tboomer Messages: 24 Registered: August 2014 Location: North Iowa
Junior Member
Great forum here! I have a Kustom Charger that has been sitting since 1985. It is pretty beat up as far as appearance goes. My goal is to get it going for my own pleasure and should I decide to play out again maybe a bar gig or two. A friend of mine cleaned all off the jacks and pots and put in a new pilot lamp. When it is powered up it will work at extreme low volume. If it is turned up any the sound is distorted and sounds horrible! Also when it is on you can tap on the pots and here a noise. Could it be an easy fix or something expensive and difficult? If it is to costly I will just part it out. Thanks!! Ted
stevem Messages: 4728 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY
Senior Member
These amps use white Molex connectors to couple circuit boards to each other.
The pins in these connectors ( male and female) are aluminum and as such tarnish up with age and make poor connections to each other.
Sometimes pulling them apart and plugging them in 3 or 4 times is all that is needed to get a good connection back.
Sometimes a contack cleaning spray is needed, and also sometimes the female pin section needs to be tightened up some, but this must be done with care to not bend them out of shape!
If its not a connection issue with these Molex plugs then it could be a bad solder connection on a circuit board component.
You should also check that the two screws on the top of the two main power supply filters are tight.
Be sure to check all of this with the amp unplugged!
stevem Messages: 4728 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY
Senior Member
Yes, even wheel bearing, or spray white grease is fine!
Most times in regards to the bad solder connections I have found in these metal face amps have been the orange colored caps , but be sure to check the pot connections to the board also and that the output jack is tight to the chassis, and on the driver / output board that any of the mounting screws that are also a grounding point are tight.
Agree with cleaning the Molex connectors. These are a fairly common problem. The contacts are not aluminum as that would make them way too soft and impossible to solder to.
I use DeoxIt to clean and preserve them. If you do try any sort of grease, use as little as possible. Over time it will migrate all over the place and create a real mess.
If tapping the front panel causes noises, I'd check to see if there are any broken solder joints on the preamp board. The pots and the connectors will break loose sometimes. And any of the larger caps should be checked.
By the way, the easiest way on these models to check this is to remove the entire front panel. That will give you access to the solder side without removing the boards from the front panel. There is only one preamp board in a Charger, so it may be easier to just pull the board.
tboomer Messages: 24 Registered: August 2014 Location: North Iowa
Junior Member
Thanks everyone for the tips! I have good news/bad news. I sprayed the Molex connectors as there was some tarnish on them. Also found a female pin that needed straightened. I did not see any bad solder on anything. But my eyes are not that good anymore! The good news is that it does not make any noise or buzzing thru the speakers when it is powered up. I can tap on the pots and get no noises at all. The bad news is that if I put any volume to it there is a nasty distortion. I am afraid that this may be beyond my means to fix as I don't have the skills to do so. By the time I get it repaired and get a new speaker,casters and the plates I will probably be way upside down with it. So maybe I should just part it out and look for a nice Charger in good condition? Are nice ones hard to find and are they expensive? I love the sound of these amps and if I do play out again I do not like dragging around my 2x15 JBL cabinet. Thanks!! Ted
tboomer Messages: 24 Registered: August 2014 Location: North Iowa
Junior Member
Steve...I played the amp thru my 2x15 JBL cabinet. My Carvin PB 200 works just fine thru the cabinet so I don't think that is the problem. The speaker that was in the Challenger was an old Pyle driver that was trashed.
tboomer Messages: 24 Registered: August 2014 Location: North Iowa
Junior Member
Just thought I would give an update. I received an Eminence Delta 15 A that I purchased from e-bay shipped to me for 84.95. Didn't think that was a bad deal. Can anyone tell me what to use for the nuts to use to mount the speaker to the studs in the cabinet? I must have lost them years ago! The main amp board and pre-amp board are out for repair. Can't wait to get this baby up and running! Thanks everyone for the help here!! Ted
tboomer Messages: 24 Registered: August 2014 Location: North Iowa
Junior Member
Thanks Steve! I hope I can get them at the local hardware store. I am going to try and find new screws and washers for the back also. We have a lot to do before winter gets here and I still am not hitting on all 8 cylinders!