exact model and I have disassembled it, but I cannot see where to spray because the potentiometer (or variable capacitor) appears to be completely sealed in an interior special metal box. I really do wish I could have seen exactly what and where you sprayed.
Also, over here in the United States, for a deoxidizer and lubricant, many of us use a product called Deoxit-D5.
I think the product you talk about should be simular, sorry if my filming was not clear enough. You can try, it won’t harm…
In case it helps anyone out there with scratchy tuning from a Tivoli Audio radio... I fully solved my scratchy noise issue by rotating the tuning dial through its full range of motion for about 3 to 5 mins. (radio was off and unplugged) My guess is that the varicon capacitor contains some sort of dielectric lubricant which needs periodic movement from time to time... spraying cleaner may in fact damage it permanently... just my guess.
Ok, thanks for your comment, mine works fine now. Cheers.
Yes, this is actually what Tivoli recommended me trying, when I called them on the phone recently (Jan 2024) and got a bit of free advice. Exactly what you did with a couple of additional points:
1. Turn off and unplug radio.
2. Turn it upside down for at least 4 hours, to let the lubricant make its way back "up" to the top of the varcap or pot.
3. Turn the tuning knob all the way to left and right, back and forth, again and again, for 5 minutes straight.
4. Return to up-side up, plug in, and see if tuning is less scratchy now.
In my case, i did the procedure and it helped, but did not completely eradicate the scratchiness.
are you sure that fixed the issue? turning the dial a millimeter or two and catching a station then claiming the tuning static issue was fixed?
Well, yes it did
Would have been better had he tuned across the band, but yes, it did fix the problem.
Hello, That kind of distorition can also be caused of "too strong" antenna signal. But that's only my theory. Regards Stig Österberg from Dalsbruk in Finland.
Ok, thanks for the comment
May I suggest you get to the point sooner. 10 minutes is a long time to wait for the meat of the video. Thanks.
Sure, trying to improve, thanks for the comment
The item is out of the frame for a large part of the time.
Yes I know, one of my first videos, I’m getting better I hope ;)
Sounds like it has the same problem after 😒
Maybe something different as the problem I had ? Cheers
Ohhhh... This video could have been 3 minutes long 🙄
Ok, I see your point but so many short vidéos and I like to chat 😀
@@RetifsGarage Yes... I noticed that 😀 take care
gotta love the accent! ;-)
For many of us yes, but some people have never opened a radio.