Wanted: your broken/dead old ICOM IC-A20 handheld radio

[ChrisBolkan 130]

Hi!

I am looking for a broken/dead Icom IC-A20 aviation handheld radio for parts. This radio is mid 80's and is about the size and weight of a brick with the battery attached. I need the volume control pot out of a dead one to bring mine back to life. Can anyone help a guy out?? I figure someone must have one in the bottom of a box of junk somewhere. I'll pay shipping and buy you a six pack of good beer!

An old ICOM IC-A2 should also have the same volume control potentiometer I am looking for too!

Edited 22 Aug 2018 by Chris Bolkan

[marksires 484]

I just bought a new radio to replace my old ICOM IC-A22.  It will receive, but transmit always says 'low battery', even with new batteries, and the transmission doesn't go out.  If that has what you need I'll be happy to send it your way.

Mark

 

[Guest]

Mark thank you!

I will research and see if the IC-A22 volume control will work in the A20. The A22 might be too new, but if it looks like it will work, I'll take it and we'll figure out how to get you the money for shipping and beer!

[Guest]

Well crap.....The A22 has volume and squelch ganged so unfortunately it wont work. The A20 has separate volume and squelch controls. Thanks for trying though. I really appreciate it.

[Avid Bart 39]

What's wrong with the old pot? Usually there are a couple bent tabs holding them together and they can be disassembled to clean. Any chance yours is salvageable?

[marksires 484]

Well crap.....The A22 has volume and squelch ganged so unfortunately it wont work. The A20 has separate volume and squelch controls. Thanks for trying though. I really appreciate it.

Sorry to hear that.  I'll keep it around in case it will be useful for someone else.

[Guest]

The pot is a small semi sealed unit with on-off switch on the back made by ALPS but somewhat customized for ICOM with a funky shaft size reduction. So difficult to spec one thru digikey or mouser. I have removed the pot and ohmed it out. It's open to the wiper and no amount of contact cleaner has brought it back to life. I do not have the means to actually disassemble and try to repair it. It's riveted and quite tiny. I'm pretty creative at fixing problems like this and I see no alternative to finding a replacement.

Mark, yes keep the A22 around. It may be repairable and is certainly spare parts if someone has a problem with an A22 and needs parts. If it is something you are throwing away (I wouldn't) I'm happy to pay shipping and that beer I promised and will keep it around for parts myself even tho it won't help fix mine. :-)

[Avid Bart 39]

That sucks you can't repair it. Can you get a part number off the pot? I have had luck finding parts like this in online surplus stores.

Reminds me of when my wife's treadmill display quit working. It turned out to be a burned out output pin on the microcontroller. It was some weird brand and was obsolete but I found a replacement online and was able to pull the program off the old micro and load it on to the new one. Looking back, I should have thrown the treadmill out and bought $50 used one but it was a fun project.

[Guest]

I went ahead and took it apart after your suggestion and realizing I might be able to use safety wire to replace the rivets. When I got it apart it was obvious what was wrong. The wiper had separated from the plastic bushing it is attached to. (Screwdriver pointing to broken part and a penny to scale how small this thing is!) I may be able to fix it with a bit of gorilla super glue on the end of a tooth pick and then re assemble. My fingers feel like billy clubs working on stuff this small!

Edited 27 Aug 2018 by Chris Bolkan

[Avid Bart 39]

Good to hear you tore into it! Now you're on the path to remorse after you spend a day unsuccessfully trying to repair a $0.60 part 

Honestly though, good luck fixing it. Hopefully you are able to make it work.