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Repair stuff, before you break it on purpose.

Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:53 am
by crochambeau
General repair thread, because it didn't seem to be an exacting fit for any other thread in this forum and bulk is good.

Moved my H3000 into an active rack yesterday, only to observe the display dim, machine reset cycle that indicates the unit is need of a good gut massage. Apparently while I was inside exercising the connectors and sockets today I freed a wire.
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Fortunately there are enough pictures of H3000 guts on the web to confirm the yellow wire attaches to the ground plane at that pad.

While I have it open, I'm tightening the bolts on the power transformer to minimize mechanical noise (this unit is over 30 years old and has relaxed in places). I'm going to attach the transformer to the case with rubber grommets doing a partial decoupling for reduced noise. You could hear that this was powered on halfway across the room.

Re: Repair stuff, before you break it on purpose.

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:56 am
by Indeterminacy
Whether or not it was broken on purpose is unknown.
axe repair.jpg

Re: Repair stuff, before you break it on purpose.

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 9:32 am
by Soloman Tump
IMG20211110103106.jpg
My TEAC V615 tape deck has a couple of issues.
The head mechanism sticks in the up/engaged position meaning you cannot eject a tape, or indeed record.
So I removed the front panel as you can see in the photo, then you have to use a screwdriver to manually pull the head out the way and eject. In the long term I think this will damage a tape or indeed the deck further.

I think maybe it's one of the springs? Problem seems intermittent. Really annoying too.

Re: Repair stuff, before you break it on purpose.

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 4:45 pm
by crochambeau
That axe is epic.
Soloman Tump wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 9:32 am The head mechanism sticks in the up/engaged position meaning you cannot eject a tape, or indeed record.
So I removed the front panel as you can see in the photo, then you have to use a screwdriver to manually pull the head out the way and eject. In the long term I think this will damage a tape or indeed the deck further.

I think maybe it's one of the springs? Problem seems intermittent. Really annoying too.
If you pop the bottom off of the enclosure can you lay eyes on the area? I'm guessing from aesthetics that the heads move by way of solenoid, which could be gummed up. Avoid over oiling like the plague though, better to remove old lubricant and apply juuuuuuust enough for operation, though that can involve a lot of disassembly.

If your solenoid action is nice and crisp, it might be on the electronics/logic side.

Re: Repair stuff, before you break it on purpose.

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:41 am
by Soloman Tump
crochambeau wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 4:45 pm That axe is epic.
Soloman Tump wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 9:32 am The head mechanism sticks in the up/engaged position meaning you cannot eject a tape, or indeed record.
So I removed the front panel as you can see in the photo, then you have to use a screwdriver to manually pull the head out the way and eject. In the long term I think this will damage a tape or indeed the deck further.

I think maybe it's one of the springs? Problem seems intermittent. Really annoying too.
If you pop the bottom off of the enclosure can you lay eyes on the area? I'm guessing from aesthetics that the heads move by way of solenoid, which could be gummed up. Avoid over oiling like the plague though, better to remove old lubricant and apply juuuuuuust enough for operation, though that can involve a lot of disassembly.

If your solenoid action is nice and crisp, it might be on the electronics/logic side.
Cheers. Yeah, solenoid sounds nice, it engages and drops fine (usually). For the past couple of days it has been ok so I have finished copying off a bunch of tapes.

I have found it works better if you press pause before stop, or if you let the tape play through and it stops by itself.

For £25 off gumtree during lockdown its been a handy bit of kit. I had thought about adding (just a tiny) bit of lubrication on the springs to see what happens.

Re: Repair stuff, before you break it on purpose.

Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:18 am
by crochambeau
A hint of lubrication on springs, slides and pivot points can't hurt, so long as it stays out of the tape path.

Re: Repair stuff, before you break it on purpose.

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2023 12:37 pm
by Soloman Tump
I have a Bang & Olufsen Beocord 2400 cassette deck that I got from eBay for a pretty nifty price.

Only problem is that the mechanical "play" button does not latch properly - ie if you press the button down and let go it springs back up again! The sound quality is great though if you want to just stand there with your finger on the button. Seems to be quite a lot of resistance to it - the others feel "easier" to press down. Anyone come across this sort of issue before?

I have given it all a good clean (compressed air / soft brush / contact cleaner) so I am happy there is not a build-up of grime inside. Will stick some photos up here shortly.

Re: Repair stuff, before you break it on purpose.

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2023 1:37 pm
by crochambeau
Wouldn't surprise me to see a sort of labyrinthine latching mechanism on a B&O.
US6056333-1.png
Sort of like this, where a plunger when actuated has a guided path to a hasp of sorts, that will only release when the lever is pressed again. Sometimes the issue is a freed post (which should be affixed to the plunger, sometimes it's a worn or broken land (which would normally hold the switch in the operation state), sometimes it's over lubed.

It's probably going to be finicky and a pain in the ass to address, unless you can just cram a crossbar across the button in drone synth keyboard style.

Re: Repair stuff, before you break it on purpose.

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2023 11:59 am
by Soloman Tump
crochambeau wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 1:37 pm Wouldn't surprise me to see a sort of labyrinthine latching mechanism on a B&O.

Image

Sort of like this, where a plunger when actuated has a guided path to a hasp of sorts, that will only release when the lever is pressed again. Sometimes the issue is a freed post (which should be affixed to the plunger, sometimes it's a worn or broken land (which would normally hold the switch in the operation state), sometimes it's over lubed.

It's probably going to be finicky and a pain in the ass to address, unless you can just cram a crossbar across the button in drone synth keyboard style.
Yeah I've temp fixed it for now with a small g-clamp to hold it down. Just need to be on hand at end of tape to stop it (so I don't strain the tape). It's a real pity because the sound quality is great.