Sony TC540 Reel To Reel Mechanism Service

Part 1. Mechanical service

[@teacfan1080]

Love the reel to reel videos! Love all the others too!

[@12voltvids]

Stand by, part 2 will be up tonight. This unit is now fully restored. No I didn't go and recap it, and I explain why on the video. Recapping for the most part was a ploy by service shops to drive up the repair costs big time. There are times you do change out caps, in tube gear because old paper caps go bad. Old electrolytic caps generally do not. The odd one might fail, but they generally don't all go bad.

[@rustywp]

Thank you for your video! I bought a Sony TC-255 that had a frozen "rocker arm" like this one- the heating trick was great, and I cleaned out the hub by running a drill bit in it to clean it out! NOW IT WORKS, and I didn't waste $150 :-) (The idler wheels are in great shape on mine :-) )

[@adoreslaurel]

Pinch rollers and other rubber wheels get hard with age, I remanufactured my own pinch roller with multiple layers of rubber and Sika flex glue.also rebuilt rubberised wheels in my TEAC bought to replace my TC 630 when it's right channel died.

[@ragge13]

You upload many videos... I like it :-) Thank you.

[@12voltvids]

You would think I am trying to set a record here or something. I'll do a bunch now before the weather gets nice. When the weather gets nice I will be out on my days off on my Harley enjoying the nice weather. Then the videos will slow down a little.

[@maicod]

for us thats a pitty but you deserve it !

[@RobertKohut]

Nice!! You're amazing at disassembly/reassembly I must say. I could take it all apart but putting back again, I don't know??...LOL

[@oldyork1173]

The video help me repair a unit I picked up for $50. However, when you pulled off and broke that small black capstan part it allowed the flywheel to sit back hard against the rear panel mounted bearing (assisted by the spring). After a dozen tapes the rear bearing wore away and the flywheel now rests against the rear. I have to lean the recorder forward to 'free' the flywheel. Keep the videos coming.

[@SDsailor7]

another excellent video. very interesting and informative.Cheers

[@MrLasersound]

I love watching your'e vids and too an engineer, but first 10 mins of this gives me stomach ache for laughing and what make it worse is you take it in your stride, but yes fantastic and you always get to the point and don't bs thank you

[@palanisamym1657]

you are a very experience engineer good ...I like ..

[@robertcruickshank]

Thanks! Super helpful!

[@conradmeyer9991]

i bought a tape player inside was 5 bulets a toffy and 7 jumbo toothpicks

[@maicod]

still watching but wow you're a real magician

[@tinicum54]

No joke, repaired a smoking toaster that was smoking and would not eject the toast. A mouse was trapped and it STANK. Broken neck and burnt hair, lol.

[@12voltvids]

The question is did you toss the toaster or re-gift it and give it to someone you don't like?

[@mitch19636]

lol +TSM

[@maicod]

TSM you should've left the dead mouse in and give the toaster to John Senchak (name of that idiot commenter)

[@rawr51919]

12voltvids I'd imagine he fixed the toaster by removing the mouse from it.

[@ICStation2013]

Great work as always. ^0^

[@12voltvids]

Part 2 to follow shortly

[@tinicum54]

In 1973, a customer brought in a Heathkit mono 40 watt basic amp, he had put a cut 10 penny nail in the fuse holder, the power xformer basically melted.

[@12voltvids]

I used to see many devices where the fuse blew and someone wrapped it with the foil paper that smokes are wrapped up in.

[@eolhcytoos]

You amaze me 12volt. How do you remember where each screw and washer goes on reassembly. You take so many off and you never seem to have any bits left over. What is the secret?Always informative and interesting videos, thanks.

[@rawr51919]

Reference material and lots of it. That's all I'll say.

[@tinicum54]

Repaired more of those old Sonys than I can shake a stick at. Just repaired a TC-230.

[@12voltvids]

Yes I have repaired a few of them. The shop I worked at, the owner didn't want to work on reel to reel. He saw them as obsolete,, and when someone would come in he would try to sell them a cassette deck claiming superior sound. I would slip them my number, and do the work at home.

[@kardeef33317]

Did you quit useing Deoxit? If so could ya let us know why, if ya don't mind. And thanks for all the videos... man your cranking out alot lately.. Don't burn yourself out.. And thanks again for sharing your experience.

[@12voltvids]

No I use it for equipment I intend to keep. It is expensive stuff, so for units I intend to sell I use Nutrol. The Nutrol I have is an old can, which was superior to the alcohol based formulation they have today and is pretty much on par with Deoxit D5. Deoxit is superior to the new formulation of Nutrol. Since I already have an Akai 4000, and a GX260, as well as the Teac 4 channel, and another vintage Akai, I will be selling off these Sony decks once restored.

[@peteschreiber9517]

GREAT.

[@MrWolfSnack]

I just got a Sony TC-155 and it's got similar components and parts to this model. Mine played fine for 1 and then 1/2 of a 3" reel and then it just all of a sudden in the middle of playing bogged down to a crawl. There was a hot oil/grease smell throughout the entire time I was running it. The motor was scalding hot when I took the cabinet off. What could be the problem? It had no audio hum or any bad sounds the whole time it was playing and sounded very nice, then it just went kaput and slowed down.

[@larryshaver3568]

i'd get some pipe cleaners or chenille stems at a dollar store to clean those stubborn parts

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

I freaking love your videos! No rubber renue on this one?

[@12voltvids]

Not needed on this one, and should not be used unless necessary. It softens rubber which has oxidation and become hard. If a rubber tire has not gotten to that state, using it could over soften it, and make it more prone to wear.

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

Can I use it to restore a pretty bad pinch roller from a VCR? The rubber surface has deformed and has small holes on it.

[@rawr51919]

Fivos Sakellis Might be too far gone for rubber renew.

[@FindLiberty]

Did you get all of the old lube cleaned out of the sticky mechanism? If not, that sticky problem may come back...

[@larryshaver3568]

that leader can be put back on with "invisible" tape i used it all the time it's so easy to cut

[@RobertKohut]

Going to Part 2 now.....(Nice)

[@davidlegault9745]

Great video Dave, love watching a master at work. What kind of Harley do you have?? Regard, Dave

[@12voltvids]

I have an 07 Electraglyde full dresser. I don't ride it much these days. Last year I put like 2000 miles on it the entire season. Had it for 11 years and it is has 20K on the clock. I enjoy riding, and have had my motorcycle license since I was 16. My current bike is #7 and will be my last bike. The older I get the more I think about all the idiots on the road. Now that they are about to legalize marijuana in Canada, my fears are even greater that there will be a bunch of stoned drivers on the roads. Generally drunks are only out at night, but the pot heads will be out all day. I have had a couple of near misses where had I not been 120% focused would have likely made me a statistic, so ya I know how dangerous they are. You see the pictures of the couples riding away into the sunset on their bikes, and the dream of the open road. In reality, on a hot day it is like sitting atop of a boiler. They are not as comfortable as one pictures on a long trip. I have done 1 really long trip on the bike, and usually take it out once or twice a season for a ride in the mountains as that is a blast, but short day trips only. Never ride anywhere near a city. Get out on the highway where there is no cross traffic or intersections. To tell you the truth though I much prefer to take the car on road trips. Comfort and a much safer environment.

[@davidlegault9745]

I completely understand. When we lived in Ottawa I had a Yamaha 750 Seca and nearly got creamed twice on the Queensway. Before that I lived up in Inuvik and had dirt bikes and snowmobiles. I used to love riding out in the country but the close calls ended my riding days. I traded the bike in on a lawn tractor which kept my adrenaline level down. Now that I'm over 65 I just enjoy my pickup and my boat. Regards, Dave

[@davidlegault9745]

When I was a teenager in Montreal I used to go down to the Harley dealership on Sherbrooke st. and drool. I always wanted a Harley but never had the money to make the jump. Regards, Dave

[@rhadamestellez1647]

I wonder if you have a video on how to replace just the belts. My dad has one of these and I want to help him to do that.

[@simtitan1]

Someone gave me a similar unit last year. It made a very loud grinding/clicking noise during playback, the speakers buzzed, and the heads were worn out. I ended up giving it to someone else.

[@RegiPavan]

Please make a next video on the bias fix...

[@12voltvids]

Turned out to be something totally different, and the unit works perfect now.

[@RegiPavan]

12voltvids Wow! That's excellent

[@tinicum54]

Hello Sir. A question about Fisher Studio Standard Receivers from the late 90's. 5.1 surround board hardwired on top of the main board. A nightmare, Left channel took out 26 components, warranty job. The paint was peeling from the walls as I took my lumps. Praying, as they say.

[@tinicum54]

LOL "More Cowbell"!

[@bradygiltz5160]

I had a question. My friend has one but the driver pulley won't engage

[@larryshaver3568]

i used lighter fluid on a magnavox turntable to loosen a frozen cycling gear wheel and it came off after blowing warm air on it

[@12voltvids]

Lighter fluid is naptha and it is a good, but flammable solvent. I prefer wd40 as less chance of burning your place down. Gasoline works too but that is a very bad idea.

[@larryshaver3568]

@@12voltvids all it takes is a drop or two right where the wheel goes over the shaft. the grease they used in England back in the early 70's was the worst

[@matambale]

Well - it's better to find dead bees, than live ones...

[@justinellison4214]

Heay i like these videos . Fun to watch and learn

[@zx8401ztv]

The evil concreate grease, i've found that locks the Auto gear under a bsr record deck platter, very common for units sitting for too long. Looks like you have faulty reel brakes too, tape running off the reels, also common. I would check the mode selectors again, they dont always clean too well.

[@12voltvids]

I believe that is because I am using a small 3" reel on the supply side and a big 7" on the take up. The brakes will obviously stop a small reel faster than the larger reel as it has a larger mass to stop. Yes the old grease is evil for sure. Getting into the audio circuits today..

[@Luke-san]

Not only for units sitting too long btw. In the 90's it was very very common on some Sony VHS models that an arm would just get stuck destroying the tapes. The devices were like 3 years old. That was a 5 minute fix, once you got the hang of it. On my mountain bike I sometimes can not change the gears. Unfortunately that one is a bit of a pain in the ... since you cannot open the shifters (well you can but then you are really in trouble). The temp solution for that is a bit unorthodox but it will do. Old grease is crap and hopefully the silicone/teflon type I use now will last longer. I also wonder about those selectors. They might be corroded like crazy and a spray just won't cut it. My approach would be to desolder and place them in vinegar for a couple of hours, then really wash them with plenty of water to get the 'acid' out and then use some contact cleaner again to put a film over them.

[@12voltvids]

Luc Peeters The Sony vhs machines were a different animal. That was that black molybdenum grease. Mitsubishi, jvc and Hitachi also used that shit in different places of the mechanism and they all had problems with it. Horrible crap.

[@Luke-san]

I know ;-) we replaced it with white stuff. Still grease which I used to think was fantastic stuff... then I learned about the negative points.

[@zx8401ztv]

Luc Peeters For tape mode switches i often had to desolder the switch and dissasemble it, then remove all the black muck that i always found in them. I cleaned the slider contacts by sliding them on to the edge of a sheet of printer paper that had some metholated spirit on. I applied light oil to the switch blades and carefully slid the contacts back on. The selector switch always worked perfect then :-D My mate has a mountain bike, dam derailures are a pain in the bum, and the handle bar selector seems rather inaccurate for its job, no wonder the chain does not always end up in the right place :-(

[@tmilwaukee]

I have one of these machines. Only 2 of the 3 speeds work properly. What would cause the slowest speed to drag?

[@12voltvids]

Idler tire that drives the capstan flywheel.

[@johnrules81]

Have you got any ideas for why the playback speed fluctuates on my TC-540 machine? I’ve replaced the main belt, but haven’t done much else to it. The belt I removed is still in pretty decent shape (not stretched out or sticky). All of its other functions work pretty well.

[@12voltvids]

Lots of reasons. Tape slippage at pinch roller. Bad run capacitor for the ac motor.

[@johnrules81]

Thank you for that fast reply! I may have found the culprit... the metal tabs with felt pads which pop up during playback were getting gummed up from me playing a tape with moderate sticky shed syndrome. I removed those metal tabs and played it back again just to see what would happen and it played fine for a couple hours. This was sticky tape shed was probably the issue I ran into when I last used it 10 years ago. I cleaned the tape path several times throughout playback and found an old tape with no backing - played that one for quite awhile Andrea no issues with the machine slowing down. I know a speed fluctuation issue plagued the machine when my dad used it in the 80’s and he had taken it to a few shops. Much of the old lubricant had already been cleaned out 30 years or so ago and didn’t look too bad. That could be because my dad retired it not long after it’s last servicing.

[@12voltvids]

@@johnrules81 Ah yes the old sticky shed syndrome. I am fortunate. I don't have many bad tapes like that. I just found a collection of old tapes that had been given to me by an old radio program director. The station. He ran at the time had an SCA music service and these were the tapes broadcast on the sub carrier. Funny thing Is they are stereo mixes. All elevator music from the 60s and 70s. Pretty cool.

[@tinicum54]

The Sony 377 was another nightmare.

[@SDsailor7]

If you don't have a reel rubber holder on the reels will it cause wow and flutter on the sound of recordings/playback?anyone know?Thank you

[@samsokolowski0140]

Reel to reel that I have resorted Sony tc 105 and tc 106

[@leonvinttage7488]

Hi I have the Sony 530 n the rca Connector of the channel 2 doesn't work .. the question is can I repair ?? Jaja

[@Gradientetecnology]

Tem q ectrair com 2 chaves, 1 de cada lado

[@Decap1956]

I also have one like that but it has no sound

[@ingenfestbrems]

Looks like a 3head machine to me

[@tinicum54]

Love your vids but you are creating work on this one. Apply de-greaser and walk away, allow that to do do its job. Chemicals are our friends.

[@12voltvids]

How am I creating work. i took the dry grease off and re lubricated it. Other areas such as the back side of the flywheel the grease is still fine and doesn't need replacing at this time. It is just in the pivot points that it gets really bad, and I have dealt with that.

[@larryshaver3568]

i see black residue on the capstan

[@12voltvids]

That's nice.

[@RobertKohut]

Lock washer? @20:13 and @29:47

[@tinicum54]

LOL "More Cowbell"!