Germanium Power Transistors?

I think I might have toasted a/some transistor/s last night. I dropped a test probe into my tape deck, and saw sparks. I put it back together to check everything and the transport motor was running slow. In the power inverter there is a blueish looking 2N1542, and some strange metallic crystal deposits on the inside of the case around this transistor. The transistors in the inverter check good. They both have a lower forward bias voltage .18V, but I am assuming that this is due to the fact that it is either a power transistor or a Germanium transistor. However, I have had transistors check good with on the diode setting of my DVM and they actually turned out to be bad. Any advice?

Thanks, Chris KQ6UP

Reply to
Chris
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If there are crystal-like deposits, look for a bad electrolytic that could have "popped" and caused them.

Reply to
hrhofmann

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There were no caps under the cover of the inverter. Really strange. I purchased 2 new transistors (there are two in a push/pull configuration). However, I am hesitant to install them as they were $20/transistor. The discolored transistor tests good.

Thanks, Chris

Reply to
Chris

Are the "crystals" shattered glass from glass sealing/encapsulation, around the leads of the transistor? Replace with any old Si device and run at low voltage and see what happens around it before sacrificing a second Ge power tr

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

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Reply to
N_Cook

Do we know what brand/model deck this is?

Reply to
Meat Plow

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Well my dad and I took a closer look at the situation. I would say for sure they are metallic crystals. However, the transistor that is in there now has been blued from excessive heat, there is no rupture on the can, so we figured there was a transistor that had blown in there before and it had been replaced. It is pretty obvious that it was the transistor that caused the deposits because of the patterns and positions of the markings. If I were to take a stab I would say that they are Ge crystals. The crystals are really small and they look like this:

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Pretty strange eh?

Thanks, Chris Maness

Reply to
Chris

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It is made by a movie sound company called Amega, and the model is M-3. I have another post in this group that goes into more detail about this unit. I have moved this thread to a yahoo group I would like to encourage you to join so that you can see all of the posts:

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Regards, Chris Maness

Reply to
Chris

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