Amplifier speaker relay problems.

you're very welcome Guy - wish that they were all this easy!

Not sure anyone will respond but...A friend has a Sony TA-F3A amp. She says it was acting up - i.e. after powering up, it would take quite a while before she would hear the characteristic click and she would get sound but now it never clicks. Sounded like a relay problem. So I opened up the relay, blew some contact cleaner and that did not help. The contacts look to be gold plated so they shouldn’t even be dirty. I removed the little spring (see the pics) and sure enough, the contacts look very clean. Next test was to see if there was any sound - so I added a source and listened through earbuds. No sound. However, if I manually (using insulated pliers) flip the contacts in the relay so that they make contact, I get good sound out of the earbuds. So for some reason, the relay will not flip. It does not seem to be because of a problem in the circuit, as I get good sound out of it. So either the relay is gone or something upstream of the relay is gone. Any ideas?

Seems that I cannot add pics.

What is the problem with simply replacing the relay?

Also, I've had similar issues with Yamaha's. While I was upgrading parts, I also used a relay socket. This lets you swap relays in/out quickly without resoldering. Relays have been standardized for a long time, so with a little luck you can find an exact fit.

The old relays I saw used convex curves which minimized contact area and had more reliability issues. More modern relays have matching concave / convex contacts which supply much better contact surface.

Best,

E

Should also point out, you should not just replace the relay with a fuse.

The protection circuitry prevents turn on/turn off transients and DC protection which a fuse will not.