The 10 most common problems with a NuTone IM /IMA3003 Music Intercom System
Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 9:21AM The IM/IMA3003 Music Intercom System was in production from 1984 through 1994. During this time there were many electronic updates to the fundamental design of the 3003.
The 3003 is a 3-wire, home-run wired system which has room-to-room intercom functions, entry door communication, built-in AM/FM radio and a digital clock.
The models manufactured in 1984-1985 use different amplifier/control and selector control boards than the later versions. With the increased popularity of built-in Chime Modules, a change was made to allow the homeowner to take better advantage of this new option.
To be able to hear the Chime Module throughout an early 3003, it was necessary to leave the power switch in the ON position. If if the power switch was in the OFF position you would not hear the chime tones. A change was made in 1986 which allowed the chime to be heard regardless of the power switch position. There was a Factory Modification to convert early models if needed.
The 3003 does have a true digital clock, however it has an analog (mechanical) tuner. The tuner is connected to the digital display for convenience, but it is not a digital tuner.
There are Room Control Switches behind the door which surround the clock. Behind this door are the Intercom Volume and Tone Controls along with buttons to set the clock.
The 3003 uses 25 ohm speakers throughout the system.
Inside remote speakers are Models:
IS/ISA305: Small inside stations with 5" speaker cones, Ivory, White, Faux Wood Grain
IS/ISA308: Large inside stations with 8" speaker cones, Ivory, White, Faux Wood Grain
Inside wall mounted Remote-Controls:
IC/ICA301: A small wall station with volume and intercom control, no built-in speaker
Inside Remotely mounted Ceiling Speakers:
IS76: A round Ceiling Speaker with a 8" speaker cone, used with IC/ICA301 remote control
IS75: A round ceiling speaker designed to look like a recessed light fixture with a 5" speaker cone.
Inside Volume Controls:
IC901: A wall mounted Volume Control used when creating a Music-Only location.
Cindy & Christopher
POWER SUPPLY PROBLEMS:
The #1 problem with 3003 systems has to do with failed power supply components on the Power Supply/Amplifier/Intercom Control circuit board.
When the 3003 was new, if you listened carefully to any speaker, you would hear a light background hiss. This is white noise. White noise is the background noise an amplifier makes when it is turned on.
As the 3003 ages, the hiss becomes a hum, and as time passes the hum becomes louder and then turns into a buzz. These changes in the sound are due to the gradual failure of the components in the Power Supply.
As the 3003 reaches the complete failure state, you will notice that the radio, door chime and intercom functions will not work, although the clock will still show the time. If you turn the radio power on and switch the input selector to FM, you will notice that the numbers on the display will continuously change, as if the display were counting.
If left in this condition, the 3003 can have a dramatic failure which will cause greater damage to the amplifier.
THE SOLUTION:
Rebuilding the Power Supply in a 3003 is a fairly simple task for a NuTone Service Center. It consists of replacing 10 capacitors and 4 diodes.
More repair will be required for sets that have been left powered up after they have failed.
THE OUTCOME:
After rebuilding the power supply, the 3003 will be restored to its original condition, with only a slight hiss of white noise at each station. This type of repair will extend the life of the of the 3003 for another 10-15 years.
Inside the red box are the power supply capacitors. All of the blue arrows point to the newly installed parts. There are 3 additional capacitors located on the other side of the heat sink.
Here are all of the old capacitors.
Cindy & Christopher
CHIME MODULE PROBLEMS:
The 2nd most common problem with a 3003 has to do with installations that include a chime module.
Chime modules are Models are:
IA28 which is a 1-2-8 note chime module.
IA29 which is a musical chime module.
When a chime module is installed in a 3003, the interconnect cable is plugged into the Switch Control Board. This 4-pin connector supplies power to the chime module and makes the audio output connection from the chime module to the 3003.
Chime modules have a high gain output (high signal level) and that signal is fed into the switch board through a pair of transistors. Some times when a chime module fails, it will feed DC voltage into the switch board input and cause the transistors to fail.
Chime module failures are not uncommon field service requests. Even thought the chime module has failed the service person will find that a new module will not solve the problem. The switch board failure must also be corrected.
Reader Comments (113)
In response to your question about my Nutone IM 3003, you can not hear anything from one remote to another remote(one bedroom to another). From the remotes to the master I can hear and can speak to my front remote. I can hear at the master 2 bedroom remotes but they can not hear me try to respond to them. The other bedroom remote and the patio remote I can not hear at the master and they can not hear me trying to talk to them.
Hi Randy,
In technical terms your IM3003 is "broken". You should fill out an Intercom Repair Request Form (in the navigation Heading of every page) and once I receive it, I'll contact you directly about the problems with your IM3003
Thanks
Chris
Hi everyone.. any help would be HELPFUL. lol .. my power tripped, on my nutone main control, all the control buttons are lit up with a solid red light, and nothing is working, how can this be corrected?
Hi Vikki
What is the model number of your NuTone Intercom System?
Chris
We have a IM3003 which is having issues. The master unit works fine but none of the room speaker or patio speakers play music unless the "end call" button is held (not just pressed and released). Any ideas as to the cause and possible fix?
Thanks!
Bryant
Hi Bryant
The source of problem you're experiencing is the IM3003 Master Station, their is a failure in the Intercom Control Circuit.
Please fill out an Intercom Repair Request Form (in the Navigation Heading on the right-hand side of the page) and once I receive it, I'll contact you about the problem with your IM3003
Thanks
Chris
Just bought a house with a unit installed that was not working. I have fixed all except door chime. Not really that concerned to fix that. My transformers are really hot to the point where I can feel the heat through the wall.. is this normal?? It's the 3303
Hi Ryan,
No, it is not normal for the transformers to be so hot that you can feel the heat through the wall. This indicates that your IM3303 has a fairly serious problem that should be resolved before it fails all together.
Please fill out an Intercom Repair Request Form (in the Navigation Heading on the right-hand side of the page) and once I receive it, I'll contact you about the problem with your IM3003.
Thanks
Chris
I have a nutone model 3303, never had any problems with it until last nite. It turned itself on and started scanning fm radio stations then IC would come up on the display. Can you send me contact info so the problem can be fixed..
Thank you
Hi Richard
Please fill out an Intercom Repair Request Form (in the Navigation Heading on the right-hand side of the page) and once I receive it, I'll contact you about the problem with your IM3003
Thanks
Chris
925-743-8236
I have an IM3003 intercome system and have replaced the 10 capacitors in the power supply and have very low output volume on both Am and FM.Th unit draws .79Amps when measured with an AC ammeter at 16 Volts Ac.
What is the probable problem?
Best Regards
Albert
Hi Albert
I don't like to speculate on the cause of specific problems, especially on a Master Station I have never seen. The problem is likely on the main board.
i don't like the 'shot gun" approach when trying to fix anything, the correct method is to measure voltages and find the cause of the problem.
Chris
The home I just bought has a NuTone MI3003 and the unit is quite old-looking. I want to replace it with a new unit (master +2 room units) using the same wiring and hopefully no drywall repair. Any ideas on what type of unit I can purchase? Does Nutone make newer models that could replace this one? Thanks
Hi Rey,
The correct upgrade model for your NuTone IM3003 is the new NuTone NM100WH Series. If you contact me directly I will put together a list of the equipment that you will need to update your system
Thanks
Chris
925-743-8236
I have a weid problem with my 3303...Displays C1 and dosen't want to hold a FM or AM Channel going back to the C1 on the dispay...Any Help? Thanks Ed
Hi Ed,
I'm going to make a leap here and guess that the display on your IM3303 actually shows "IC" not C1.
Are you aware that your IM3303 has a RESET button and have you tried resetting the Master Station? If you open the lower right-hand door on the Master Station, you will see a small hole in the panel (to the left of the Loudness Switch) insert a small screwdriver and push the rest switch until you feel it click, hold it for 5 seconds the release. If the problem vanishes, your done. If the problem returns there is something else wrong.
There are several things that can cause your IM3303 to be lock into the IC mode.
One common cause can be a wet, corroded or damaged outdoor Patio Station. If you have Patio Stations as part of your system, try disconnecting the 3- wires from the back of the speaker (don't let the wires touch each other) and see if the IC problem goes away.
An Inside Station can cause the IC problem, just like a Patio Station does, however it is less common for it to be an inside station.
The IC problem can also be caused by a damaged or shorted wire between the Master Station and a Remote Station. This is more difficult to track down.
There can also be problems with the IM3303 itself which cause this problem. All other sources for the IC problem should be eliminated before blaming it on the Master Station.
A simple troubleshooting task is to isolate the IM3303 Master Station for the rest of the system. Do the following:
1. Download a copy of the Installation Instruction form our Free Manual Page
2. Look at Page 6 of the installation Manual.
3. Open up the IM3303 Master Station.
4. Locate the 4 ribbon cables that connect the Master Station to the Terminal Board
5. Unplug the 4 ribbon cables
6. Perform a RESET on the IM3303 Master Station
If the "IC" problems vanishes, it indicates that the problem is somewhere in the system beyond the Master Station
If the problem returns, the problem is within the IM3303 Master
7. Fill out an "Intercom Repair Request" form (in the navigation heading) I will contact you directly about troubleshoot the IC problem
Chris
Thank you for the write up and documentation. After replacing the capacitors, the system seems to be mostly functional.
The problem I am facing is that the radio/door chime/intercom work as intended at the Master unit, however at each of the remote units you can only hear the radio or chime if you press and hold the "End Call" button at the remote station(s).
The Talk/Intercom button works between all the units, so the problem seems limited to the "End Call" button. If you press and hold the End Call button at any of the remote stations (we have 6) you can hear the radio/chime at all remote stations.
Any idea what can cause this?
Hi Dave,
I would suspect that there is a problem with the Control Circuits in the Master Station. It will take some amount of troubleshooting to identify where the problem(s) are.
Thanks
Chris
I have a nutone model 3303, nothing is working as of now. The display shows the time and when you turn on the radio, the stations show up just fine but no sound. When the master unit's radio is off, it will hum once in a while, when you tap the master unit, the hum stops. Any ideas?
Hi Steve,
The good news is that since the display works correctly, the Micro-Controller is probably fine. The bad news is that is probably has a Failed - Power Supply or Amplifier or Intercom Control Circuit or some amount of all of these potential problems.
Please fill out an Intercom Repair Request Form (in the Navigation Heading on the right-hand side of the page) and once I receive it, I'll contact you about the problem with your IM3303
Thanks
Chris
925-743-8236
PS. Are you aware that your IM3303 has a RESET button and have you tried resetting the Master Station? If you open the lower right-hand door on the Master Station, you will see a small hole in the panel (to the left of the Loudness Switch) insert a small screwdriver and push the rest switch until you feel it click, hold it for 5 seconds the release. If the problem vanishes, your done. If the problem returns there is something else wrong.
Chris
Hi I just moved into a house with a NuTone 3003. The house is 25yrs old so I assume the intercom is as old. Every now and again there is a crackling sound from the main unit and from the door speaker. Any idea if this is repairable or how to make it stop? The digit clock still works.
Thanks!
Kyle
Hi Kyle,
Generally speaking, crackling sounds on an Intercom System like the NuTone IM3003 is caused by by dirty or corroded control push buttons or circuit board in a remote station (Patio Speakers are the worst offenders). I'mm not sure how you determined that the crackling sound comes from the Master Station and Door Speaker. Since all of the stations are tied together, any of them can effect the rest of the system. The exception to this is the door speaker, since it does not have any intercom controls it can't cause system related problems on its own.
The basic troubleshooting on this type of problem is to disconnect the wiring from the terminal board (from all of the remote stations) leaving just the door speaker connected. If the problem goes away (giving plenty of time to see if the problem is really gone perhaps 2-3 days) add back 1 station at a time to see which one is cause the problem. If the problem persists after all of the wiring is disconnected, it is likely that the IM3003 Maser Station is part of the problem. It may be a early sign of an impending failure.
You can use DeOxit D5 (from Radio Shack) to clean the volume controls and push buttons in the remote stations. This may be all that's needed to resolve the problem.
If it turns out to be a Master Station problem, please fill out an Intercom Repair Request Form ans once I receive it, I'll contact you directly about about the problem and repair of your Master Station
Thanks
Chris
925-743-8236
You discuss at the beginning that most repairs begin with the replacement of the 10 capacitors and 4 diodes...
I read several reports of success replacing the caps, however, you do not discuss which 4 diodes at any time...
Are the diodes the four of the full wave bridge rectifier ?? Or others ???
My 3003 died with no function other than the clock working properly, but can't change the time. I only discovered the failure after trying to change the time after the last daylight savings time change over.
Everything else is inoperative.
Hi Rick,
While replacing the power supply capacitors and diodes is the starting point for a IM3003 rebuild, it is by no means the only work that is likely to be needed to rebuild a unit completely.
Each IM3003 Master Station will need its own individual diagnosis and components to resolve its problems. These problem may include failed localized power supplies on each of the separate circuit boards, a lack of intercom operation due to logic IC failures, a lack of intercom relay control due to failed transistors, failed chime module inputs, poor radio tuning and reception due to tuner problems, inaccurate radio frequency readout and improper time keeping on the display board. And then you get into amplifier related problems on sets with poor sound quality. . .
Each of theses common problems require there own group of components to solve the problem, and often the number of problems is greater in sets that have been in a failed state for a long period of time.
Thanks
Chris
the chime feature works on and off. Sometimes by just opening and closing the unit it will start working for a while,then quits again what can this problem be??