Bose amp repair

[David Head]

Following the excellent instructions from Brett -
http://www.users.cloud9.net/~brett/bose/, I ordered parts from Digikey
and attacked this project this afternoon. Digikey was backordered on the
big caps, but since I had heard these weren't usually the problem, I
decided to forge ahead anyway.
The rear Bose speakers amps in my 90 V8q had been popping and whining
for about 4-6 months. Not bad, but obviosly getting worse.
My only difference in doing the work: I used a hair drier and a sewing
kit seam ripper to removel the 'mounting gel'. Small, but still blunt it
worked perfectly. Other than that, it was uneventful. I did notice a few
areas on the PCB where there was corrosion - enough to possibly bridge
traces...
Result: Clear as a bell sound from both amps. It even cleared up the
minor 'pop' when turning the stereo on..
Time: About 3 hours, taking my time.
Expense: 25.00 for parts from Digikey, half of which was for the big
caps that won't be here for 3 more weeks - plus this was enough caps to
do 8 amps. Bought me a new soldering stand fer $6.99, 3.00 for new
solder and 7.00 for a nice pair of nippers I wanted. I do need to get
some silicone gel to reapply to the big coil, but I'm going to wait
until the big caps come in and do those too.
Wishes: A better solder sucker. I might try some wick next time. I just
don't do enough work to justify a high end station with a vaccum pump.
Woulda cut the job time in half though...
Contrast this with the one I had repaired at a shop a couple of years
back - 110.00 for one. Sure he did a great job and would have replaced
more if needed - but it was the same problem.

Dave Head