cassette deck and walkman repairs
cassette deck and walkman repairs
my name is Rene, from 1985 to 1999 I used to repair in and out of warranty cassette decks and walkmans for Kenwood, Yamaha , Pioneer, Sanyo and other brands and with the current increasing interest in analog audio, and cassette decks in particular, I started this channel to share tips and tricks that I have picked up over the years.
I will mostly do 'end-to-end' video's about repairing, servicing and adjusting the deck from beginning to end with a lot of talking , showing , tips etc and very little editing.
If you have any questions or particular video's you would like to see just reach out and maybe I can assist ?
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Testing new cameras as a single camera doesnt always capture what i am doing the right way , hopefully with 2 cameras and switching between positions assists a bit
@ 31m37s, why do you flip to the "bad" side of the Hans Peter Roth azimuth tape. I am a beginner and no expert but I thought you only use the side marked "Sehr gute siete" (Very good side) that is with the blue label to the front, to set the azimuth with that tape. It was recorded with a special full track head covering the whole tape width so it is only correct for one side or am I wrong? On an autoreverse deck you would have to set it so both sides are OK (kind of) but then you flip the head (so the tape drives to the left) as you flip the label side to the back (with the Hans Peter Roth tape) i think. But this is not an autoreverse deck. I love your videos. They are the best I have seen. I look at hifirulezzz ones too but yours are explaining things a lot better.
Because it is advertised as ‘full track’ so side A and B should theoretically be the same , i just always verify both A and B to see if the difference is acceptable
Think you finding your way now to do useful service videos. Congratulations ! KEEP GOING 👍
@@drdolby1585 i tried the ‘what does this button do’ and ‘compare 3 decks’ video’s , i even made the video’s but its not fun to do so i trashed the vids 😎 I’ll keep repairing and mostly like do a fee ‘what do you actually need to maintain and/or repair’ vids and leave the comparing and instructional vids to others 😁
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair Yeah, don`t do the Dave (12voltvids) or the guy who never responds to his subscribers (hifi_somewhat?). They are a league of its own and they are fine with what they doing. Do your channel. Go your on way. That`s it !
Saya punya Kenwood kx 44 IC L78N18 panas.dek mati total
IC L78N18 is a simple 18v voltage regulator in the power supply , if you disconnect teh output from the board do you see 18v on the output ? then it might be one of the caps behind it defective
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair apakah tau penyebabnya saya cek ada yang konslet (error)
@@adewahidin8440 yes, most likely a short circuit or defective capacitor
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair baik saya coba cek. Thank
@@adewahidin8440 if you download the service manual for the kx-54 you can see the circuit drawings for the machine and power supply
Hi Rene, very insightful and useful videos. I think you mentioned somewhere that you can provide test tapes as well. I would be interested in getting some (I am in Belgium). Cheers.
please send me an email ? [email protected] then i can send you the test tape for the cost of shipping
@cassettedeck-walkman-repair
i dont see your comment , please send me an e-mail ? [email protected]
Thanks so much for this video, thx to you I was able to replace the huge melted belt what a mess :) now the issues remaining are the right channel that seems dead and the function buttons working intermittently ( play rewind etc..) Any idea where I should start? Many thanks again!
After wiggling the rec and play buttons, now the right channel spikes for a few moment then dies if it can help diagnose 🙏🏼
You need to clean the rec play switch with contact cleaner , i will post the time stamp to the video soon
@@juliemc920 if you go to 15:12 you see 2 long metal switches on the board i folded up , those 2 are the rec/play switches, one for left and one for right , you need to clean those switches with deoxit or other contact cleaner , that will help with right channel the play rewind problem is most likely the idler wheel and the rubbers around the take up and supply reels , you can clearly see them around 0:55
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair ok! I cleaned the rec play switches again, they're were so filthy I cleaned them with more love this time :) I also made another pass at the function switches. Both my channel now works! Now the remaining culprit is that my right channel seems to have only the max playback output. It does nothing when I play with the playback switch. Left channel ok. I just noticed that they're seems to have copper traces under there, under the actual switch on board ! It is so dirty I did not notice them the first time, I only saw the copper sliders under the upper deck.. will try to clean with qtips. Still trying to figure out the working mechanic of these switches , wish me luck and let me know if I need to check something else about that topped right channel. Thx again so much for your help!!!
I am also waiting for the correct size belt as the bigger I had seems a bit too short so the speed sometimes fluctuate a bit
I nice and helpfull new video. Still waiting for the belts size of the KX-7030. Thanks
p.s. the small belt has very little influence on the w&f , if its a bit too tight you can adjust the back tension as well to adjust for that
Još jedan uspešan projekat ! Uvek nešto naučim. Pozdrav 👍 Imam jedno pitanje da li postoji neka aplikacija za android telefone za podešavanje azimuta i ostalih stvari na dekovima?
i use the 'nak t-100' software on a mac, i know there is a windows version as well for pc/laptop but i dont know of any software that can run on an (android or apple) phone , you need to have a stereo input on the phone for azimuth and levels and most phones do not have a line in ? speed is easy as you just need a frequency analyzer but levels and azimuth you really need a stereo line input
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair znači da bi trebalo da radi na kompjuter ili telefonu preko 3,5 mm ulazu za zvučnike ili slušalice koje su povezane na činčevima za levi i desni kanal
@@aleksandarpavlovic2774 yes indeed , you need a stereo input for left and right , most phones will not have this but a pc or laptop will work fine
I have the KX-380 and 930 and they are excellent players.
Yes they are ! And quite easy to work on as well
Hi just started watching your channel You have a low view count, yet your video production is excellent. hang in there..
Thank you !
I enjoyed the video, thanks. Did you measure the coils on the failing motor? Sorry if I missed it.
its not in the video but the coils are all good, no broken wires and resistance all the same even when compared to the replacement motor
Think you can make good money if you sell homemade mirror tapes. Could`t find any on eBay.
i'd much rather show people how to do it themelves , share the knowledge and experience instead of keeping it 'secret' and making it seem like rocket science ;-)
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair And I was too lazy to do it by myself.
@@drdolby1585 i will see if i can make a dozen or so and send them out to people that want them
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair I for sure would like to see how you make a mirror tape.
Where could I get the little white disks you replaced in the back plate (time stamp: 45:24) Thank you.
@@nicksower6064 they get small indentations from the flywheel , but you dont need to get replacements, you carefully and slowly take them off (leave the double sided tape back on the metal) clean them with iso alcohol, turn them around so you now have a straight clean side pointing to the flywheel and put them back
good job again, I would prob make one good deck out of the two and then keep the others for spares, unless you really feel the need to have them both working or could sell them on without making a loss.
i havent really decided yet , these decks hardly ever need unobtainable spares (jinxing it again) so i am really thinking about biting the bullet and saving it instead of parting it out
Ok, the belt change was a breeze thanks to your video but it looks like i have a bigger problem... While one deck is fine for all functions, the right deck is sluggish for fast forward and rewind but the bigger problem is that even though the flywheel spins on play for a few seconds, the head does not lift up so no play. I don't hear any effort either. Any ideas on what the problem might be? The unit looks clean and likely was never opened up earlier based on the condition of the screw heads.
when the transport is all together , does the head can be freely moved up and down ? it should be able to be moved up and down easily without any resistance , if you cant move it the pin that noves the head bridge up- and down sits in the wrong position inside the white gear thats under the flywheels please confirm the headbridge being able to move freely , if it cant i'll make a quick video how to address it if you are unsure how to do it yourself
Yes, I took the mechanism out again and the head group can easily be moved up against the spring that pushes it back down. I would greatly appreciate such a video but it sounds like the pin is already in the right place from what you're saying. Perhaps a solenoid that activates the head cam is faulty/disconnected or the control circuit is fried though I very much doubt the latter. Thanks again for your help.
@@NewJerseyGuy let me see what i can do for you
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair thanks to this thread, my deck is now as good as new, Rene! The solenoid that I suspected to be the culprit was indeed the offender. I had hesitated to pry it too much earlier. Still, after seeing a comment by a visitor on this video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/pKagt5SSqabcd5M.html I decided to push the solenoid a bit harder as it looked like its piston was extended. That did it and it popped right back in. One deck less for the landfill and one more for someone somewhere to enjoy for a few more years - when it leaves my hands...
@@NewJerseyGuy glad you got it solved !
Hello. There is a problem of this kind in the kenwood kx 7030. when playing a cassette, playback stops. also, when rewinding the cassette, the rewinding stops. you will not be able to determine where to look for a fault. the entire belt tension mechanism is cleaned and lubricated. but the above problem is not fixed. the belts are new.
in the video 5 minutes 55 seconds you see the take up and supply reels , with the black and silver , those reflective surfaces make 2 sensors on the green pcb in front of it high low , that is the tape rotation detection , if the black/silver surface is dirty it stops (or if the belt melted and dirtied the reel surface or the sensor surface the machine cannot detect tape rotation) , if its not dirty put a scope on the sensors to see if the sensor works (goes high/low) if the sensor works but the counter doesnt work and the machine stops check the flat cables from the transport to the main pcb and the high/low signal into the main processor
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair thanks, I'll give it a try.
@@Denn0262 let me know if it solved your issue ?
Looks almost identical to my kx-340. These are excellent sounding 2-head decks.
The 340 is also a good deck
Price ??
Free if you win it when we get to 500 subs
Great video! Where do you source belts and pinch rollers from?
I hardly ever replace pinchrollers, good clean is mostly enough Belts i source from various suppliers but the kx-1200 belts came from here www.electro-andijk.nl/index.php?option=com_virtuemart
Seeing this brings back memories. I was a Yamaha Electronics technician back in the 1990s. Got to go visit the yamaha factory in Buena Park and take training there. I always used to put a tiny drop of oil on the flywheels to control wow and flutter and see if I could detect any play in the motor bearing. I would replace the motor if I could feel any play. Glad to see you're using yamaha belts, aftermarket belts have ridiculously high W&F.😊
@@damonhill4909 so we’re ex-collegues 😁 since there’s not a lot of us left i try to Document, film and pass of knowledge on as many models as i can get my hands on
🎉
I had the KX-360 and now i own the KX-490. Very good little decks. What are those white dots on the plastic case? Something like corrosion on plastic?!!!
I dont know what the spots are , cant seem to remove or clean them 😢
awesome. My kx 230 is still going on its original belt. even lower end yamaha is pretty damn decent.
@@FunzieOne typically an underrated brand but they can hold themselves against much better known brands
Play trim is the best feature on Yamaha desks it can help with playback from recordings made on other desks
JVC decks have always performed best for me.
Jvc is a good brand as well
Was it a bad capacitor in the MPX circuitry that caused the loud thump in the left channel? I didn't quite catch that during my first runthrough.
@@HjortePlayground yes it was , 2 bad caps 1 in the record circuit and 1 in the play circuit
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair Thanks! I have an Onkyo TA-2058 doing the same thing, but with the Monitor switch instead. Loud thump in the left channel. I can't smell any p*ss, but maybe I need to get my nose closer to the PCB.
@@HjortePlayground also when caps leak , they leave an oily spot around them , like wd-40 has been dropped there (might be something to look for) If all else fails just by-pass the mpx filter , no one records from radio anymore anyway so that pilot signal doesnt need to be filtered out ? Will make for better recordings as well without that filter
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair As I said, it's the Monitor switch, not the MPX switch :) Unfortunately, there are no visible signs on the PCB of any caps leaking.
One of my 3 cassette decks is a Kenwood..the KX W4020 twin deck...i prefer my Technics RS-B10 though...i never get any motor noise from the Technics...
the kenwood shouldnt make any audible noise either ? maybe just starting to show its age ?
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair...the Decks are late 80's to early 90's...35 years give or take a year..one of Kenwood mechanisms or transports as they call them nowadays..DeckB is more clatter than A..take it out..strip it and grease it..that'll probably help..lot of work..and i might screw it up..changing the belts was one thing..dismantling it is a challenge reassembling it to work..is something else..dunno
@@markianclark9645 i’ll see if i can find a 4020 and do a service / motor replace video on it , i want to document as many kenwood and yamaha decks as i can so that mode should be on the list as well
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair oh nice...
Rubber renew has isopropyl in it with Methyl Salicylate. Aka Winter Green . Both work good to clean , rubber renew is more powerful and takes off the oxide and dirt right away.
@@universalhead thats good to know , i like to use ipa
Where to buy Rubber Renew in Europe?
@@HjortePlayground i wish i knew , i found some on amazon for €45 per spray bottle , extortionate if you ask me
MG Chemicals is the brand. I wouldn’t be familiar with Europe. There is MG Chemicals UK Limited . Amazon sells it in North America.
I moved from Rubber Renue to CaiKleen RBR.
good video brother. I have a deck with almost no left channel so this was helpful.
@@FunzieOne thank you ! Glad it was helpful
Thank you for this great guide, i have 2 of them to fix! Anyway if i am not asking too much, can you tell me the size of the belts that you found to be good for the deck? I also never found the way to disconect the phones card from the front panel. Any idea? I also discovered that this deck works well even without the small belt, i really cannot understand what is the use of that. Thank you Rene!
I will measure the belt that i used tomorrow for you and let you know . The small belt is to provide back tension to the supply wheel , when its not there and your pinch rollers are a little bit dirty or the tape path is a little off the deck will start to eat/destroy tapes (i show that in the next video kenwood kx-880hx in 5 days)
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repairHi. Have you measure the belt size?
@@nikossoursos7032 i ordered the belt from here www.thakker.eu/en/belts/tape-deck/kenwood-kx-7030-belt-kit/a-1090/ sprry for my late reply
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair Many people on the net says that the small belt from Thakker it is not the correct size. What do you think?
@@nikossoursos7032 i think its good , it worked for me
Silver coloured deck looks familiar, is it kx-500?
@@PerSkeles k-540 , pre kx series
Realy flat frequency responce
@@Bus2000 absolutely, and i didnt touch it , this was out of the factory and without auto-bias so i left it ‘as is’
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair amazing
I liked Kenwood as a brand in 90s not highend stuff but was affordable and had the features you required.
i am convinced that kenwood, some models not all, can compete with all the 'bigger' and 'better' brands out there freq response during record and playback is flat , as it should be , and not 'colored' like some of the brands that are regarded higher ? record should be as close as possible to the source , any personalized coloring of the recorded sound should / can be done later but the recorded tape should be as the original
👍
Bought it 1991. Top of the models in that time. Have it stil. Works very vell. For recording you have to chose source (CD, radio) in the amplifier from which you will be recording.
Very cool!
thanks a lot for your videos. I wish i can repair myself my cassette decks. But I'm afraid i can break some plastic parts because I'm clumsy with my big hands.
Thank you for the compliment!
Very helpful video, thanks! This model has other issues (cracked cog wheel, bad el.caps on DD board), but once taken care of, it's a great machine, although it has a bit of a clunky sounding transport. There <click>, now you have 200 subscribers ;-)
cog wheel was ok , i didnt see any cracking on the idler either , i will check the caps and replace if thats needed , thank you for the heads up !
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair If the caps on the DD board are bad, there will be a clicking noise coming from the transport even in STOP mode. It's usually easy to hear, especially if you open the door and put your ear to the opening. Another thing with this deck: It will always use 3-4 watt of power even if it's turned off but still connected to the mains. I still like the deck though :)
@@HjortePlayground no clicking sound here , but i will replace them anyway to Prevent future issues
I rescued a low hour Technics RS B404 last year. Looks a lot like you're B555. The head was oxidized a lot. Polished the head but the high tones are not perfect anymore. Very good serviceable deck. Did not need any new belts. In the beginning the buttons worked a little bit funny like your's. If I can find a new head this will improve the sound. Thanks for you're video 👍
@@Bus2000 I am glad the video helped !
I have the 930. Fantastic deck! Replacing the belts was very tricky for me! Took me about a year to get around to it after acquiring the deck. The belts had turned to mush and it was a mess to clean up!
@@sacflies yes, once those belts turn to Mush you have a real jon on your hands
Hey Rene, being from the Netherlands, are you familiar with the band The Maureens? Love those guys!
@@sacflies no i am Not , sorry!
Its much easier to get the belt on the motor pulley if you just put the far left screw in on the motor plate. Then you can lift up the right side of the plate and put the belt on much easier. I couldn't get it on with the plate completely screwed down!
@@sacflies that’s the tricky part, getting it on with the plate mounted . You’ll get it after 30-40 decks 😁 but it takes a little practice
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair I'm sure you're right! I was asking myself "how in the world did he get the belt on the pulley so easily?". I am loving the 952! It is sounding fantastic. I oiled both motors and the squealing noise is gone. I had to adjust the speed, especially on deck 1, after replacing the belts. I just did it by ear. I streamed the album of the tape that I was playing and matched it up the best I could. I don't have all the fancy gadgets that you have! But I think I got it dialed in pretty good. Your video was extremely helpful! Thanks for posting it. I will be following your channel regularly. Thanks.
I was able to replace the belts without removing the wires to the motor pretty easily. Good thing because I'm a crappy solderer!
@@sacflies well done !
Nice deck! How desperately I needed something like this couple of decades ago =)
@@angel604cry the deck or the video ? 😁
Nice deck Love the pitch control will fit nice with my pitch controlled minidisc deck
That would be a good set
🎉🎉🎉
Nice work , I just did a KX-260 , GF37 head. Sounds really good and crispy. Once brought back from the dead it’s an amazing sounding and working deck. I have the Nak T100 software now and with a two head deck tried the frequency sweep in record mode. Then the Nak app embeds a unique ID on each frequency when you rewind and then play it back. The Nak app is very accurate to the specs of decks I tested. It was a bit of trial and error at first because there is the multiple calibrations to get dialed in. Then i figured out how to use the volume control on both the speakers and the mic. Then the mic had to be in 2 channel 16bit 48000hz to show both channels. Depending on what audio interface you use I guess.
Thank you ! For the NAK in and outputs I use the behringer uca202 , that enables me to use the USB port on my laptop bypassing the line in / mic out and gives me constant levels without having to calibrate in and output levels (set once and forget)
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair Hi I’m trying to understand if I’m using it right. All the calibration is hidden. , I’m using the Behringer UCA222 , same thing just different colour. Shows as USB Audio Codec on laptop. So I did the initial calibration of the UCA 222 with loopback cable and saved to disc. Anaxwaves video said put the record level to half way mark on the deck , and every deck you test you have to calibrate to zero DB on the NAK meters using both the volume control of the audio Codec speakers and volume control of audio codec microphone. Then if it still won’t calibrate to zero if none of that works you can use the input sensitivity and input balance controls under the NAK T-100 menu. Is this correct?
@@universalhead what I read I believe you are doing the initial setup correct
@@cassettedeck-walkman-repair Thanks for the reply , interesting content in your videos.