My rca inputs and outputs are fucked!

[crumbsucker]

could you see that on DSC01544.JPG and 1545 and 1546 pictures?
anyway it seems to me a "plastic" thing not a "Metallic" one...

No I couldn't see anything, they were taken from the side and not from the top, and really bloomed and unsharp to begin with.

Anyways this is what a broken solder join can look like:



As I said, in that case just heat it up for a second, done.

exactly.

...sometimes i get long-winded in my posts.

[Chuck]

I think I found the culprit!
When I push on the rca jacks this joint seems to move a little.

[ellaguru]

could you see that on DSC01544.JPG and 1545 and 1546 pictures?
anyway it seems to me a "plastic" thing not a "Metallic" one...

No I couldn't see anything, they were taken from the side and not from the top, and really bloomed and unsharp to begin with.

Anyways this is what a broken solder join can look like:



As I said, in that case just heat it up for a second, done.

i didnt found anything really near those unsolder parts, but maybe just a little one. i've soldered it anyway.

what i noticed, instead, was that the rca itself , tehir metallic parts, they move a little...when i mean rca i mean exactly that:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103224
...maybe in my case the problem is not to solder things...
if i have time, i will post othe pictures...

[LoneStar]

what i noticed, instead, was that the rca itself , tehir metallic parts, they move a little...
...maybe in my case the problem is not to solder things...

Yeah, that solder joint you marked looks intact to me. The jacks themselves wobble, you say? Sounds like the whole jack assembly is slowly falling apart. Not the most proper and durable one it seems anyways, from the looks of it.

If that's the problem, you'll need to replace it. You already found the joints you need to desolder

[Chuck]

Hey Lonestar, take a look at the joint that I marked in my picture. It doesn't really look like the example pic that you posted, but it looks to me like the base of the solder is not even connected to the board anymore. It wobbles when I push on the rca's. Do you think I should just heat up the old solder like you mentioned before? Thanks in advance!

[modulr]

whoah, thanks for this info btw!

[LoneStar]

Chuck hm, if the whole blob moves, then the copper solder pad has gone off the board. You'll then need to establish a new connection which is electrically identical to the original one.
It looks like that pad is meant to be connected to the large-ish copper area above it, right? If so, you could use a piece of insulated wire to connect the joint to any solder point which is connected to that area too. Maybe the second one left to the red plastic clip. The one on the large-ish copper area.

Cut the piece of insulated wire to the proper length, leaving maybe 5mm more for safety. Strip off the insulation off both ends, 2-3mm of bare wire is enough. Apply some solder to the ends so it's easier to attach. Then just heat up the solder joint, stick one end in it, try keeping it flat on the board.
Then do the same on that other solder joint you found and the remaining end of the wire.
Gently press the wire flat to the board so it won't get in the way when you re-assemble the whole. Make sure the bare ends of the wire don't touch any other part on the board.
Voilá, you just fixed a broken connection.

That said, do you have some semi-proper tools for the job? Namely a soldering iron with a fine tip, pliers, sharp knife and a wire cutter? It's pretty fiddly, you need steady hands.

[Chuck]

Lonestar, thank you so much for taking the time to help!

Yeah, the whole blob is moving when I push on the rca's. I just picked up a cheap 25w soldering iron and I do have all the other tools you mentioned. What I sometimes don't have is a steady hand, but I think I can manage.

I'm not sure which copper area you mean to solder the insulated wire to. Also, do I solder it to another blob or a copper area around a blob? Is there a certain kind of insulated wire that I need to use or will any kind work? Sorry for all the questions.

Is this what you're talking about, or am I way off?

[LoneStar]

Hmmm I can't see everything I would want to... still, I'm talking about the copper area the blob is connected to. BUT the right one you marked looks like it isn't connected at all! Not too uncommon doing this, sometimes additional solder joints are used just for mechanical stability. I can't see it on the left one. Look close, are those two blobs connected to a copper area at all?
If not (what it looks like) you can disregard that completely.

Should they be connected to the SAME copper area, then the wire you drew would be the correct fix.

[crumbsucker]

Such macro from the above would reveal more. I've opened SP-555 just to see if it is made in the same way, but it is quite different.
All connectors are on separate PCB but it would take me too much time and space to disassasmble it.
What I can see is that plastic pins (red) hold the RCA's but hey are also soldered to the PCB. At the points where they are soldered there is no copper around... they are not connected... those are probably just for stability as LoneStar said. But I couldn't see how it looks on the other side of the panel.

http://www.4shared.com/file/239754721/fbfda6a8/DSC07620.html

[Chuck]

Maybe you guys can spot something from these shots:

[Chuck]

So you guys are saying that the loose blob that I spotted might just be there for support? It almost looks like some kind of glue or something around the blobs.

[Chuck]

Hey where did all my help go?!

[sampling_percussion]

I have a main output that is very quiet, buzz/hiss audible above the samples, phones output has no problem. Touching the metal on the rca leads that are plugged in alleviates this slightly & cleans up the signal but it still seems much quieter than i remember my last 303 being(couple years back). am i dealing with the same thing, will i need to open up & resolder?

cheers

[Euclid Ov Oåklånd]

You could try, but using the headphone jack should suffice. I bought my 303 new just before they stopped making them and try to be very careful when I use the RCA jack since that seems to be the thing that busts on these.