Electronics – Page 7

Sony Digital Radio Cassette Walkman WM FX-20 assessment and repair

I recently purchased this unit and you can find the purchase report in this blog post: Sony Digital Radio Cassette Walkman WM FX-20

The initial report of the purchase stated the issue was solely with the tape playback and that every else works fine. Cosmetically it looks fine apart from a bit of cleaning that is needed in the battery compartment, touch wood there isn’t any battery corrosion.

I’ve kind of jumped the gun a bit here in ordering a set of new drive belts for the unit, the fact it is 33 years old now probably means it would be money well spent. ( I may order a stock of belts for any future projects that I partake in) The belts alone were £6.95GBP so that now takes the total for this project to around £26.00GBP in total, but I’m going to use this personally so I’m not too concerned. In good condition and in full working order I could still make a small profit on this so at this stage I’m not too concerned.

The unit arrived on the 29th April. It is in a very good cosmetic state and all the lettering on the buttons is intact, a few small scratches and battle scars as expected but overall very good.

Radio and all button functions work fine, when you push any of the cassette buttons you can hear the motor run so no issues there. Let’s get this package dismantled.

Once inside the most obvious issue is that the belts have turned to mush.

I remove what’s left of the old belts, give a good clean to the cams and reinstall new belts that I have purchased earlier. A little bit of grease to the moving parts and cogs and all moving smoothly. As I’m doing this I notice a problem that I was not expecting, there seems to be a damaged cog, see the video below:

Damaged cog

Well, that’s a bummer as I’m going to have to obtain a donor for a new cog on the fast forwarding capstan, I’m hoping they are all pretty much standard so I will keep an eye out for a cheap option to repair. Whilst checking the system out it becomes apparent that this cog is specific to the fast forward operation so as long as I don’t use this then it should all be ok…shouldn’t it?

In theory yes, however every now and then when in play mode there is a slight dip in quality so I’m not going to chance damage to a tape.

Conclusion: it’s fixed, sort of. I’m looking for a donor cog that will fully fix the issue, the radio is fine, tapes can be played it’s just that I don’t really want to damage any until this issue is sorted. It’s a shame as it really was just those rotten belts that needed replacing. I’m pleased with what has been accomplished, yet again another 30+ year old electronic item has been saved from landfill. That’s a result.

AIWA Personal Radio Cassette Player HS-TX406

Just purchased this item, here is what the listing said:

Radio works fine but the cassette is poor at playing tapes as the sound quality is really slow.
EBay

Yet another Cassette player circa 1990. Again possibly another one that needs its drive belt renewing, so in that case I’ll order one in. This one cost the grand total of £9.95GBP.

This link takes you to Radio museum.org where you see the technical detail of this unit : Aiwa HS-TX406

See the assessment and repair of the unit here: AIWA Personal Radio Cassette Player HS-TX406 assessment and repair

Blaupunkt BPHF-1R Dab CD radio assessment and repair

I have today received this item that I recently purchased on EBay, the original blog post can be found here: Blaupunkt Dab CD radio

Did you know that Blaupunkt translates as Blue point or Blue dot from German to English? This relates to the blue dot that quality control used to paint on their headphones that were being produced. In fact all their products now have that blue dot as part of the logo on all of their range.

I think I mentioned that this might be an easy repair, it’s probably not going to be anything too technical, but it will need a bit of deconstructing to get to where I need to be, due to the way this item is assembled.

The unit is cosmetically sound, radio in both FM and DAB works perfectly, Bluetooth and USB also work perfectly, in fact the whole unit works perfectly apart from two obvious issues.

The CD was reported as an issue however the actual fault wasn’t clear. It appears that when the unit is turned on the cd drawer opens no matter what mode the set is in. You can close the door and it opens again about 10 seconds later. It won’t stay shut and it dosen’t recognise any media.

CD drawer opens constantly

The second and what is an unlisted issue is that the unit has inherited a knocking from inside that I suspect has probably occurred in transit. On opening the unit one of the speakers has broken loose as a securing catch on the speaker grill has broken. I will need to fix this, it’s really nothing major.

Who’s knocking?

To get to the front of the unit you first have to go in through the back. When the back panel is removed you have to unsolder the aerial to be able to get into the box and unscrew the front unit, this then allows you to extricate everything through the front of the unit.

Reading about similar issues on line it appears there could be a number of issues here from loose belts, dry drivetrains, loose cogs, sensors needing cleaning, lasers needing cleaning right through to total replacement of the cd unit. I will wait and see what presents itself when I can spend some time on this in the next couple of days. It really is a nice little unit and it would be good to get it back working fully.

The mains circuit contains a big capacitor that needs bleeding before I get anywhere near it. This is done and work begins.

I’ve fixed the broken speaker securing clip by using some Araldite 2 part adhesive and a small clamp. I’ve left this for a few hours until it set hard. It’s now back in position and doing the job it was designed to do. Both speakers are now secure.

I found out why the Cd drawer kept opening. There was a previously installed and damaged disc sitting under the carriage. As soon as that was removed the Opening/Closing scenario is no more.

I reassembled the unit and it all appeared to go well until….no disc error 🤦‍♂️

Sort one issue and another arises

Damn, I checked the drives they’re ok, I’ve cleaned the lens and reassembled yet again. Same issue.

I’ve opened it up yet again and checked the output power of the Laser and that is at .03 ohms. Small adjustments on the diode show no improvement in either direction so it is looking as if the damage is within the laser itself. I don’t hold out much hope of getting the cd working as it’s not really a replaceable unit as it wasn’t designed that way. So unless I can find some way of getting around this issue I might just have to accept that the unit will just be used in Dab, FM, USB and Bluetooth modes.

It works. So I guess it’s a job done. Sort of.

Anyway who uses CDs these days?

I do 🙋‍♂️

Sony Digital Radio Cassette Walkman WM FX-20

I’ve just purchased this item from EBay. Here’s the listing:

This is being sold as spares as sounds like the belt has gone so don’t play tape has some battery leaking marks but radio plays fine.

Please study the pictures as this makes up some of the description thanks for looking and please check out our other great bargains 👍
Ebay

Just a sucker for a bit of retro me. I’ve worked on the discman, blog post here: Sony Discman D-121 Pt:2 as well as on a few others spread over this site.

This one dates between 1991-93 as these were the years that these particular units were manufactured between. I knocked the price down a bit but ended up paying about £18GBP in total.

It looks to be in good cosmetic condition with light usage as you can still see all the numbers on the rubber pads quite clearly. For a unit that’s potentially into its 33rd year that’s no mean feat. Anyway we will just have to await its arrival and not get too excited.

I preferred the tape Walkmans to be honest and I’m hoping this one will be a simple fix so I can play all those old REM tapes I have sitting in the cabinet at home. But it probably won’t be a simple fix. And it has corrosion , how quaint!

The assessment and repair post can be found here: Sony Digital Radio Cassette Walkman WM FX-20 assessment and repair

Blaupunkt BPHF-1R Dab CD radio

Just brought this. Here’s the listing on EBay

Excellent sound quality on Blaupunkt DAB radio with built in speakers NOTE CD player mechanism is not working

(possibly an easy repair job)

Radio & remote OK.

RRP £99.00
EBay

I ended up paying the grand total £21:22 GBP for this item and that included postage. I may have got quite a good deal, however as usual I will have to await its arrival as you can’t always trust EBay listings. Hopefully the issue with the cd mechanism is a relatively easy fix 🤞

Looking forward to getting busy on this one, back to the end of the ever growing list of items to work on you go.

Check here to see how the repair went : Blaupunkt BPHF-1R Dab CD radio assessment and repair

Fuji Finepix S1500

Why do I do it?

Serious battery damage
EBay listing

I like a challenge like most people. But this listing note above should have put me off, but no, I have the equipment, I have the time but do I have the patience to see this repair through. The guy wanted more than I was prepared to pay for such a camera, I got him down to less than a quarter of his original asking price paying just £6 gbp for this camera. Hopefully if it all goes bottoms up I’ll at least have some spares that can be used, if the corrosion has got to the circuitry it might be a different story.

On the market in 2009 this camera was amongst the digital assault from the far east that earned the title of being a “Bridge Camera”. Unfortunately this was not one of the better versions but however was well received by the casual snap shot photographer. I had one back in the day and that was my introduction to digital photography. This particular camera will go to a young family member who is getting into photography, if I can get it working.

The plan with this one is to get it open and do a full review on just how deep the “serious battery damage” goes. I’m not too hopeful, but sometimes luck does go your way.

Keep an eye out for updates when it is received and the work I will be doing to restore it to working order.

Thanks for passing by.

Something to be getting on with..

The batch of cameras I purchased the other day, all old SLRs / DSLRs have now arrived… with a bonus.

I was expecting 10 cameras but I’ve trumped that with 12 and a lot of spares as well. The guy I purchased the Nikons from has thrown in two more D70 as spares, with loads more spare parts. He was having a clear out so I guess he’s funneled that stock my way…thanks old chap.

So I have received today

One Canon 5 SLR – stuck mirror, missing some small Connection covers and like a lot of these old cameras has a sticky rubber covering that was well known back In the day.
One Canon EOS 50E – damaged curtain, faulty lock and again sticky.
One Canon EOS 1000F – cosmetically sound no other visible issues.
One Canon EOS Elan 2 – cosmetically sound, just sticky.
Two Nikon D70S DSLR – missing battery covers and some other small accessory covers, both sticky.
Six Nikon D70 DSLR – all missing battery covers, or other accessory covers, one missing a CF card reader and all sticky.
And two sizeable bags of D70/D70s spares

I’ll be starting with a good clean to get rid of that stickiness and then I’ll power each up individually to see what other issues lie in wait. I’m hopeful I can get most of them up and running, I’m confident that the majority of the DSLRs will be repairable.

I’ll feature the repairs once I’m in a position to donate the time to them. I’m a busy boy at the moment what with work and the wife’s growing list of things that need doing around the house.

Canon EOS 5D Mk2

The assessment and repair of this camera can be found here: Canon EOS 5D MK2 assessment and repair

As the listing stated:

Canon 5D Mark II DSLR Camera – Body Only – Spares or Repairs

We have tested this camera and found the following fault:

The camera powers up, however the sensor is damaged and images are recorded either blank or unusable, and so we are describing this item as FAULTY / SPARES / REPAIRS.

Shutter Count: 69,970
EBay

I noticed this 5D on sale earlier for £109 Gbp. It’s from a supplier who has a good reputation who I have used before, however he suddenly drops the price by 90% and I snap his arm off for this. It has sensor issues and that’s at least a £70 price just for that part. Considering how much these cameras usually retail for it’s a price I could absorb…but I think something else must have come to light for him to change his pricing. The body is pretty beaten up, again I’m not too bothered with that, the usb port might be damaged by the looks of it and again that’s something I can sort.

I guess I’ll just have to await its imminent arrival. In any case for a total of £9.99 GBP I’ll make more from this just for spare parts.

See the assessment and repair blog post here: Canon EOS 5D MK2 assessment and repair

More stock

I’ve spent the grand total of £91 GBP on more damaged/faulty stock today, I now have enough stuff to be working on to keep me busy for months.

On top of the 6 Canon cameras I purchased last week I now have a further 4 Canon film cameras ( Eos Elan 2, 50E, 1000fn and an Eos 5) I’ve also got two faulty EF lenses to test the old Canons with, these will also get the repair treatment.

I’ve also purchased four Nikon D70 and 2 Nikon D70S units all needing the repair treatment, I’ve even blagged some spare parts here as well so overall it’s been quite a good days shopping.

Sony Discman D-141

Assessment and fault finding….will it work ?

Double trouble here as I’ve purchased two of them.

These variants are from 1994 just around the height of the capacitor plague problem. As I’ve already dealt with a D-121 version this week that was riddled with the issues and being only a year older, I’m not too hopeful that these two will be any different. They both have the same issue being that they turn off after about 10 seconds, this could be due to a number of issues, let’s get them unpacked and get an initial inspection done.

On initial inspection they both appear to be quite tidy considering they are 30 years old. One is missing a disc capstan however i do have a replacement from the old D-121 that was added to the spare parts box earlier this week.

Both start up, spin and then stop, sometimes showing a no disc error, sometimes not. The good news is there is no sign of corrosion on either unit.

Time to open them up….

I used the old donor D-121 from earlier in the week to replace the missing capstan on one of the units.

On opening of the cases the boards looked ok. No signs of corrosion or plague damage, this was a good sign and it was now time to look a little deeper.

I did the standard clean of the lenses with IPA, I re greased the worm gears and rails but none of this alleviated the issue of the discs stopping just after start up. I did some continuity checks and component checks, all seemed ok. All buttons worked, all switches worked, something just wasn’t right. I decided to check the output of the laser adjustment pot and this was extremely low. I spent a good hour on the first unit and a similar time on the second trying to adjust the range up and down before realising that after 30 yrs both lasers seemed to be at fault. No adjustments improved the output.

Faulty laser assembly removed and replaced

I was facing the fact that I’d now have two more failed units to go with the D-121 earlier this week. Then I thought why not try the laser out of that failed unit?

It worked. The D-121 donor unit was compatible with the D-141 and after a few minutes adjusting the laser we were able to play an audio Cd.

We have life

This week I have looked at 4 faulty units and managed to get 2 fully working with a third one needing a replacement laser sled when one becomes available. I have one spare redundant unit that has been indispensable for the repair of the other units, in theory i potentially have 3 out of the four available.

All dressed up

I won’t be wasting anymore time on Discmans in the foreseeable future. They had their time and digital sound has obviously pushed this medium in to the dark distant past. The units are becoming life extinct and it’s like performing knee surgery on an elderly individual, you are improving their quality of life for the moment until the ravages of old age take over. Bit of a crude analogy I know, what I’m saying is steer clear of these as they are going to be trouble, people seem to think they are worth a fortune and are charging ridiculously high prices for something that just about works.

It’s been fun though and I have learned a lot from it so it can’t all be bad.

Good people, stay safe. Thanks for passing by.

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Assessment and fault finding….will it work ?

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