All,

I have acquired a Sony ICF-SW40 radio. The rotary tuning knob on the
side of the unit is faulty. When I rotate it in a given direction,
the frequency setting doesn't change in a linear fashion but hops in
indiscriminantly sized steps in either direction up or down. This is
true for all three bands. Hence tuning is very unreliable.

How is the tuning wheel coupled inside the radio?

Could this be an issue with excess dirt / lack of lubricant in the
tuning mechanism?

Has anyone experienced this kind of problem before and how was it
solved?

Thanks
SB.

SB wrote:
All,

I have acquired a Sony ICF-SW40 radio. The rotary tuning knob on the
side of the unit is faulty. When I rotate it in a given direction,
the frequency setting doesn't change in a linear fashion but hops in
indiscriminantly sized steps in either direction up or down. This is
true for all three bands. Hence tuning is very unreliable.

How is the tuning wheel coupled inside the radio?

Could this be an issue with excess dirt / lack of lubricant in the
tuning mechanism?

Has anyone experienced this kind of problem before and how was it
solved?

Thanks
SB.

Sounds like a rotary encoder. Could be a $5 repair if you do it yourself.

The encoder you need is an Alps EC11B15202AA. That is what was used in your ICF-SW40. You will find one on Ebay at a reasonable cost if you do a thorough search. Some big electronic wholesalers also have them listed.

On Wednesday, 26 November 2014 at 10:22:00 UTC+8, wrote:
The encoder you need is an Alps EC11B15202AA. That is what was used in your ICF-SW40. You will find one on Ebay at a reasonable cost if you do a thorough search. Some big electronic wholesalers also have them listed.

My SW-40 has the same symptoms. I opened up the radio and cleaned the tuning rotary encoder with switch cleaner, no real change in symptoms.
I am wondering if it might be the capacitors and not just the encoder? Although a visual check of the large electrolytics shows them to look normal, no leaks or bulges.

Anyone else seen this issue? How was it fixed? Did the encoder swap out work?

On Saturday, 3 October 2020 at 08:27:10 UTC+8, Jon Whitton wrote:
On Wednesday, 26 November 2014 at 10:22:00 UTC+8, wrote:
The encoder you need is an Alps EC11B15202AA. That is what was used in your ICF-SW40. You will find one on Ebay at a reasonable cost if you do a thorough search. Some big electronic wholesalers also have them listed.
My SW-40 has the same symptoms. I opened up the radio and cleaned the tuning rotary encoder with switch cleaner, no real change in symptoms.
I am wondering if it might be the capacitors and not just the encoder? Although a visual check of the large electrolytics shows them to look normal, no leaks or bulges.

Anyone else seen this issue? How was it fixed? Did the encoder swap out work?

The symptoms are that when tuning the frequency jumps and going upwards it drops back down to a lower frequency and is sometime even had to go up to a high frequency. Often it jumps so much even when tuning up in frequency, the jumps are such that the frequency goes below the original setting. Going down frequency is fine. Very strange indeed!

Hello, sorry for my translator English. Any suggestion is welcome.
I have 2 Sony ICF-SW40 with the same problem, in one of them the ALPS EC11B15202AA encoder has been replaced and the symptoms have not changed. I appreciate any information or progress on this problem. Thank you.