What is This Component?

P

Python

Audiophyte
I figure that I'm definitely posting in the right forum since I don't know exactly what I'm looking at.

So, can someone please take a look at the pic and tell me what the component that is labeled "A-16 2105" is?
And can I assume that the red wrapped component is a wound resistor?

From what I understand, crossovers are made up of three types of components: Resistors, inductors, and capacitors.
I see the two (black) capacitors, the sandcast resistor, the (red) wirewound resistor, and the inductor at the top edge, but I really don't know what that A-16 2105 is.

This is a speaker crossover from an old ESS PS-1020 speaker.
As a relative newbie, I'm thinking of leaving the two resistors and the inductor alone, but changing out the two caps. I figure that will restore the sound to these speakers but not change the sound
But what the heck is the A-16 2105?
 

Attachments

Bucknekked

Bucknekked

Audioholic Samurai
Why would you replace the caps? The idea that everything old must have bad caps has been debunked many times over. If you know they are bad, that's one thing. But to shotgun them in on a whim may not give you anything but a headache.

As far as "what is that component?" , I'd vote it as a diode rather than a transistor because it only has two legs.
Discrete transistors back in the day were common with three legs and diodes with just two. Just a guess.
Good luck. What's the issue with the crossover?
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Why would diode be part of crossover? hmmm could be a choke
 
Bucknekked

Bucknekked

Audioholic Samurai
Why would diode be part of crossover? hmmm could be a choke
Bored, I honestly have no idea what a diode would be doing in a crossover, much less a transistor.
I'm not a crossover guru. I built a few way back in the day out of need. I remember resistors, hand wound coils, and caps. That's all I remember putting in a simple crossover.

I am interested in what the OP is thinking in trying to "fix it". Its it broke? Does he think replacing caps is what fixes old electronics? Does he know how its wired?
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
The red wrapped part could be a solid core inductor as well...
Frankly this is more likely a better topic for the DIY crowd.
 
P

Python

Audiophyte
I am interested in what the OP is thinking in trying to "fix it". Its it broke? Does he think replacing caps is what fixes old electronics? Does he know how its wired?
It is common knowledge that electrolytic capacitors dry out over time. They simply do. And as they age, they are the one thing in any audio device that will degrade the sound as they age. And when they begin to actually fail, they begin to stress other components that can lead to more drastic and expensive repairs. But once they begin to dry out, the loss of quality sound from the device is the first thing to go whether in an amp or in speakers.
These speakers are about 30 years old or so, and since I'm putting new surrounds on the woofers and passive radiators, I thought it would be a good idea to change out to new audio grade capacitors just because I had to take the apart anyway.

I've refurbished several vintage amps by re-capping them, and putting new caps on them totally transforms them into very impressive amps, and the same goes for speakers as well.

What stumps me about the A-16 2105 is that I have run those numbers all over the place and can't come up with any kind of reference to it.
I understand the guesses as to it being a diode or a transister, but those are components that are just not found in any of the speaker crossovers I've looked at.

As far as the red component, while I've seen resistors in that form factor, this one isn't marked as to it's resistance (unless it's underneath), so I am very agreeable to the idea that it might be an inductor.
But whether it's an inductor OR a resistor, that kind of wirewound component is not prone to fail (even with age) so I don't plan on changing it out for anything else.
I "might" change out the sandcast resistor because the "pros" often recommend replacing a sandcast with a wirewound in this application, but I'm not totally sold on that idea so I think I'll leave it alone as well.


Whatever the A-16 2105 is, and as curious as I am about it, I've decided to leave it alone and only replace the two capacitors with audio grade caps.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
Whatever the A-16 2105 is, and as curious as I am about it, I've decided to leave it alone and only replace the two capacitors with audio grade caps.
As I mentioned earlier, I suspect it is a circuit breaker for thermal protection. You can check it with a multi-meter, it should read 0 on the X1 resistance range. You can leave it alone, but if 30 years old it may no longer work to spec, just make sure the resistance is 0 or almost 0. If need be, it can replaced with one of those I linked, or just bypass it at your own risk. Before that though, I think you should trace out the circuit. There are only 6 parts mounted on a PCB so it should be easy to trace and create your own schematic diagram; that will also help confirm whether that part is in fact a circuit breaker, or not.
 
P

Python

Audiophyte
As I mentioned earlier, I suspect it is a circuit breaker for thermal protection. You can leave it alone, but if 30 years old it may no longer work to spec, just make sure the resistance is 0 or almost 0. If need be, it can replaced with one of those I linked, or just bypass it at your own risk.
I have to say that I think you nailed it, especially with your first link. That is EXACTLY what mine looks like.
The only issue now is to try to figure out the specs of the ones on my boards.
Those numbers on my parts "should" suggest something of a value, but I'd hate to just guess.
If I were to guess, it might be something along the line of 1.6a and 200w if I very loosely translate the numbers that do appear on the part.
And you're also right that a thermal circuit breaker IS another component that can succumb to age and/or long term heat, so if I can figure it out, I believe I will replace it along with the capacitors.
 
P

Python

Audiophyte
Peng, I now believe that you have absolutely nailed it.
Doing some more sleuthing, I finally found this old brochure that shows the specs of the PS-1020 speakers.

The perfect clue I found is a reference to the speaker having a "Protection" device on board, that is, a "Thermal overload-sensing breaker, self resetting".
That right there is the smoking gun I needed to verify that you are right about what it is.

For "Power Handling", the speakers spec out at 150w max. So if I go with a 150w thermal overload unit, I'd be right where I need to be to protect these speakers.
This is the one I found that fits the spec: ... oops. audioholics won't let me post a link because I don't yet have 5 posts. But I found what I need so I'm good to go

Great job, sir!
 

Attachments

Bucknekked

Bucknekked

Audioholic Samurai
It is common knowledge that electrolytic capacitors dry out over time. They simply do. And as they age, they are the one thing in any audio device that will degrade the sound as they age. And when they begin to actually fail, they begin to stress other components that can lead to more drastic and expensive repairs. But once they begin to dry out, the loss of quality sound from the device is the first thing to go whether in an amp or in speakers.
These speakers are about 30 years old or so, and since I'm putting new surrounds on the woofers and passive radiators, I thought it would be a good idea to change out to new audio grade capacitors just because I had to take the apart anyway.

I've refurbished several vintage amps by re-capping them, and putting new caps on them totally transforms them into very impressive amps, and the same goes for speakers as well.

What stumps me about the A-16 2105 is that I have run those numbers all over the place and can't come up with any kind of reference to it.
I understand the guesses as to it being a diode or a transister, but those are components that are just not found in any of the speaker crossovers I've looked at.

As far as the red component, while I've seen resistors in that form factor, this one isn't marked as to it's resistance (unless it's underneath), so I am very agreeable to the idea that it might be an inductor.
But whether it's an inductor OR a resistor, that kind of wirewound component is not prone to fail (even with age) so I don't plan on changing it out for anything else.
I "might" change out the sandcast resistor because the "pros" often recommend replacing a sandcast with a wirewound in this application, but I'm not totally sold on that idea so I think I'll leave it alone as well.


Whatever the A-16 2105 is, and as curious as I am about it, I've decided to leave it alone and only replace the two capacitors with audio grade caps.
Go get 'em tiger.
Lots of folks come here with half baked hairbrain ideas about old equipment and sound. If you've spent time and effort re-capping an amp or AVR, you obviously have some skill and a great idea about what you're doing. It would be interesting to see how this turns out.
 
Bucknekked

Bucknekked

Audioholic Samurai
Peng, I now believe that you have absolutely nailed it.
Doing some more sleuthing, I finally found this old brochure that shows the specs of the PS-1020 speakers.

The perfect clue I found is a reference to the speaker having a "Protection" device on board, that is, a "Thermal overload-sensing breaker, self resetting".
That right there is the smoking gun I needed to verify that you are right about what it is.

For "Power Handling", the speakers spec out at 150w max. So if I go with a 150w thermal overload unit, I'd be right where I need to be to protect these speakers.
This is the one I found that fits the spec: ... oops. audioholics won't let me post a link because I don't yet have 5 posts. But I found what I need so I'm good to go

Great job, sir!
If @PENG is posting on a topic, he's pretty much spot on. That guy is as detailed and deep as they come on amplifier and circuit topics. He has forgotten more than I know about amps and circuits
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I have done some digging. Those ESS speakers had a zener diode
clamp circuit to protect the tweeter.

It would be a circuit like this.


So that would have produced a short circuit to the tweeter at a an overload voltage.

Those clamp circuits were quite common in the seventies and eighties. Trouble is it dropped the impedance to the value of the series resistor in the L-pad circuit when activated and amps could object. The other problem is that once activated the short circuit could be permanent.
 
Bucknekked

Bucknekked

Audioholic Samurai
I have done some digging. Those ESS speakers had a zener diode
clamp circuit to protect the tweeter.

It would be a circuit like this.


So that would have produced a short circuit to the tweeter at a an overload voltage.

Those clamp circuits were quite common in the seventies and eighties. Trouble is it dropped the impedance to the value of the series resistor in the L-pad circuit when activated and amps could object. The other problem is that once activated the short circuit could be permanent.
I get a piece of that winning toffee apple ! I thought that sneaky looking thing was a diode.
Now I can go to bed happy.
Do NOT burst my bubble and have it turn out to be something else. :)
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
If @PENG is posting on a topic, he's pretty much spot on. That guy is as detailed and deep as they come on amplifier and circuit topics. He has forgotten more than I know about amps and circuits
Thanks, I don't know that much, but when I do know something about zener diodes and thyristors (aka SCR) and there were widely used in my ex work places:D. TLSGuy is not correct on this one, that thing is NOT a thyristor, nor a Zener diode. It is, as confirmed by the OP's attachment in post#12, a thermal overload sensing self resetting breaker.

By the way, a thyristor would have 3 legs, anode, cathode and gate.
 
Phase 2

Phase 2

Audioholic Chief
I figure that I'm definitely posting in the right forum since I don't know exactly what I'm looking at.

So, can someone please take a look at the pic and tell me what the component that is labeled "A-16 2105" is?
And can I assume that the red wrapped component is a wound resistor?

From what I understand, crossovers are made up of three types of components: Resistors, inductors, and capacitors.
I see the two (black) capacitors, the sandcast resistor, the (red) wirewound resistor, and the inductor at the top edge, but I really don't know what that A-16 2105 is.

This is a speaker crossover from an old ESS PS-1020 speaker.
As a relative newbie, I'm thinking of leaving the two resistors and the inductor alone, but changing out the two caps. I figure that will restore the sound to these speakers but not change the sound
But what the heck is the A-16 2105?
That's a component that the borgs use to acclimate you into the system. So that you can be used as a collective. :p;)
 

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