This channel is a great pick me up. The unrelenting cheerfulness is a decent tonic if you've had a crap day. Watching someone skilled at their job who takes pride their work is a delight, too.
I repaired several Techics equipment, but without using an oscilloscope, I did not have the money to have one. I repaired many switches, which is a very common failure, sometimes cleaning and changing their parts from other switches, which were recycled. I also replaced flat and round belts, heads, roller pin and other spare parts, good video, greetings from Chile.-
I love watching how simple you make it look and remembering where all the screws go. And there's a whole new generation out there that don't know what wow and flutter is.
Attention to detail and going the extra mile to do the right thing for the customer (replacing leaky caps for example) - excellent work. The humor is icing on the cake.
I'm sure I have a couple of old Technics tape decks stashed away in the garage. I'm now inspired to dig them out and see if they are still operational. 🤔 Great video, as always.
It is really satisfying to watch someone who's so enthusiastic about his work. I know nothing about electronics or stereos, but it's a great to learn. Thank you for sharing!
Yes, the play/rec switch is a classic. I guessed as much a few minutes in the video. Usually corosion or grime from too little use/sitting still. My first try would be to just flick the switch a couple of times: usually fixes it, but I love the very thorough approach Mark.
Exactly! Quick spray with DeOxit, slide back and forth... Volia' 10 minute repair which makes way more sense with a $79 deck. I enjoy his videos but this one had me yelling at my laptop.
That PCB looks top notch if you compare it to Philips reel to reel recorders PCBs from the same era. Really a quality difference to notice. Nice deck repaired by a nice chap with exceptional care and love.
I had a Technics rs-m205, so i really loved this video seeing a model just a few years earlier than mine. I wish i still had that deck, those were great decks! Great job on the switch!
Hi and thank you for sharing an interesting and entertaining video. My father was an TV technician, and I often visited his workshop. In those days, the 1970s, the technicians were wearing white coats. A word of warning and care though. When you cut those end bits of the capacitors, please remove them one by one as you go along. The way you did it, cutting them and turning the unit around to shake them out, one of them could get caught in there and cause a shortcut.
I was assuming that he was doing that for the sake of a better video, not having two hands in there blocking the view. Otherwise, having bits of wire flying around in an electrical device… what could go wrong? ;) … I love his channel though.
I have that same model. Don’t use it much anymore, but last time I did it worked fine. So many little fiddly parts that I would not even crack the panels open. Enjoyed watching you do it Mark!
Another GREAT video. One small note, Demag should be turned on at a distance and kept on until withdrawn to at a distance. The demag will produce a large magnetizing pulse upon switch ON and OFF. Also a Demag may interfere with a nearby pacemaker.
Your skill set is remarkable, really a super technician, first rate (except in trimming the leads off the caps, that was a short waiting to happen) That belt change was a nightmare … No one figured they would still be in use 50 years later so changing the belt was not a concern
Wow, I just stumbled on this video and I am transfixed! That is a beautiful deck and if any of my audio equipment became faulty, I'd want you to repair it. So professional. As an aside, you sound Brummie. I am from that part of the world. Brilliant!
I appreciate the extent you go to clean such a switch. I just spray some DeOxit, or what have you, in it as best I can and then actuate it 50+ times. If there is still noise or signal drop I repeat the process. If I've done it 3 times and it's still having issues I usually give up. lol. But seeing how you attack this problem gives me some pointers to try when I get back around to those machines that are on my "try again later" shelf. In fact have an Akai GX-747 open reel deck that I got for a steal because it has issues with a channel dropping. I managed to get most of the issues resolved using my "spray and pray" method but I'm sitll getting one channel to drop out occasionally.It was the record/play switch that was the offending component in fact. So I'm going to try and take it apart for a proper cleaning. I bet that will solve the issues for good now.Thanks.
Very patient in identifying and rectifying the defects! I liked very much the fineness in soldering the Capacitors Etc along with unscrewing and screwing of the screws! A thorough knowledge of the Circuit will alone make you perfect in finishing and getting success in your endeavour! With Best Wishes!!
Mark, Thank you so mech for this video. I really learned a lot. I have a Technics M63 three head cassette deck from 1980 that looks almost like your deck. I’m thinking I can follow along and service my deck just like you did yours. The good news is that I still have all my cassette tapes from back in the day.
I used to repair cassettes-back in the day I would have been straight in with switch cleaner before checking anything with a meter or change the switch if the cleaner didn't work- no taking it apart carefully (which is the better approach these days given switches are harder to come by). I have all but stopped repairing them now and sold off all my better decks v cheaply although many were in a part dismantled condition and scrapped anything with mechanical keys. Still left with about 35 cheaper decks the most similar but later to this that I still have is the RSM216. Things are very different now and I love the care you take to make these oldies probably work for many more years but now we are not under pressure to fix loads in one day every day as was a typical commercial setup.
Brilliant job and great video. It was interesting to see inside that M17, my first Technics deck was an RS M12. It looked almost the same to be honest I can see the older Technics equipment was quite well put together. I now wish I still had my M12 to have a look inside. Thanks again.
I watch with baited breath so I can gleen a small fraction of knowledge from watching you repair these electronic gadgets. But alas, I'm lazy and just let you do all the work and basically absorb nothing. It's much too easy just to let you do everything and me absorb nothing. I cringe every time you take apart one of these multiple switches, because I know if I did it parts would mysteriously loose themselves and somehow my chubby fingers would not be able to get it back together. Love the channel, love the videos.
I bet you've never seen a pulley on a cassette recorder so big and heavy. I had also never seen one so big until I took apart my Technics RS-641 which has a mechanism like this one (except the motor which in my case is servo assisted and is at the front). I have kept the original belt and pinch roller and over 40 years of use and abuse both continue to function satisfactorily. I admired the skill and ease with which you unsoldered the rec/play switch to clean it. (Something I was supposed to do on mine and haven't done yet.) As always, good job!
That was a substantial drive belt. Nice chunky mechanism at least. Those gang switch mechanisms seem to be a common failure point, like leaky capacitors. It's nice to see a traditional deck from 40 years ago still being used. You did a great job for Sid, I hope he's very happy with it.
Oh Mark, I just went to your website and saw you are completely swamped with work. That is awesome for you. I will check back soon to see if things have calmed down. Retro can wait. Love the channel.
You crack me up Mark, great little channel and reminds me of my time as an Electronics Eng and my youth being Mr fix it. Watch those glass fibre strands left in the switch though 🤣 luckily they arent strands of wire! Great show, looking forward to watching some more
Love this (older) stuff - so nicely serviceable, designed to be serviced, with service manuals, unlike some of today's throwaway junk (both cheap and expensive!).
You have done a wonderful job with this tape recorder. Congratulations! That multiple switch (play/record) is the cause of many problems. I would have also changed the capacitors from power supply block (sometimes they produce low frequency noises. Especially when they are old). You have a great channel YT!
Great repair! Just got my hands on one of these last week. Got it for free, and even though it was stored quite bad for the last years, the mechanism is totally fine. The only thing I had to do was adjusting the speed a tiny little bit, it was running assumingly 3% slow. Just needed to work the record/playback switch for a few times and the oscillations I also had were gone! Keep up that great work, greetings from Germany!
@@apriliaman Depends on how slow it runs. Mine just ran a tinly little bit slower, but you could hear it. What I did was adjusting the motor speed by using a small screw driver to turn the little potentiometer which is inside the motor. You can reach it by the hole on the back side of the motor. Play a cassette with a song you know, or ideally, a speed adjustment cassette with a static tone (3.000 Hz) for example, that was recorded on another tapedeck with correct speed. But normally, speed shouldn't drift by its own, so it is probably due to electronic parts aging in the motor circuitry, so looking for bad caps for example isn't a bad idea, too!
Thanks ! This vid has given me confidence to repair some electro-mechanical bits on a project I put away years ago when I found I couldn't source the needed parts- I think i can carefully disassemble it and fix it now.
looks easy. I have an M85 here. Up to 95 capacitors to change. 11 small switches and a few big ones to clean. Doesn't like doing anything, sometimes (after warming it with a blow heater for 10 mins) ff works, about as fast as play, if at all + lumpy action, occasionally rewind tries to work but doesn't. Play decided to work after an hour and some switch cleaner in the zone. I've never done much tape mech disassembly before, hats off to you tape guys! It's playing now but there are also 4 potentiometers to clean. Bias does not appear to work, output level acts more like a HPF / tone control. My friend wants €200 for it and i said to him if i get it home and it plays at least i might consider it. But now i'm thinking 40 - 60 hours of work. hmmmmmmm Oh. It's also the 120V version! On a positive note. It's super clean inside. I wouldn't change all the caps but i would test them for terrible ones. What is the most common cause for lazy FF and RW in similar decks? I have many that just hate FF and RW!
As soon as you said it was producing a screeching sound I knew it was the rec/play switch. One of my decks was doing the same and I just moved it up and down with a screw driver a bunch and it stopped screeching. Obviously you take much more care when repairing these XD love the vid!!
Nice job. I think the only thing I would have added to the list would be to adjust the playback level so the Dolby circuit was tracking properly. These days people primarily use these decks for playback, but if they plan to use it to record going through the record alignment would also be in order.
especially after all those cap replacements. There is bound to be some alignment issues despite the improvement in long term reliability. (also was probably out of spec due to 40 years of aging parts.)
I have one identical , just done the belts clean up heads , and all good, works like new. The caps in mine were all good tested fine and no leaks or buldge. I subbbed your channel, you get some interesting stuff, I have a huge collection of mostly Japanese made stuff from 70's to 80's.
I watched this video and went shopping, and a 1980 RS M11 for 4$. Well couple hours work and some pointers from your video now, it is a nice deck. Just changed the Sanyo and orange electrolytic caps. Yes the switches where in a sad way. Thank you for the video.
Realy nice to see that there still people out there who know theyr work! Here around my place you don't find people like that no more ..they just wanna sell !
I love your repair videos, Mark. One thing I noticed is the greasy look of the switch's contacts and PCB. It may be a protective grease. I also found this in the source selector switch of my DSP-A3020 which I had to fix some time ago. If you remove this in the process of cleaning the switch you should replace it afterwards.
I've had a couple of these decks come in for repair and with identical problems, They were both under an hour jobs. A spray of contact cleaner down that switch array, a head clean, degauss and alignment and both played and recorded perfectly. I can't figure out why you prefer to go to the trouble of removing the switch. OK you got the contacts really clean, but one of the owners never returned for his deck so I ended up using it myself for the past 30 years and never had any further problems with the switch.
Great work Mark. Those playback/ record heads are a real pain. Also that deck looked a real faff to change the belt out on. Nice result in the end though. Cheers Graham
yo reparè varios equipos Techics,pero sin usar osciloscopio,no tenia dinero para tener uno. Repare muchos conmutadores,que es una falla muy comùn,a veces limpiando y cambiando sus partes de otros conmutadores,que se reciclaba. Tambièn reemplasè correas planas y redondas,cabezales,pin roller y otros repuestos,buen video saludos desde Chile.-
Buenas noches tardes o días. Encontré tu canal el día de ayer. Me encantan tus videos y la forma de trabajar cada componente. Felicitaciones. Saludos desde Bogotá, Colombia.
This is a rather common prob on these machines. You MIGHT get away with using contact cleaner and wiggle the switch "a gazillion" times or running it through the ultrasonic cleaner, but taking it apart and cleaning it by hand ensures that it'll take a good while before the problem occurs again. I'm using the same method as you do and it works just perfectly. The green goo is oxidation mixed with contact grease and probably a good ammount of tar and acid from smoking. It will create all sorts of funny things in the switch, causing the feedback. I've done this operation many times and the only things I'd do differently would be to NOT use the glass-fibre brush - or at least blow the loose fibres away from the switch innards - and also lubricate the switch with contact grease (acid-free vaseline or silicone grease) before assembly. Now if I remember correctly, there's most probably another little switch in the mechanism as well, controling the mute function when pausing or cueing. When this little switch gets dirty and loses contact, the output will be VERY low during playback. Quick solution; clean the contact surfaces and the prob is gone. :) Anyways, thank you so much for a great video, keep up the good work!:)
The tape transport looks a lot like a Hitachi D-850 and the RadioShack SC3000. The Hitachi D-580 was a step up from the 850, and had solenoid controlled tape functions, which appeared to be the same in a Pioneer deck - not sure which model (900- something). I was told 40 years ago that Hitachi was the source for all of them. The RadioShack and Hitachi D-580 had variable bias control, but the D-850 did not (mine did after a messed with it, putting in a pot). Although the 850 did not have solenoids, the light-touch controls were augmented by the motor. All of them were 3 head decks, using one housing for both record and playback, again, identical on all of these decks. I've still got the Hitachi deck I bought in 1978 - needed a belt replacement 20 years ago (I got it from RadioShack). If you look at the rear of the motor there is a small "screw" which can be used to adjust the tape speed. My deck was running a bit fast, causing my first tapes to "run" slow on other cassette decks. I have a Pioneer CD recorder, but I actually prefer a good cassette deck - it seems CD's recorded on CD blanks of almost any brand have a shelf life, causing the music near the end of the disk to be noisy (factory recorded CD's are fine). Cassettes I recorded 45 years ago still sound as good as ever. A good three-head cassette deck (or reel to reel) with variable bias and Dolby calibration are as good as a Compact Disc, in my somewhat peccable opinion. I have an AKAI reel to reel that does a fine job, but it's a hassle and blank tapes are outrageously expensive. In the 60's i had an AIWA reel to reel recorder (it had its own speakers), and it got shelved when I bought my first cassette deck. About pre-recorded cassettes - the few that I've bought were not very good, probably copied at high speed.
I've got a really bad case of of test gear and workbench envy after watching this! Well done acquiring such good kit, putting together such a decent work area - and using it to such good effect
This channel is a great pick me up. The unrelenting cheerfulness is a decent tonic if you've had a crap day. Watching someone skilled at their job who takes pride their work is a delight, too.
jä ößZillasköppce häve täyste tvh -.- k-leil?
I repaired several Techics equipment, but without using an oscilloscope, I did not have the money to have one.
I repaired many switches, which is a very common failure, sometimes cleaning and changing their parts from other switches, which were recycled.
I also replaced flat and round belts, heads, roller pin and other spare parts, good video, greetings from Chile.-
I love watching how simple you make it look and remembering where all the screws go. And there's a whole new generation out there that don't know what wow and flutter is.
dont be so sure boomer. WOW is world of warcraft, and flutter is flavored Butter. See we arent ALL stupid.
@@billyghostal😂😂😂 ggg drrrr
Attention to detail and going the extra mile to do the right thing for the customer (replacing leaky caps for example) - excellent work. The humor is icing on the cake.
Any professional tech will replace leaky caps as a matter of course.
Love these videos Mark. You are the Bob Ross of audio repair.
Yes!!!!
Ad Big Clive is the Bob Ross of teardowns.
Well said 👍
You are a pro. Not a single screw left over. I swear I end up with more screws on my bench than in the device when I'm done with it!
Not really, he recorded everything on video so he could see where everything goes.
Never thought I would love watching audio repairs, but this is pure gold!! You are amazing!!
I'm sure I have a couple of old Technics tape decks stashed away in the garage. I'm now inspired to dig them out and see if they are still operational. 🤔 Great video, as always.
one of my favourite channels, your chipper manner always brightens my day Mark!
It is really satisfying to watch someone who's so enthusiastic about his work. I know nothing about electronics or stereos, but it's a great to learn. Thank you for sharing!
Yes, the play/rec switch is a classic. I guessed as much a few minutes in the video. Usually corosion or grime from too little use/sitting still.
My first try would be to just flick the switch a couple of times: usually fixes it, but I love the very thorough approach Mark.
Exactly! Quick spray with DeOxit, slide back and forth... Volia' 10 minute repair which makes way more sense with a $79 deck. I enjoy his videos but this one had me yelling at my laptop.
That PCB looks top notch if you compare it to Philips reel to reel recorders PCBs from the same era. Really a quality difference to notice. Nice deck repaired by a nice chap with exceptional care and love.
What I like about Mark? He’s a Jolly good Fellow, he has a million Pound smile,Keep those vintage sets running. Love to watch your vidros
Mark I just wanted to say your calm voice and demeanor is a pleasure to watch
I had a Technics rs-m205, so i really loved this video seeing a model just a few years earlier than mine. I wish i still had that deck, those were great decks! Great job on the switch!
Hi and thank you for sharing an interesting and entertaining video. My father was an TV technician, and I often visited his workshop. In those days, the 1970s, the technicians were wearing white coats. A word of warning and care though. When you cut those end bits of the capacitors, please remove them one by one as you go along. The way you did it, cutting them and turning the unit around to shake them out, one of them could get caught in there and cause a shortcut.
I was assuming that he was doing that for the sake of a better video, not having two hands in there blocking the view. Otherwise, having bits of wire flying around in an electrical device… what could go wrong? ;) … I love his channel though.
I have that same model. Don’t use it much anymore, but last time I did it worked fine. So many little fiddly parts that I would not even crack the panels open. Enjoyed watching you do it Mark!
Another GREAT video. One small note, Demag should be turned on at a distance and kept on until withdrawn to at a distance. The demag will produce a large magnetizing pulse upon switch ON and OFF. Also a Demag may interfere with a nearby pacemaker.
Your skill set is remarkable, really a super technician, first rate (except in trimming the leads off the caps, that was a short waiting to happen) That belt change was a nightmare … No one figured they would still be in use 50 years later so changing the belt was not a concern
That switch repair was beautiful. You seem to do these things so effortlessly…Bravo
Wow, I just stumbled on this video and I am transfixed! That is a beautiful deck and if any of my audio equipment became faulty, I'd want you to repair it. So professional. As an aside, you sound Brummie. I am from that part of the world. Brilliant!
I appreciate the extent you go to clean such a switch. I just spray some DeOxit, or what have you, in it as best I can and then actuate it 50+ times. If there is still noise or signal drop I repeat the process. If I've done it 3 times and it's still having issues I usually give up. lol. But seeing how you attack this problem gives me some pointers to try when I get back around to those machines that are on my "try again later" shelf. In fact have an Akai GX-747 open reel deck that I got for a steal because it has issues with a channel dropping. I managed to get most of the issues resolved using my "spray and pray" method but I'm sitll getting one channel to drop out occasionally.It was the record/play switch that was the offending component in fact. So I'm going to try and take it apart for a proper cleaning. I bet that will solve the issues for good now.Thanks.
your comment was like mine.. I think he opens it up for good content on youtube.
Very patient in identifying and rectifying the defects! I liked very much the fineness in soldering the Capacitors Etc along with unscrewing and screwing of the screws! A thorough knowledge of the Circuit will alone make you perfect in finishing and getting success in your endeavour! With Best Wishes!!
Mark, Thank you so mech for this video. I really learned a lot. I have a Technics M63 three head cassette deck from 1980 that looks almost like your deck. I’m thinking I can follow along and service my deck just like you did yours. The good news is that I still have all my cassette tapes from back in the day.
Love the de-magnetising head practical - thanks for showing us that Mark. Yet another great video and up to your top standard.
always a pleasure to watch for us old-time soldering iron-n-scope lads!! Attention to detail always pays-off. Keep up the good work, Mark!!👏👏
Hi Mark, I appreciate the knowledge you share through your videos. Further, I love your humility and humour and jovial approach. All the best always!
I used to repair cassettes-back in the day I would have been straight in with switch cleaner before checking anything with a meter or change the switch if the cleaner didn't work- no taking it apart carefully (which is the better approach these days given switches are harder to come by). I have all but stopped repairing them now and sold off all my better decks v cheaply although many were in a part dismantled condition and scrapped anything with mechanical keys. Still left with about 35 cheaper decks the most similar but later to this that I still have is the RSM216. Things are very different now and I love the care you take to make these oldies probably work for many more years but now we are not under pressure to fix loads in one day every day as was a typical commercial setup.
You seem to be the happiest technician there is.
Brilliant job and great video. It was interesting to see inside that M17, my first Technics deck was an RS M12. It looked almost the same to be honest I can see the older Technics equipment was quite well put together. I now wish I still had my M12 to have a look inside. Thanks again.
Centipede switch, that's a lot of legs😂. Thanks for opening it up and showing us, that was a treat!
I watch with baited breath so I can gleen a small fraction of knowledge from watching you repair these electronic gadgets. But alas, I'm lazy and just let you do all the work and basically absorb nothing. It's much too easy just to let you do everything and me absorb nothing. I cringe every time you take apart one of these multiple switches, because I know if I did it parts would mysteriously loose themselves and somehow my chubby fingers would not be able to get it back together. Love the channel, love the videos.
I have a very similar model (M11) with slow playback and the screeching noise. This video helped to fix both problems
I bet you've never seen a pulley on a cassette recorder so big and heavy. I had also never seen one so big until I took apart my Technics RS-641 which has a mechanism like this one (except the motor which in my case is servo assisted and is at the front). I have kept the original belt and pinch roller and over 40 years of use and abuse both continue to function satisfactorily. I admired the skill and ease with which you unsoldered the rec/play switch to clean it. (Something I was supposed to do on mine and haven't done yet.) As always, good job!
awesome showcase of a great repair, your attention to detail is a highly valued skillset
Mark, make more videos!! We're dying out here !!! You do the best repair content on the web.
A pleasure to watch. It's so good to know the skill and passion to repair is out their. Kudos to you Mark.
That was a substantial drive belt. Nice chunky mechanism at least. Those gang switch mechanisms seem to be a common failure point, like leaky capacitors. It's nice to see a traditional deck from 40 years ago still being used. You did a great job for Sid, I hope he's very happy with it.
Vintage casette decks and radios 📻 are an emotion 😢❤❤❤❤
This guy is brilliant and apart from his obvious talents, hes a good presenter and naturally funny.
He deserves his own TV show.
Now theres an idea😮
Great work.. And that's why these things were so expensive back in the day. All the intricate parts and materials.
I've always loved the aesthetic of early 80's hi-fi separates. The brush silver aluminium finishes and yellow, red and/or green LEDs.
You have mentioned your dad a few times in you channel Mark, I can tell you have a great relationship and he sounds a cool dad :)
Oh Mark, I just went to your website and saw you are completely swamped with work. That is awesome for you. I will check back soon to see if things have calmed down. Retro can wait. Love the channel.
I don't know if Mark is a licensed therapist but his videos have much more therapeutic effect than a session. Thank you sir! ❤
Just discovered Mend it Mark and what a joy it is to watch these videos. Superb stuff. Great presentation and personality 10/10.
Those of us who listened to music in the 80s like a bit of Technics 😁
I love Technics. Panasonics premium brand i think
Their decks from the 70s and 80s are great, not so much for the ones from the 90s though.
Dear Mark, your videos are outstanding as well as your work. Thanks for sharing your expertise!
You crack me up Mark, great little channel and reminds me of my time as an Electronics Eng and my youth being Mr fix it.
Watch those glass fibre strands left in the switch though 🤣 luckily they arent strands of wire!
Great show, looking forward to watching some more
Love this (older) stuff - so nicely serviceable, designed to be serviced, with service manuals, unlike some of today's throwaway junk (both cheap and expensive!).
Exactly.
When i watched your video, i just back to in 1990 my childhood time , excellent work you done,🥰🥰❤❤ love you stay blessed, where you from
You have done a wonderful job with this tape recorder. Congratulations!
That multiple switch (play/record) is the cause of many problems.
I would have also changed the capacitors from power supply block (sometimes they produce low frequency noises. Especially when they are old).
You have a great channel YT!
What a brilliant engineer and great guy.👍
The most professional job from the nicest guy ever seen.
كم احب هذه الاجهزة و التحف انا ايضا وعندي منها تلاثة معطلين ولم اجد فنانا مثلك يصلحهم لي ..تحياتي لك من المغرب
I had one of these for years. Eventually sold it in my shop. They used to be prone to system switch problems Thanks Michael
Great repair! Just got my hands on one of these last week. Got it for free, and even though it was stored quite bad for the last years, the mechanism is totally fine. The only thing I had to do was adjusting the speed a tiny little bit, it was running assumingly 3% slow.
Just needed to work the record/playback switch for a few times and the oscillations I also had were gone!
Keep up that great work, greetings from Germany!
I have the same one and it plays slow also.What did you adjust?
@@apriliaman Depends on how slow it runs. Mine just ran a tinly little bit slower, but you could hear it.
What I did was adjusting the motor speed by using a small screw driver to turn the little potentiometer which is inside the motor.
You can reach it by the hole on the back side of the motor.
Play a cassette with a song you know, or ideally, a speed adjustment cassette with a static tone (3.000 Hz) for example, that was recorded on another tapedeck with correct speed.
But normally, speed shouldn't drift by its own, so it is probably due to electronic parts aging in the motor circuitry, so looking for bad caps for example isn't a bad idea, too!
@@DaXande135 ok thanks! one day I may take it apart and look at it.
@@apriliaman It's very easy, it won't take much longer than 5 minutes to adjust the speed on this deck, because the motor is easily accessible.
I just discovered this channel and I'm absolutely hooked. What wonderful beautiful work
Thanks ! This vid has given me confidence to repair some electro-mechanical bits on a project I put away years ago when I found I couldn't source the needed parts- I think i can carefully disassemble it and fix it now.
Again an excellent example of diligent repair truly fascinating
I've never seen such a cheerful guy. And great professional :)
Wow...I really wanna know how much actual time that repair took!!! Love tge humor and the attention to details
looks easy. I have an M85 here. Up to 95 capacitors to change. 11 small switches and a few big ones to clean. Doesn't like doing anything, sometimes (after warming it with a blow heater for 10 mins) ff works, about as fast as play, if at all + lumpy action, occasionally rewind tries to work but doesn't. Play decided to work after an hour and some switch cleaner in the zone. I've never done much tape mech disassembly before, hats off to you tape guys!
It's playing now but there are also 4 potentiometers to clean. Bias does not appear to work, output level acts more like a HPF / tone control.
My friend wants €200 for it and i said to him if i get it home and it plays at least i might consider it. But now i'm thinking 40 - 60 hours of work. hmmmmmmm
Oh. It's also the 120V version! On a positive note. It's super clean inside. I wouldn't change all the caps but i would test them for terrible ones.
What is the most common cause for lazy FF and RW in similar decks? I have many that just hate FF and RW!
Love from Indonesian. Like watching you repairs audio. Thanks Mark your videos
Hi bro, i,m your big fan after watching your some videos, you're great mechanic of electronics,
I have a similar deck the M63 3 head. Still in use today!!!! Loved this series
I've learnt a lot from your soldering technique. Thanks
Thank you Mark. I was able to repair my 1982 RS-M15 with this exact same problem.
Your videos always makes me happy. Smiley guy great Mark
As soon as you said it was producing a screeching sound I knew it was the rec/play switch. One of my decks was doing the same and I just moved it up and down with a screw driver a bunch and it stopped screeching. Obviously you take much more care when repairing these XD love the vid!!
Nice job. I think the only thing I would have added to the list would be to adjust the playback level so the Dolby circuit was tracking properly. These days people primarily use these decks for playback, but if they plan to use it to record going through the record alignment would also be in order.
especially after all those cap replacements. There is bound to be some alignment issues despite the improvement in long term reliability. (also was probably out of spec due to 40 years of aging parts.)
I find watching you do these repairs, very therapeutic! Not sure why, but thanks anyway!
I find your videos very therapeutical im also an electronics engineer.
I don't understand what you're saying, but I understand what you're doing. Thank you.
I have one identical , just done the belts clean up heads , and all good, works like new. The caps in mine were all good tested fine and no leaks or buldge.
I subbbed your channel, you get some interesting stuff, I have a huge collection of mostly Japanese made stuff from 70's to 80's.
I watched this video and went shopping, and a 1980 RS M11 for 4$. Well couple hours work and some pointers from your video
now, it is a nice deck. Just changed the Sanyo and orange electrolytic caps. Yes the switches where in a sad way. Thank you for the video.
Realy nice to see that there still people out there who know theyr work! Here around my place you don't find people like that no more ..they just wanna sell !
I love your repair videos, Mark. One thing I noticed is the greasy look of the switch's contacts and PCB. It may be a protective grease. I also found this in the source selector switch of my DSP-A3020 which I had to fix some time ago. If you remove this in the process of cleaning the switch you should replace it afterwards.
I have no clue what i am loking at .. I have nO skill in repairs but you look like you know your stuff. I watch your clips before bed.
Always a joy to watch your work?
Is it?
I've had a couple of these decks come in for repair and with identical problems, They were both under an hour jobs. A spray of contact cleaner down that switch array, a head clean, degauss and alignment and both played and recorded perfectly. I can't figure out why you prefer to go to the trouble of removing the switch. OK you got the contacts really clean, but one of the owners never returned for his deck so I ended up using it myself for the past 30 years and never had any further problems with the switch.
I did like the attention to detail.
Thank You for Sharing this video Mark.
Absolutely love your videos, so interesting to watch, my goodness you have some patience!
You’re one the best repair channels!!
Superbe video!!! Cheers from Patagonia Argentina
Great work Mark. Those playback/ record heads are a real pain. Also that deck looked a real faff to change the belt out on. Nice result in the end though. Cheers Graham
Had an M-7. Seems to be the same deck only with analog VU meters. Great sounding equipment.
Your intro is top class, mate!
Lov your vidéos Mark ! Cheers from France 🇫🇷 fortunately I lived few years in England so I can get the most of it ! Carry on ! Good job !
Nice one Young Mark!. Patience of a Saint!!
yo reparè varios equipos Techics,pero sin usar osciloscopio,no tenia dinero para tener uno.
Repare muchos conmutadores,que es una falla muy comùn,a veces limpiando y cambiando sus partes de otros conmutadores,que se reciclaba.
Tambièn reemplasè correas planas y redondas,cabezales,pin roller y otros repuestos,buen video saludos desde Chile.-
Buenas noches tardes o días. Encontré tu canal el día de ayer. Me encantan tus videos y la forma de trabajar cada componente. Felicitaciones. Saludos desde Bogotá, Colombia.
Outstanding work! You are a wealth of knowledge.
This is a rather common prob on these machines. You MIGHT get away with using contact cleaner and wiggle the switch "a gazillion" times or running it through the ultrasonic cleaner, but taking it apart and cleaning it by hand ensures that it'll take a good while before the problem occurs again. I'm using the same method as you do and it works just perfectly. The green goo is oxidation mixed with contact grease and probably a good ammount of tar and acid from smoking. It will create all sorts of funny things in the switch, causing the feedback. I've done this operation many times and the only things I'd do differently would be to NOT use the glass-fibre brush - or at least blow the loose fibres away from the switch innards - and also lubricate the switch with contact grease (acid-free vaseline or silicone grease) before assembly. Now if I remember correctly, there's most probably another little switch in the mechanism as well, controling the mute function when pausing or cueing. When this little switch gets dirty and loses contact, the output will be VERY low during playback. Quick solution; clean the contact surfaces and the prob is gone. :)
Anyways, thank you so much for a great video, keep up the good work!:)
I was willing you to replace all of the similar electrolytics... and you did 👍Great video.
Great job! Also excellent filming and editing. Top notch content, congrats!
Золотые руки. Приятно смотреть обзоры.
The tape transport looks a lot like a Hitachi D-850 and the RadioShack SC3000. The Hitachi D-580 was a step up from the 850, and had solenoid controlled tape functions, which appeared to be the same in a Pioneer deck - not sure which model (900- something). I was told 40 years ago that Hitachi was the source for all of them. The RadioShack and Hitachi D-580 had variable bias control, but the D-850 did not (mine did after a messed with it, putting in a pot). Although the 850 did not have solenoids, the light-touch controls were augmented by the motor. All of them were 3 head decks, using one housing for both record and playback, again, identical on all of these decks. I've still got the Hitachi deck I bought in 1978 - needed a belt replacement 20 years ago (I got it from RadioShack). If you look at the rear of the motor there is a small "screw" which can be used to adjust the tape speed. My deck was running a bit fast, causing my first tapes to "run" slow on other cassette decks. I have a Pioneer CD recorder, but I actually prefer a good cassette deck - it seems CD's recorded on CD blanks of almost any brand have a shelf life, causing the music near the end of the disk to be noisy (factory recorded CD's are fine). Cassettes I recorded 45 years ago still sound as good as ever. A good three-head cassette deck (or reel to reel) with variable bias and Dolby calibration are as good as a Compact Disc, in my somewhat peccable opinion. I have an AKAI reel to reel that does a fine job, but it's a hassle and blank tapes are outrageously expensive. In the 60's i had an AIWA reel to reel recorder (it had its own speakers), and it got shelved when I bought my first cassette deck. About pre-recorded cassettes - the few that I've bought were not very good, probably copied at high speed.
I've got a really bad case of of test gear and workbench envy after watching this! Well done acquiring such good kit, putting together such a decent work area - and using it to such good effect
Mark i suppose is one of those lucky people that seem to be happy [and Im happy for him].