Repairing a NuTone IM5006 Master Station
Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 7:51AM This NuTone IM5006 Master Station was delivered to us with the typical failed power supply problem. This problem causes the IM5006 system to broadcast a loud, pulsating tone throughout the entire system and the only way to stop it, is to turn the power off to the system.
This IM5006 is a fairly early version, the serial number starts with #109. This IM5006 has been repaired 2 times already and judging by the workmanship not too much care was taken during the previous repairs.
It was also obvious that the previous repairs was "minimal repairs", only the bare minimum numbers of parts needed to get the set working again were replaced. This probably accounts the need for this unit to be repaired so many times.
A major disadvantage to this approach is the toll it takes on the circuit boards. The build quality of the early IM5006's is not very good, the machine soldering is poor quality which makes reworking the board more difficult and the more times the board is reworked the greater the chance that the board will become damaged.
The lack of replacement boards means that if a board becomes damaged beyond repair the IM5006 may very well be considered unrepairable.
A proper repair should have all of the failed components replaced along with all of the components that will eventually fail in th esame circuit. The goal of this type of repair is to have a unit that should be trouble free for 10-12 years.
A note of cauction when working on a IM5006. The IM5006 has two-side, through-plated circuit boards and these require special equipment and tools to rework them. If they are worked on incorrectly the boards WILL BE RUINED!!!!
This IM5006 was successfully repaired and it should perform properly for the next 10-12 years.
The cost of this rebuild was $345.00, which is a good value considering that replacing a IM5006 system can easily cost $3000 - $4000.