The tape format I love but the machine I really despise the dreaded Sony TCDD7 DAT

[@sergeaudenaert]

Incredible patience and commitment

[@12voltvids]

6 hours on this one.

[@svenschwingel8632]

Dave is 💯 right guys. If you still use DAT like I do, operate your deck or walkman once a fortnight by loading a tape and winding it completely. You should do that with stored tapes anyway. This will give the transport some exercise, prevent the drum from sticking and allows you to spot potential problems early on.

[@12voltvids]

That reminds me. Time to exercise my tcdd3 again.

[@svenschwingel8632]

@@12voltvids a lovely piece of equipment (as long as it works) and testimony to Sony's capabilities in miniaturizing. The sticky Nextel finish is something one has to deal with, though 🤣

[@chrismifsud7154]

What amazing engineering.

[@12voltvids]

It was and I still enjoy the dat format.

[@ottronics6457]

Didn't think of that can't wait for your next one ...!!!

[@12voltvids]

It's ready to upload.

[@ThaVoodoo1]

Good video Dave, I wonder if someone has uploaded that gear file so it can be 3D printed.

[@12voltvids]

Don't know. Never had any luck with 3d printed parts.

[@valentinc22]

For reference this gear is available (and has been for quite some time) for sale from a few different sellers (injection molded part). I'm stating this for reference only (as other reading this may be interested) as none of the sellers are based in Canada.

[@tacofortgens3471]

3D printed is too weak and soft

[@svenschwingel8632]

​@@tacofortgens3471depends in the technique used. But I agree, these parts either rarely last or lack the necessary precision.

[@tacofortgens3471]

Dave is the Datman!, super respect for the patience

[@jeremiefaucher-goulet3365]

I wonder if at that point, when it's so gummed up, it wouldn't be easier to just drop the whole mech in an ultrasonic cleaner then lube up again the moving parts. My thinking here, is it would provide quite the rejuvenating cure in this case.

[@12voltvids]

And ruin the motors

[@daveturner5305]

I don't know what may be damaged by an ultrasonic cleaner. Many 'repairers' , for want of a better word, do seem to use them for electronic and mechanical parts. What are the limitations, accepting that new lubrication may be required?

[@12voltvids]

@@daveturner5305 liquid going where it shouldn't go for starters.

[@daveturner5305]

I'm old school too. However it seems to be used in many electronic and mechanical applications.

[@jeremiefaucher-goulet3365]

@@12voltvids yeah... I would definitely not put motors in there either. Their exclusion was implied in my mind. I'm guessing the disassembly and messing around would be too much.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

Not a dreaded video. Very fascinating. I do understand in a way. You cannot see it operate with the lid closed.

[@pradolover]

Had a D8 back in the day. Loved it.

[@12voltvids]

My D3 still works afaik

[@CanonPanasonic-ProUser]

My experience is that often the problems start at the grease in the rotary encoder which after 2 years afters factory release get to hard. The servo system controller (CPU) get the wrong position data of the rotary encoder the and therefore gives the motor drivers too long signals to keep on going. The plastic gear can't keep that up and splits up from the axis. (Me, former technician Sony Video8/Hi8 camcorders). Own a hardly used TCD-D3 which rec/pb in LP mode without dropouts .

[@12voltvids]

Yup seen the midway gear break.

[@thomasraden]

The Sony PCM-M1 is even worse. You need magnify glasses to work inside it. It worked 6 months ago, but now no response when pressing the open lid. I will save it as a museums obsticle.

[@12voltvids]

No thanks.

[@Peppe0212]

just picked one of those up and i've been trying to repair it myself, followed your video and managed to free the guide mechanism, the problem is the drive now won't move the guide up or down. Do you know by any chance why that is?

[@helpaholic]

Fantastic voice over

[@svenschwingel8632]

I have seen repair guys take the complete reel table assembly out and soak it in petroleum over night, cleaning it with IPA afterwards.

[@carlos040256]

2 YEARSAGO I WASDOING THE SIMILAR JOB ON D7 AFTER I WAS STORING THE ENTIRE GEAR IN LIQUID PARAFFIN FOR 2 DAYS CLEANING WITH SMALL BRUSH IT WAS FINE

[@usernameg5]

i have a cheap plastic era mechanical sony c-tape player where play works fine, but both ff and rew turn in play direction (yes, rewind goes forward) only slighty faster than play. i know it is somekind mechanical issue beyond my skills. the mechanism does'nt have rubber idlerer but plastic gears

[@12voltvids]

Broken plastic control parts. Perhaps too tight belt installed.

[@usernameg5]

I seem to recall that i was actually fast forwarding a tape after belts replacement, and it worked fine, then suddenly tape speed dropped down on a fly and never worked after that @@12voltvids

[@12voltvids]

@@usernameg5 something plastic broke.

[@mgm5457]

Probably not the right way to do it, but .... on some small assemblies like that I would spray them with WD-40 and using a toothbrush, massage it in. then rinse with WD-40 and blow out all the excess and wipe it down, oiling where needed ... my favorite was marvel Mystery Oil ... still don't know what the mystery was !!

[@jochenhammer2520]

Broken gear...a common issue on D7 and D8 devices. Fortunately this gear is available at Ebay in plastic and even in metal for a few bucks...

[@12voltvids]

The problem with eBay is 100% of the sellers are assholes. You tell them please ship the 1.00 part by USPS and what do they do? They ship fed ex. Just yesterday my son received a package from some goofball eBay seller. It was printed keyboard overlay for a video game. Paid 5.00 for it and told the guy to mail it. What did he do? Fed ex. 37.00 in broker charges. It doesn't matter what you tell them, fed ex is easier and probably cheaper for the seller and they don't have to get off their ass and go to the post office. They can click their mouse and someone picks it up. They don't give a shit that the buyer is in a different country and fed ex is going to fu^k them up the as5 with fees. I would rather they send DHL or ups because they make you pay the fee before they deliver so I have the option of refusing the package. Then the seller gets it back collect and then I dispute the sale as item not delivered and sting them a second time. But fed ex just leaves it at the door and sends a bill 3 weeks later. I just got the bill for the led backlights for the tv i fixed last month. 47.00 for broker fees and taxes.

[@jasonhandy8442]

I have the exact model you are serviceing in the UK it cost about £120 pounds plus parts for a service if the parts are available that looks like brain damage 👍👍

[@12voltvids]

Stay tuned. Part 2 today.

[@stpworld]

i have a sony dat walkman i use it once a month

[@ottronics6457]

What if You soaked that whole mechanism in alcohol over night then came back with a que tip and worked it over then re - lube ....

[@12voltvids]

Destroy the mode switches. There are 2 BTW

[@lox_5017]

Dave from your videos of these DAT machines they seem to have alot of moving parts that can break down very easily. What kill the DAT format.

[@12voltvids]

They are just like a VCR or camcorder. What killed the format was hard drive and sd card recording. Tape is dead. Some like to pretend it isn't barung big bucks for cassette and reel to reel but it's dead.

[@st200ol]

Recordable CD's killed of DAT and then MP3's and Flash memory killed off the recordable CD.

[@12voltvids]

@@st200ol no, serial copy management killed dat as did market confusion caused by DCC. When minidisk was introduced interest in dat fell for home recording. It however had captured the professional market and was used exclusively in recording studios. Tascam da88 for example was an 8 track stackable recorder. If im not mistaken you could stack 8 for 64 track recording on 8 hi8 tapes. They all operated in sync so once you finished your session you mixed down to something like a da40 DAT deck. If not mistaken the da40 was also syncabke so multiple da40 could also be used. Anyway untill protools and qbass pretty much every recording from the 80a through the mid 2000s was done on dat. They were used in radio, tv, film production for field sound. Have a friend that is a sound man in film and he said they dumped the nagra and went to pro dat for film sound field recording in the 90s. Usuay ran 2 with one set 20db lower then the other so no change of overload.

[@stefansteiger4027]

One night in Parafin-oil and the whole mechanism is free.

[@12voltvids]

10 minutes with ipa and some oil acheives the same results.

[@stefansteiger4027]

@@12voltvids Thank you - One question about the aligment of the encoder wheel - You showed the direction of both wheels - in this status is the mechanism in an "open" oder "closed" status?

[@12voltvids]

@@stefansteiger4027 the timing marks are where you set the cam gears top and bottom. I go through it in more detail in part 2

[@stefansteiger4027]

@@12voltvids I repaired a lot of the d7/d8 and there is always the trouble with the timing. There is no documentation from Sony. Thank you

[@12voltvids]

@@stefansteiger4027 yes I am aware. They were never designed to be repaired.

[@mrfroopy]

Because they're putting 10 pounds of stuff into a 2 pound box.

[@12voltvids]

1 pound Bix if that.

[@zx8401ztv]

I'm not surprised that you hate them, too small and too easy to break parts :-( Not my cup of tea.

[@12voltvids]

They are small and fiddly. This one took about 6 hours by the time it was all done. Can't charge enough for the time working on this. They are like the Swiss watches of Walkman. Same as the really tiny mini DV cameras. They are another nightmare to work on. All these moving parts, multiple cam gears to control mechanism and multiple mode switches. I am getting better at these now that i have worked on a few of them.

[@fireantsarestrange]

DAT... the fully dead format. Never worked and never will.

[@12voltvids]

It actually worked well. It was the standard for recording and broadcast for over 20 years. If you bought a CD in the 80s through 2006 it was mastered on DAT. The walkmans were problematic

[@video99couk]

@@12voltvids Well it might have been mastered on PCM1630 U-matic tapes. But yes, DAT worked well for the most part and got plenty of use in studios as well as high end home setups. I have a fleet of five decks from Sony and Tascam.

[@12voltvids]

@@video99couk PCM 1630 and the pcm1 with a betamax were used in the early days. Once the DAT format was introduced it quickly became the industry standard just like betacam did for the broadcast and professional production market.