Icom IC-730 Refurb Advice

[SLR_65]

Hi Guys,

I got my Tech license last month and just passed my General test this month.

A club member made me a good deal on an Icom IC-730.

It's not in the best of shape, but not the worst either. Basically it's just dirty and it's been sitting for a while.

It belonged to his father-inlaw who went silent key and it was working with no issues when stored. He has a better radio but thought this would make a nice backup or portable. It got put in the garage in a box but the flaps of the box didn't seal up well and they live on a gavel road, so it's a bit a dirty, it's not filthy but it's not clean either.

He did fire it up, it seems to be working though the preamp relay appears to need cleaned (very common on these units).

I'm thinking I'll open it up and vacuum out what I can, then blow what's left off with compressed air. Then Deoxit the controls and switches. I see where you can remove the relay and build a simple circuit to cycle it while you flush it with Deoxit and most likely get it working again, else there are instructions on how to replace it with a more commonly available relay. All in all, not a mountain.

I looked around the net, but I didn't find any service, maintenance or refurb videos, articles or anything. Mostly just info on how to fix the relay and enable transmit on the WARC bands. (I did find the service manual, though I'm looking for something written more for a layman)

Am I missing a site? Does anyone have a detailed routine maintenance video or site link they could share?

Any hints, tips, comments, etc. are welcomed - I don't like to reinvent the wheel, so if you can make my refurb job easier I'd appreciate it!

Thanks!

Steve

 

[fourstringburn]

Congrats on your General upgrade! The Icom will make a fine starter rig.

Here is a link that will give you plenty of info on your radio.
The info is free to download, However you only get 1 download every 24 hours unless you make a donation.

This is a donor sponsored website that has valuable information on nearly any HF radio and many Hams refer to this site so you may want to make a donation if you like it.

Here is the link:

http://mods.dk/manual.php

Click on the Icom link on the ModsDK webpage then scroll down to Icom and open Icom link and find your radio. You will see Services manuals, owners manuals and other helpful info.

Here is a link from the same website showing mods like how to enable the WARC bands on your radio.

http://mods.dk/index.php?ModelId=283&RadioId=1-icom&ModelRec=ic-730

Good Luck!

 

[fourstringburn]

I should note on the 2nd mods link I gave you has a preventive maintenance link that maybe helpful written in maybe a intermediate layman's terms.

Also you can contact the authors of those links for help and advice.

 

[SLR_65]

Thanks fourstringburn!

I was actually looking for something like a Kenwood TS-430S as they have tons of info on them. I just got the Icom and power supply really cheap and couldn't turn it down.

It seems my Icom is a solid unit with few problems. The few it has are pretty easily solved.

It evidently didn't have a large following though as like I said, it doesn't have many web pages or videos focused on it. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe it doesn't have them because it doesn't need them?

Sometimes I get in a hurry and just do things in the easiest/quickest manner, but I'll try to slow down and maybe take some pics and do some writes ups as I open up the unit and clean it up and refurb it.

Thanks again, take care,

Steve

 

[SLR_65]

I found there's a Yahoo Group dedicated to this radio and it still appears active. My membership hasn't been approved yet so I don't know how useful it is yet, but I'm sure there'll be something there I can use.