Atari 65XE restoration project part 5 - XC12 Tape drive repair

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This is a bit of a slow one, I never tried to take a cassette player apart with the intention of putting it back together.
After the first clean and I get the FF to work I did a load of research into how they Atari tapes worked, looked at the XC12 circuit diagram and downloaded some tapes in wav format. I find that the data goes on the right side and plain audio on the left. As we see I play the tape back in a audio player and it looks and sounds good. I didn't show that I recorded the wav tape I download and tried playing that back because it didn't work and was just too long. While doing lots of testing I hooked up my scope to the tape audio in, tape data in and ground to look at the signals from the tape to the computer and all of a sudden the hum I had when the tape motor was running stopped and the audio from the tape was clean. After a bit more messing about and finding that if I touched the RF shield the hum also went away I wondered if any of the caps was causing the ground problem. Lucky I had the correct 220uf and 4.7uf caps and so I swapped them for new ones. That was it, it fixed the audio hum and I could save and load basic programs. As you can see I was very happy to have this working.

[@DJlegionuk]

If you like the retro repairs I have a 2nd channel just for them. kzbin.info

[@durrutino]

Hi, the torsion spring that holds the top cover that holds the tape has broken. Do you know what kind of torsion spring it is so you can replace it with a new one? someone knows?

[@TotoGuy-Original]

another way to load from tape is turn on the computer while holding start down and it will make the tone then you can load the tape

[@Synthematix]

I repaired loads of these in the 80's they always had bad azimuth and wrong speed problems. these were very unreliable.

[@buffalodebill7986]

I had the XC12, and the only thing, which prevented it from being perfect, was the single door-catch.. An easy solution to it was to glue something heavy (a piece of metal, in my case) to the opposite side of the door - and since then it worked perfectly. I later upgraded to Turbo 2000 and got some real speed out of this little beast. But yeah, I jumped from joy, when I finally got the 1050 floppy disk drive 🙂

[@retrocoolperu4729]

Excelente video, me has dado una pista para reparar mi CX12, ¿no tuviste problema con la faja del motor? Excellent video, you have given me a clue to repair my CX12, did you not have a problem with the engine belt?

[@tharkthax3960]

Hi there Did you ever find out what causes the loud humming? I have a couple xc12 that do the same thing. Thanks

[@DJlegionuk]

I thought it was the bad caps and I fixed by replacing them ?

[@tharkthax3960]

@@DJlegionuk I replaced them too but humming has continued. Prob a transistor. Really enjoyed your video by the way! Thankyou

[@juantobarcarrillo4399]

Hello, I loved your video, I have the same problem with an xc12, could you tell me the technical characteristics of the capacitors, to buy and replace them? Thank you very much in advance, from Chile!

[@DJlegionuk]

HI, Sorry I just bought a kit and replaced them so don't have the values.

[@tharkthax3960]

Hi there I've done quite a few. They are mainly 220uf 16v and 4.7uf 16v. I use Panasonic FC/FM caps. Usually with higher voltage rating.

[@ubiased23]

I had the xc12 tape drive when I was a kid. That thing gave nothing but trouble. I put in a cassette game by trying to load it, and during that process, an error screen comes up. The worst part of it was the tape drive worked for a short period of time and had the best games on the cassette tapes. These games such as Ninja, Alley cat, international karate, and zybex. Keep up the repair videos of the old tech. Wish would have known you then 😂😂

[@imfrcd]

I love it when a plan comes together. Good work.

[@Вилен_Петросян]

Hi. I have an ATARI XE system with a power supply and an ATARI XC12. I don’t have a keyboard for it and I don’t have any cartridges, so I can’t check for functionality. What can I do in this situation?

[@DJlegionuk]

Hi, sorry I do not know, this was my first time with this system and I think you will need a keyboard just to run anything as you have to hold down the functions keys to run. the only other thing would be buying a cartridge. so you will have to buy stuff to test.

[@Вилен_Петросян]

@@DJlegionuk ok .anyway thanks for the info. I will look for missing accessories.

[@gamedoutgamer]

You have an XEGS with no external keyboard? You can buy an XEGS keyboard on ebay or elsewhere online but finding on ebay might be the easiest.

[@Вилен_Петросян]

@@gamedoutgamer Thank you for the information, but the keyboard is very expensive for me, I hope to find it in my country.

[@StalkerNorilsk]

Спасибо за видео)

[@ezContents]

Well done! I still have a XC12 tape drive that is not working and will give it a go. Could you mention all the chemical solutions that you have used? I got the IPA, but missed the others you named.