Time to Retire My Sony Deck

[braxus]

I took the deck in to the service outlet to get new belts in it, and the deck was checked over to see what else it needs. Turns out the estimate on the deck was not good. It needs new heads, pinch rollers, the belts still need to be done, the external switches need to be rebuilt because of age, not sure if any capacitors will need to be replaced, and so on. He said the cost of the repair would be very expensive and since I already have a bunch of other tape decks, it sounds like its time to relegate this deck to standby occassional use. I never would have expected I'd wear out a set of amorphous heads, but I did. The deck still functions as normal other then the 'direct' switch isn't working properly. I've made recordings on it recently and they sounded fine.

[stuwee]

!sigh!Very Sad, and very nice of you to offer it for parts, so a part of your friend may live on. Silly, talking of a machine like a person, you know what I mean. As you know, I just got a parts deck Luxman, *hope* it's not gonna be for parts, greedy Craig wants both working.

[braxus]

Yah the tech said it still may last for another couple years as is, so I'm keeping it for occassional use only.

[braxus]

Well I picked up my Sony deck today along with my JVC 55 portable unit. The JVC got a new belt and the Sony had no work done it since I refused. Decided to keep the Sony since its still usable and can do light duty till the day it no longer works. Im playing a tape on it right now and it seems to be working fine still. Anyway I put the Sony in place of my other JVC deck in my second system used for A/V transfers. I needed an S deck in this system, so the Sony will do. Took a pic of the system so far until I get another rack made some day in the future.

[Scorpion8]

Something fishy here. That Sony deck isn't that old, and I have many decks much much older that don't need that extensive a life-transplant. Unless you used the deck 7x24x365xmanymanymany, it should need the following: a good DeOxit cleaning of the switches, perhaps a lapping of the heads or maybe not, and some new belts/pinch rollers. Belts and PR you can do yourself unless you're like the spaz on my kids soccer team who watches the purty lil' ball roll right past him into the goal.

[NAD613]

Something fishy here. That Sony deck isn't that old, and I have many decks much much older that don't need that extensive a life-transplant. Unless you used the deck 7x24x365xmanymanymany, it should need the following: a good DeOxit cleaning of the switches, perhaps a lapping of the heads or maybe not, and some new belts/pinch rollers. Belts and PR you can do yourself unless you're like the spaz on my kids soccer team who watches the purty lil' ball roll right past him into the goal.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe you should get a 2nd opinion.

[braxus]

I wondered about all this too, but he did say there was a groove in the heads which means it will need replacing. When I talked to him- I was asking about fixing the deck to have it last another 20 years. To him that meant major overhaul and rebuild. I don't know. I will use the deck as is till I don't need it any longer. I have better decks then it that will get most of the use.

[Acoustic]

On R2R they talk about relapping the heads, reshape them, once or twice before they are officially declared worn out. Though I've never have heard talk about that on a cassette deck. Wonder why? Anyone know about this?

braxus: Did you take it to a tech that has done work for you before? Lot's of techs here in the KC area will just make it as easy as they can on themselves with vintage equipment. And won't go the extra mile for you. IE finding NOS replacement parts or even cannibalize another deck you bring in to fix another.

[Scorpion8]

I wondered about all this too, but he did say there was a groove in the heads which means it will need replacing.

Use a thumbnail or soft toothpick to drag across the head. If it snags a ridge, then they need to be replaced. Otherwise, they might be able to just be lapped.

Though I've never have heard talk about that on a cassette deck. Wonder why? Anyone know about this?

More work than the simple cost of replacing them. MCM has replacement "super hard heads" for pennies, and the time it takes to solder them in is chump change compared to relapping them.

Braxus, if you have the time, send me that deck and I'll give the best super-amateur going over possible.

[braxus]

Braxus, if you have the time, send me that deck and I'll give the best super-amateur going over possible.

Thanks for the offer, but I don't really want to spend a lot of effort getting work done on this deck. Its not a super deck compared to some others, so I don't feel its worth getting work done on it. That is why I refused the repair. On Ebay these decks go for not much more then $300 in good condition. This deck would need more then that in labour to get it back to snuff. I look at it this way. I can use it in my secondary system till it basically dies which may be years from now. I still have the belts should I ever decide to get work done on it.

[braxus]

Just an update to this thread- I eventually sold the deck since the Dolby B &C chipset was being flaky, so on Ebay it went. Got around $130 for it. Miss it, but I have better decks then it now so Im ok.

[faustus]

Sounds to me like you made a good decision. If it's not your best or one of your favorites, then save the repair money for better purposes. Plus, you got $130 out of the deal -- not bad for a deck with all the ailments you listed.

[braxus]

Sounds to me like you made a good decision. If it's not your best or one of your favorites, then save the repair money for better purposes. Plus, you got $130 out of the deal -- not bad for a deck with all the ailments you listed.

It was my favorite deck up until a couple years ago when I got my Aiwa 9000. Then I got the two Tandbergs. But nothing works right now since all of them need fixing for something. Im working on it.

[Nakdoc]

Braxus,
How about a serviced TC-K700ES? Would that end your pain?

On any worn head issue post photos here and we'll give you a second opinion.

[VintageSteve]

More work than the simple cost of replacing them. MCM has replacement "super hard heads" for pennies, and the time it takes to solder them in is chump change compared to relapping them.


My Sony TC-K909ES is in good shape right now, but I want to keep it going for years, if possible. So should I stock up with a spare set of heads and pinch rollers now, before they become unobtainium?

What MCM supplied heads would be appropriate, Scorpion8? Anyone have a source for pinch rollers?

[braxus]

My Sony TC-K909ES is in good shape right now, but I want to keep it going for years, if possible. So should I stock up with a spare set of heads and pinch rollers now, before they become unobtainium?

What MCM supplied heads would be appropriate, Scorpion8? Anyone have a source for pinch rollers?

You can still get parts for the 909 from Partstore.com, but I wouldn't wait too long. Get them while you still can, as my Aiwa recently got deleted off the list from the Canadian site and the US site is almost nill.

[braxus]

Braxus,
How about a serviced TC-K700ES? Would that end your pain?

On any worn head issue post photos here and we'll give you a second opinion.

No if I get another Sony its going to be a Dolby S deck, and the only one I have in mind is the A7ES.

[VintageSteve]

You can still get parts for the 909 from Partstore.com, but I wouldn't wait too long. Get them while you still can, as my Aiwa recently got deleted off the list from the Canadian site and the US site is almost nill.

Thanks for the advice. I had them bookmarked but let it slip my mind (brain-fart). Looks like they have some parts I should get soon. MUST.. STOP.. putting my money into tapes for a while...*sigh*.
But, they don't have the R/P heads available anymore.
Any one have suggestions? (I'll go back to MCM for another look.)

[390FE]

My Sony TC-K909ES is in good shape right now, but I want to keep it going for years, if possible. So should I stock up with a spare set of heads and pinch rollers now, before they become unobtainium?

What MCM supplied heads would be appropriate, Scorpion8? Anyone have a source for pinch rollers?

I just checked the 2009 #53 MCM catalog and found some not great info.

Well the BAD NEWS. MCM no longer lists ANY Heads in their 2009 #53 catalog. NO Audio OR NO Video heads. NONE, NADA, NOT THERE. I could NOT Find any.

Not as Bad but not Good. MCM ONLY has 2 drive motors that might be able to be made to work in a cassette deck for the main drive. It has been like this for a couple years as they dropped the one motor that was commonly & easily used for motor replacement in cassette decks.

Also Not as Bad but not Good is they now ONLY list 1 pinch roller that would/could work for a cassette deck (the others are too big & for a VCR). They used to have 2 different pinch rollers listed for cassette decks. I don't know when they dropped the second roller.

The MCM pinch roller part # 42-3250. Size is OD = 9mm, W = 6mm & ID = 1.5mm. Price is $0.83.

On the plus side they do still have a good size listing of phono styli and 5 cartridges (4 Audio Technica & 1 old school LP/EP flip style stylus cartridge)

The last I knew MCM had a $25.00 minimum order, though skimming through this catalog I didn't see it.


Other than that there is someone that list new pinch rollers on E-Bay but IMHO they are way over priced ($30 plus).

On the web there is someone that will repair/remold your original pinch rollers & claims they come very close to factory specs for W&F & Speed. Now the price is high but they are custom made/repaired.

[VintageSteve]

I just checked the 2009 #53 MCM catalog and found some not great info.

Well the BAD NEWS. MCM no longer lists ANY Heads in their 2009 #53 catalog. NO Audio OR NO Video heads. NONE, NADA, NOT THERE. I could NOT Find any.

Thanks for the confirmation. Trying to find R/PB heads at the MCM site left me scratching my head, wondering if I was missing something... Maybe the trick will be to pick up a "parts" unit or two from ePay to cannibalize in the future (if they are in half-decent shape...).

[390FE]

Thanks for the confirmation. Trying to find R/PB heads at the MCM site left me scratching my head, wondering if I was missing something... Maybe the trick will be to pick up a "parts" unit or two from ePay to cannibalize in the future (if they are in half-decent shape...).

No problem. Even getting units from yard sales, flea markets, pawn shops. even at the side of the road just before or on trash/junk day. Lots of towns have at least 1 day a year where you can put big/large trash out for garbage pickup. Or look on your way to or from work the day before regular garbage pick up may snag you some nice scores. Even dumpster diving!*Hi5*

Now just to warn you some towns have STUPID Laws against stopping & getting things out of the trash at the side of the road. So if a cop does stop by & says something JUST PLAY STUPID & say "Sorry I didn' know."*Hi5* You can explain that you are just keeping that item & the one at home (that needs parts) out of the land fill & saving the town time & money because that item doesn't have to get processed & handled by the town or city.*Hi5* How can that be a bad thing & why should there be a law against that?

[VintageSteve]

I'm with you all the way on that! I say it's the four R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Repair!