Help needed with Nakamichi 682ZX

[draka1032]

I have a problem with an otherwise near mint - low use Nakamichi 682ZX. According to my Tech, it will go through the auto azimuth calibration sequence ( he can hear the motors etc and has watched the tones on his scope) but it will not finish the sequence and rewind to the starting point as it should. He says it seems the deck is not happy with its result :)
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Kevin Rogers

[Scorpion8]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Have you joined NakTalk, the Nak-center of techies? I'd post there or await for our own special Nakdoc to check in.

[el34guy]

I think its a cap issue, it happened to mine as well. I just had it repaired about 6 months ago. Im not home to tell you which cap was replaced for sure.... Mark

[el34guy]

Just found it,,

(C905) and 4700pf bias oscillator capacitors (C316, C317)

[Nakdoc]

The bias caps should be changed in all machines before they fail. All the other orange caps are optional. Loosing a channel can be an orange cap problem, so if you are into DIY, change the 3 caps near each of the 4 dolby ics. If your left channel has disappeared, double check your head cleaning with good light and a magnifier.

[gamve]

I have a problem with an otherwise near mint - low use Nakamichi 682ZX. According to my Tech, it will go through the auto azimuth calibration sequence ( he can hear the motors etc and has watched the tones on his scope) but it will not finish the sequence and rewind to the starting point as it should. He says it seems the deck is not happy with its result :)
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Kevin Rogers

Sorry If this is obvious Kevin but is it all tapes it has a problem with? The owners manual states you should do a rough bias adjustment using the 15K test tone and the screw driver adjustment pots (for each particular tape type) before running the Auto calibration procedure.
The unit I got recently would not even come close with the manual adjustment with any tape type and the auto cal wound itself right to the end and basically just went clack clack clack in rapid succession. The deck then went into calibration fault mode.
I got it all going by thoroughly cleaning the tape path (it was putrid). I could then get close to a rough manual calibration. The auto cal would still not work so i manually wound the unit through full travel both ways with my fingures on the pulley. After this and another thorough head cleaning everything worked well. This deck now goes for nearly an hour (recording) before it gets noisy on the right channel. Looks like some orange cap replacements will be needed. Stick with the 682ZX it really is a great sounding deck.
Good luck with it
Cheers
G

[reeltorock]

Hi Kevin, were you able to sort out this issue? Excellent deck, I hope you get it working. Maybe I'll take it off your hands one day *reelspin* I love my 680ZX but the front panel bias adjustment is the one treat that's missing on mine. The meters are great though.

[draka1032]

Thanks everyone for your input. The problem turned out to be some bad caps. All is well now and it has joined its' Nak brethren - 1000ZXL, 700ZXL, Dragon, CR-7A, Cassette Deck one, LX-5, BX-125.

Kevin

[Naknut]

Thats one hell of a Nakamichi line up! You have a couple there I need to add to my collection. Some day...