player – Foxes Den

Panasonic Walkman cassette player RQ-P250

At a family gathering this weekend, an elderly family member approached me and asked if I could take a look at his Panasonic personal tape player, and maybe get it back up and working.

Who am I, to turn down such an invitation, so I took it on and promised him I’d have a look into it. There is, “No rush“ I was told. Just as well, as it’s busy in every aspect of my life at the moment.

Here’s the spec:

Type: Auto Reverse Cassette Player

Tape Type: type I, CrO2, Metal

Output: 20mW

Battery: 2 x AA

Power Supply: RP-AC33 (3V DC)

Dimensions: 114.2 x 84.4 x 33.1mm

Weight: 156g

Finish: black

Year: 1993

Hifiengine

Assessment:

It’s well used, and has always been and if I can get it working, will continue to be so. At the grand old age of 79 my brother in law is not about to change his ways and is quite comfortable listening to his old Cassette collection whilst out and about, on trains quite a bit of the time, as he travels up and down the country. He’s a lovely old fashioned set in his ways guy and we wouldn’t have him any other way. It would be blooming lovely to get this back to him working again.

It’s scarred, been well used but looked after, apparently it’s gone from playing quite well, to slowing down and dying completely. I think I know what the issue is but I’m not going to curse myself by saying I know what is wrong, when it actually turns out to be something totally different.

And I love his choice of music. Let’s get this repair underway so we can listen to Mr. Rea in a lovely crisp sounding manner befitting of an 80s rock star.

Repair:

Batteries in place, earphones connected, push play. No movement from the capstans, and even when put in forward and reverse there is no movement from either capstan. I can hear all the electrical noises such as the tape head picking, and I suspect at the grand old age of 32 years old that the drive belts have probably given in. Let’s open it up and have a look.

And just as I thought. Two drive belts in here, they are both loose, one though is so loose that it has wrapped itself around the two capstans, no wonder it wouldn’t start up.

Two drive belts visible, both so stretched that they have ceased working

I have plenty of these belts spare, I just had to sort out the two closest matching in size. Too slack and you introduce warble, too tight and it will be off speed, you need to get it just right. Adjustments can be made to the motor speed but this will only come back to bite you once the belts wear in.

I’ve put two new belts in place, and at some frequencies there is a little wobble, but with Dolby switched in place this can be removed digitally, this will settle over the coming weeks after more use.

I have used some silicon grease on the cogs, I have put contact spray in the motor and the volume controls, and used IPA to clean all the tape contacts and capstan wheels and posts, it’s basically been given a little service to see it forward for a while longer.

Body now reassembled, new batteries put in place, it’s time to test it.

Result:

A quick polish, to tidy up, won’t get rid of the deep scuffs, just makes it a little more presentable. Cassette inserted, headphones plugged in and as expected it’s working just fine, we can hear Mr.Rea in all his gravel voiced glory. So can you, in this video snippet below, that hopefully won’t get a copyright strike 🤞

🎶 On the beach 🎵

So there we have it. Another item brought back to life with about 30 minutes work. It’s going to make someone’s day, and I’m as pleased as punch that I could play a part in contributing to that.

Working well, looking ok after a quick service and some TLC

There you go. Hope you enjoyed this quick fix.

Many thanks for passing by. Always most appreciated.

Mamekara Karaoke machine

What the listing stated:

This is a handy karaoke cassette player released by Epson over 30 years ago in Japan. The item it self does not function. Recommended for retro collectors

Ebay

This video sums it up, apologies to those with sensitive hearing:

The pub singer

Anyway, enough of the frivolities, let’s see what’s wrong and try to fix it.

On initial examination, everything seems to be there, no damage to the shell. Four AA batteries inserted and I do hear some feedback from the mic.

There are some volume controls that control the tape sound versus mic sound, there is also a speech on and off switch along with a balance control, these seem to work intermittently and I suspect they might just need contacts cleaning.

The tape seems to sort of work but the play button does not stay on, the recorded sound is slow. Echo and balance buttons also seem to work but again probably need contacts cleaning. I suspect the belt of the cassette needs replacing and the tape heads will need cleaning.

Good news is that for once there is no corrosion on the battery contacts.

I will now have to open the unit up to observe closer.

Once inside there are a couple of issues that show straight away. The two drive belts are very loose and will require replacing, luckily I have a bag full of these that should do the job. There is also a wire detached that controls the motor, this will need re attaching at both ends.

I’ve reattached the wire and replaced the two drive belts. I’ve checked the board and found what looks like a burnt capacitor, but checks confirm there is no issue. Looks like the component has a small burn on it as a result of an earlier soldering attempt, probably during manufacture.

The main issue is that the play button will not engage. I spent a good 30 minutes scratching my head here until I spent some time clicking the buttons that worked and the stop button. There is a catch on the rear of the tape head that should click into the sliding stop mechanism when depressed, this was not quite making the full range of travel. A pair of pinch nose pliers and a slight adjustment of about 1mm ensured we were now working. I was worried I might over stress this catch, however it was made of steel and I had nothing to worry about. See the video below:

Loose belts and non engaging play button

There was nothing wrong with any of the volume controls or switches, so I used some contact cleaning spray and vigorously operated them for a minute or so each. This worked just fine.

I then reassembled the unit, put in some batteries and hey presto, good loud clean sound. I put a tape in and it played just fine, probably better than some of the Walkmans I’ve fixed lately.

Excuse the pub singing

I’ve put a little video up above of me singing into it, I haven’t played a tape due to copyright issues that might occur. I’ve sent the video to the family of me singing with a tape and they are suitably bemused, the unit now sits in our garden pub awaiting more customers, once I get a few Karaoke tapes to use.

The only thing I’m going to do is replace the foam mic cover, I’ve managed to source one and that should be here shortly. I’ve also found some cheap old Karaoke tapes that I’ll store in the pub for the families entertainment.

I’ve really enjoyed this little project, and once again I’ve salvaged another item that was broken from the 90s and saved it from landfill. It lives on.

Good job 👍

Technics Mash SL-XP165 Portable Cd Player With XBS Bass

The listing states:

For parts or not working, Does not power on don’t know what is wrong with it,screen looks to have a leak

EBay

This is probably going to be one of if not the least problematic units I have received yet. Probably more along the lines of boring for those looking for a repair report, I fear I have brought you here under false pretences, that was not my intention and I apologise if that has been the case.

Another unit from 1996 (therefore now 28 years old) this one originally had rechargeable batteries which were a bonus item for such a unit at the time. Personally I’m using good old alkaline batteries for test purposes, I doubt I will be using rechargeables.

I down loaded the instruction pamphlet, grabbed a pair of earphones and then dropped in two AA batteries and a CD.

Nothing. Silence…..

I looked at the unit, the seller is right I thought….then I pushed the play button and took the switch off hold on the side and put the second switch into normal operation and almost blew my ears off.

Superb sound and it was quite obvious that the unit was working. All buttons are doing what they should do, the Xbass system is phenomenal and the volume dial is faultless and crackle free.

It just goes to show the seller in this case wasn’t fully aware regarding how the unit works. You have to turn it on and off to get it working, it’s not all automated like other similar units. See video below.

Stop start works good

The unit is a bit tatty and the indicator panel has had some leak by the looks of it (See photo at top of this post) but even though this looks a bit poor cosmetically it does still display most of the information, it’s just not showing the track number info. Yes I could probably try another screen on this unit but what is the point? It works fine and the unit will gain no significant value for doing such a fix. It’s just not a financially viable choice unless I somehow come across a no value donor unit and seeing the prices people think these units are worth, I can’t see that happening anytime soon. And the Sony donors I have just aren’t compatible.

So I’ll leave it as it is. As the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.” It isn’t faulty, the only fault was in the sellers knowledge of its workings.

Another one saved from landfill. And that’s a positive.

AIWA Personal Radio Cassette Player HS-TX406 assessment and repair

I recently purchased this item, you can read the original post here: AIWA Personal Radio Cassette Player HS-TX406

I love this little unit, it has a great radio reception probably better than a number of Sony Walkmans I have worked on to be honest. It has arrived in good cosmetic condition with only a few dinks and scratches commensurate with its 30 year plus age.

On opening up the unit it’s patently obvious that this is another drive belt issue, it’s saggy and breaks on removal. Luckily I have a replacement belt that I purchased earlier.

It’s another saggy worn belt issue

And that is basically it. No major dramas it’s as simple as replacing the belt.

A bit of light grease on the gears, a tweak of the speed adjustment and all sounds as it should.

I’ve used a calibration tape with a 3Khz sine wave, it’s tuned in pretty close to the tone and I’ve used a downloaded oscillator software package to check the matching. It’s not a professional setup but it’s fine for my requirements.

All working with a new belt

Sorry there is nothing else much to write but I have a good working unit that plays tapes well and all I can say is I’ve saved yet another easily repairable unit from landfill. I already have someone who wants to take this one off my hands so I hope it will have many more years of trouble free operation.

Jobs a good ‘un 👍

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

Assessment:

Repair:

Result:

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